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Damien Francis

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Damien Francis
Personal information
Full name Damien Jerome Francis[1]
Date of birth (1979-02-27) 27 February 1979 (age 45)[1]
Place of birth Wandsworth, England
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
–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)
International career
2003 Jamaica 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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

Club career

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Early career

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As a child, Francis followed Wimbledon, and was a ball boy at their ground. He started playing for the club aged nine, 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

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After Norwich were relegated at the end of their first season in the Premiership following 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

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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

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Club

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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
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Wimbledon 1997–98 Premier League 2 0 0 0 0 0 — 2 0
1998–99 Premier League 0 0 0 0 2 0 — 2 0
1999–2000 Premier League 9 0 1 0 3 0 — 13 0
2000–01 First Division 29 8 4 0 3 0 — 36 8
2001–02 First Division 23 1 2 0 0 0 — 25 1
2002–03 First Division 34 6 2 0 3 0 — 39 6
Total 97 15 9 0 11 0 — 117 15
Norwich City 2003–04 First Division 41 7 1 0 1 0 — 43 7
2004–05 Premier League 32 7 1 0 2 0 — 35 7
Total 73 14 2 0 3 0 — 78 14
Wigan Athletic 2005–06 Premier League 20 1 3 0 1 0 — 24 1
Watford 2006–07 Premier League 32 3 5 1 2 1 — 39 5
2007–08 Championship 11 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 2
2008–09 Championship 4 0 — 2 1 — 6 1
Total 47 5 6 1 4 2 0 0 57 8
Career total 237 35 20 1 19 2 0 0 276 38

References

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  1. ^ a b "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, Retrieved 31 October 2007
  4. ^ Francis ruled out for six months, bbc.co.uk, Retrieved 31 October 2007
  5. ^ Francis forced to retire Archived 6 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine, watfordfc.co.uk Retrieved 3 October 2008
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