Steve Francis (footballer)

Steve Francis

Personal information
Full name	Stephen Stuart Francis
Date of birth	(1964-05-29) 29 May 1964 (age 60)
Place of birth	Billericay, England
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) [1]
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
1980–1981	Chelsea
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1981–1987	Chelsea	71	(0)
1987–1993	Reading	216	(0)
1993–1999	Huddersfield Town	186	(0)
1999	Northampton Town	3	(0)
Total		476	(0)
International career
1982	England Youth	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Stephen Stuart Francis (born 29 May 1964) is an English former professional footballer, born in Billericay, Essex, who made nearly 500 appearances in the Football League playing as a goalkeeper for Chelsea, Reading, Huddersfield Town and Northampton Town. ^{[2] [3]}

Francis signed as an apprentice for Chelsea in July 1980,and made his debut as a 17-year-old at Wigan in the League Cup in November 1981,and made his League debut in November 1981. ^[4] Francis was initially a regular in the side, but the arrival of new goalkeeper Eddie Niedzwiecki in 1983 saw him relegated to the reserves for most of the next three seasons. Francis returned to the first team after an injury to Niedzwiecki, but conceded 14 goals in three games over Easter 1986 and never played for the club again. ^[5] He made a total of 88 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea. ^[6]

Francis played in the Full Members Cup Final at Wembley in 1986 when Chelsea beat Manchester City 5–4, Niedzwiecki was injured for this match. ^[7]

He left in 1987 to join Reading for £15,000, ^[5] where he played a further 250 games ^[3] and won the club's Player of the Year award in the 1986–87 season, ^[8] before joining Huddersfield Town in 1993. ^[3]

He was Huddersfield's first-choice goalkeeper for four seasons, then fell out of favour early in the 1997–98 season. ^[9] Huddersfield loaned in goalkeepers Vince Bartram and Steve Harper before signing Nico Vaesen in the summer of 1998. Francis left in January 1999 to join Northampton Town, where he made just three league appearances. ^[3]

References

1. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 306. ISBN   978-0-356-14354-5.
2. "Steve Francis". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
3. "Steve Francis". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 November 2009.
4. Chelsea Football Club The Full Statistical Story 1905-1986 by Scott Cheshire and Ron Hockings ISBN   0-9511640-0-7
5. Barker, Kelvin. "Steve Francis Chelsea FC". Football Heroes. Sporting Heroes Collections. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
6. "Steve Francis". Historical Player Database. Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
7. Chelsea Football Club The Full Statistical Story by Scott Cheshire and Ron Hockings ISBN   0-9511640-0-7
8. "Games, goals, players of the season". Reading F.C. Archived from the original on 5 March 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
9. "Steve Francis Huddersfield Town FC". Football Heroes. Sporting Heroes Collections. Retrieved 27 November 2009.

External links

• Steve Francis at Soccerbase
• Steve Francis at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database
• Two pages of league stats and photos at Sporting Heroes