Damien Francis

Damien Jerome Francis (born 27 February 1979 in Wandsworth, England) is a retired Jamaican international footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

Damien Francis
Personal information
Full name Damien Jerome Francis[1]
Date of birth (1979-02-27) 27 February 1979[1]
Place of birth Wandsworth, England
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
0000–1997 Wimbledon
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2003 Wimbledon 97 (15)
2003–2005 Norwich City 73 (14)
2005–2006 Wigan Athletic 20 (1)
2006–2008 Watford 47 (5)
Total 237 (35)
National team
2003 Jamaica 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Early career

As a child Francis followed Wimbledon, and was a ball boy at their ground. He started playing for the club aged 9, originally as a defender, before moving into midfield.[3]

After several successful seasons with Wimbledon Francis moved to Norwich City and made a good impression including helping them reach the Premiership by winning the Championship in season 2003-2004.

Wigan

After Norwich were relegated at the end of their first season in the Premiership after a disappointing campaign, Francis made the decision to end his two-year stay at Carrow Road but remained in the Premiership by securing a transfer to promoted Wigan Athletic.

Despite Wigan's success in finishing 10th in the Premiership and reaching the League Cup final, it was a disappointing spell professionally for Francis, who did not feature as much as he would have liked to. He signed for newly promoted Watford for a fee of £1.5 million at the start of the 2006-2007 season.

Watford

On debut against Everton, he claimed a goal, only for it to be ruled an own goal by Alan Stubbs by the Premier League's Goals Panel. Francis would go on to feature regularly for Watford that season, playing 39 times and scoring four goals. These included a goal in Watford's run to the FA Cup semi-finals, against Ipswich Town in the fifth round. On 21 April 2007, in a game against Manchester City Francis injured his cruciate knee ligaments, an injury that was expected to keep him out for around six months.[4] As a consequence of the 1–1 draw in that game, Watford were relegated. Francis injury actually kept him out for 18 months. He failed to recover fully from the injury and was forced to retire from football on 3 October 2008.[5]

Career statistics

Club
Source: Damien Francis at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Wimbledon 1997–98 Premier League 200000—20
1998–99 Premier League 000020—20
1999–2000 Premier League 901030—130
2000–01 First Division 2984030—368
2001–02 First Division 2312000—251
2002–03 First Division 3462030—396
Total 971590110—11715
Norwich City 2003–04 First Division 4171010—437
2004–05 Premier League 3271020—357
Total 73142030—7814
Wigan Athletic 2005–06 Premier League 2013010—241
Watford 2006–07 Premier League 3235121—395
2007–08 Championship 112100000122
2008–09 Championship 40—21—61
Total 475614200578
Career total 237352011920027638

    References
    1. "Damien Francis". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
    2. "Damien Francis". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
    3. Football Memories: Damien Francis Archived 30 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine, watfordfc.com, accessed 31 October 2007
    4. Francis ruled out for six months, bbc.co.uk, accessed 31 October 2007
    5. Francis forced to retire Archived 6 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine, watfordfc.co.uk accessed 3 October 2008

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