Simon Francis (footballer)

Simon Charles Francis (born 16 February 1985) is an English professional footballer who most recently played as a defender for Championship club Bournemouth. His previous clubs include Bradford City, Sheffield United, Southend United and Charlton Athletic, as well as loan spells with Grimsby Town and Tranmere Rovers. He has played for England at youth levels.

Simon Francis

Francis playing for AFC Bournemouth in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Simon Charles Francis[1]
Date of birth	(1985-02-16) 16 February 1985[2]
Place of birth	Nottingham, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Playing position(s)	Defender
Youth career
	Nottingham Forest
0000–2001	Notts County
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2003	Bradford City	55	(1)
2003–2006	Sheffield United	12	(0)
2005	→ Grimsby Town (loan)	5	(0)
2005–2006	→ Tranmere Rovers (loan)	17	(1)
2006–2010	Southend United	157	(4)
2010–2012	Charlton Athletic	34	(0)
2011–2012	→ Bournemouth (loan)	5	(0)
2012–2020	Bournemouth	295	(3)
National team
2003	England U18	3	(0)
2005	England U20	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:13, 20 March 2019 (UTC)

Career

Born in Nottingham and whilst playing for local side West Bridgford Colts Francis was rejected as a youngster by both of the city clubs: Notts County[3] and Nottingham Forest.[4] Instead he joined Bradford City as a trainee in 2002 after being spotted playing for South Nottingham College.[5] He made his debut for Bradford on 16 November 2002 against Nottingham Forest days after he came on as a substitute for England under 18s against France.[4][6] He made more than 50 starts for the Bantams, scoring his first career goal in a game against Crystal Palace,[7] before being sold for £200,000 by the administrators in 2004.[8] Bradford received offers from Sunderland and Sheffield United, with Francis choosing the latter to be nearer his home in Nottingham and link up with manager Neil Warnock.[9][10]

Competition for places meant that Francis was never quite able to hold down a regular place at Bramall Lane, restricting him to just 15 appearances for the Blades during his two-year sojourn. He spent most of the 2005–06 season on loan with Grimsby Town[11] and then Tranmere Rovers[12] (where he scored once against Swansea City).[13] His final appearance for Sheffield United was as a late substitute at Luton in the penultimate game of the season.

On 13 June 2006, Francis transferred to League One side Southend United for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year contract.[14]

In June 2008, he was initially transfer listed by Southend United after failing to agree a new contract, but two weeks later he signed for another two years with Southend.[15]

In January 2010, Southend accepted an offer for Francis from Peterborough United but he failed to agree personal terms.[16][17] Following Southend's relegation in to League Two, Francis stated that he had no desire to leave the relegated club.[18] Three weeks later, Southend accepted a £150,000 offer for Francis from Brentford.[19]

On 8 July 2010, new Southend manager Paul Sturrock agreed to cancel the defender's contract, allowing him to find a new club as a free agent. On 30 July, Francis signed for Charlton Athletic.

On 7 November 2011, Francis signed on loan to Bournemouth and the deal was made permanent in January 2012.[20] Francis was instrumental in Bournemouth's promotion to The Football League Championship in 2012–2013 and won Players' Player of the Season.[21] In Bournemouth's first season in the second tier of English football since 1990, Francis played all but 45-minutes of the season.[22] In the summer of 2014, Francis signed a further contract for three-years at Bournemouth.[23]

On 26 December 2018, Francis suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee in a Premier League 0–5 loss to the Tottenham Hotpsur.[24]

On 23 November 2019, Francis was given a red card after pulling Diogo Jota to the ground, only 16 minutes after his yellow card, in the Premier League 1–2 loss against Wolverhampton .[25]

Career statistics

As of match played 22 February 2020

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bradford City	2002–03[26]	First Division	25	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	26	1
	2003–04[27]	First Division	30	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	31	0
	Total		55	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	57	1
Sheffield United	2003–04[27]	First Division	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
	2004–05[28]	Championship	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
	2005–06[29]	Championship	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	0
	Total		12	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	15	0
Grimsby Town (loan)	2005–06[29]	League Two	5	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	6	0
Tranmere Rovers (loan)	2005–06[29]	League One	17	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	1
Southend United	2006–07[30]	Championship	40	1	0	0	5	0	0	0	45	1
	2007–08[31]	League One	27	2	4	1	2	0	2	0	35	3
	2008–09[32]	League One	45	0	4	1	1	0	1	0	51	1
	2009–10[33]	League One	45	1	1	0	2	0	1	0	49	1
	Total		157	5	9	2	10	0	4	0	180	7
Charlton Athletic	2010–11[34]	League One	34	0	5	0	1	0	3	0	43	0
	2011–12[35]	League One	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	0
	Total		34	0	5	0	3	0	3	0	45	0
AFC Bournemouth	2011–12[35]	League One	29	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	31	0
	2012–13[36]	League One	42	1	4	0	1	0	1	0	48	1
	2013–14[37]	Championship	46	1	2	0	2	0	0	0	50	1
	2014–15[38]	Championship	42	1	1	0	3	0	0	0	46	1
	2015–16[39]	Premier League	38	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	42	0
	2016–17[40]	Premier League	34	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	35	0
	2017–18[41]	Premier League	32	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	34	0
	2018–19[42]	Premier League	17	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	20	0
	2019–20[43]	Premier League	15	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	18	0
Total			295	3	11	0	14	0	1	0	324	3
Career total			575	9	27	2	30	0	9	0	626	11

Honours

AFC Bournemouth

• Football League One runner-up: 2012–13[44]
• Football League Championship: 2014–15[45]

Individual

• PFA Team of the Year: 2012–13 League One,[46] 2014–15 Championship[47]

References

1. "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
2. "Premier League Player Profile Simon Francis". Barclays Premier League. 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
3. Walker, Alex (10 February 2005). "The ones that got away". BBC Nottingham. Retrieved 24 January 2008.
4. "Bantams hit 'crisis level'". Telegraph & Argus. 14 November 2002. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2008.
5. "Francis in at the deep end". Telegraph & Argus. 15 November 2002. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2008.
6. "Francis making a big impression". Telegraph & Argus. 3 December 2002. Archived from the original on 17 June 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2008.
7. "Bradford 2–1 C Palace". BBC. 8 March 2003. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
8. "Bantams forced to sell Francis". BBC Sport. 17 March 2004. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
9. "Francis makes Blades move". BBC Sport. 15 March 2004. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
10. "Simon says: I choose United". Telegraph & Argus. 13 March 2004. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2008.
11. "Mariners seal Francis loan deal". BBC Sport. 27 September 2005. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
12. "Francis stays on loan at Tranmere". BBC Sport. 23 January 2006. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
13. "Tranmere 2–2 Swansea". BBC. 26 November 2005. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
14. "Francis seals Southend transfer". BBC Sport. 14 June 2006. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
15. "Francis set to stay at Southend". BBC Sport. 17 June 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
16. "Simon Francis to stay with Southend United". BBC Sport. 7 January 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
17. "Tommy Williams open to new Peterborough contract offer". BBC Sport. 12 January 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
18. "Southend defender Simon Francis has no desire to leave". BBC Sport. 6 May 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
19. Phillips, Chris (26 May 2010). "Steve Tilson not sure Simon Francis will join Brentford from Southend United". The Echo. Archived from the original on 31 May 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
20. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
21. "Simon Francis wins Players' Player of the Season at the End of Season Awards Dinner. #afcb". 28 April 2013. |first= missing |last= (help)
22. "Simon Francis". AFCB.
23. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
24. "Simon Francis: Bournemouth defender sidelined for up to nine months with ACL injury". bbc.com. 27 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
25. "Bournemouth 1-2 Wolves: Visitors up to Fifth with comfortable win - BBC Sport". bbc.com. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
26. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
27. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
28. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
29. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
30. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
31. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
32. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
33. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
34. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
35. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
36. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
37. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
38. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
39. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
40. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
41. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
42. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
43. "Games played by Simon Francis in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
44. Anderson, John, ed. (2013). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2013–2014. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 74–75. ISBN 978-0-7553-6413-8.
45. Anderson, John, ed. (2015). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2015–2016. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 68–69. ISBN 978-1-4722-2416-3.
46. "Gareth Bale wins PFA Player of Year and Young Player awards". BBC Sport. 28 April 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
47. "PFA Championship Team of the Year: Deeney only Watford player". BBC Sport. 26 April 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2018.

External links

• Simon Francis at Soccerbase
• Profile at 11v11