 Franks captainingEngland C in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Fraser George Franks[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1990-11-22)22 November 1990 (age 35)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Hammersmith, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1999–2007 | Chelsea | ||
| 2007–2009 | Brentford | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009–2010 | Brentford | 0 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | →Basingstoke Town (loan) | 13 | (2) |
| 2010–2012 | AFC Wimbledon | 28 | (2) |
| 2011 | →Hayes & Yeading United (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2012 | →Newport County (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2012–2014 | Welling United | 60 | (4) |
| 2014–2015 | Luton Town | 30 | (0) |
| 2015–2018 | Stevenage | 109 | (7) |
| 2018–2019 | Newport County | 25 | (3) |
| Total | 273 | (18) | |
| International career | |||
| 2013–2014 | England C | 5 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Fraser George Franks (born 22 November 1990) is an English former professionalfootballer who played as adefender inthe Football League forAFC Wimbledon,Luton Town,Stevenage andNewport County.
Born inHammersmith, Greater London,[1] Franks began his career in theyouth system atChelsea at the age of 9.[3][4] He then joinedBrentford as an apprentice in 2007,[5] and was named as asubstitute againstSwansea City in aLeague Cup fixture on 12 August 2008.[6] Franks was again an unused substitute for a 2–1FA Cup defeat away toBarrow on 28 November.[7] He signed his first professional contract in the summer of 2009,[8] though he remained as an unused substitute for the majority of2009–10 and failed to make an appearance.[9]
In September 2009, after struggling to feature for Brentford, Franks joinedConference South clubBasingstoke Town on an initial one-monthloan, which was later extended until January 2010.[10] He debuted on 19 September in a 2–1 victory away toBraintree Town and scored his first goal on 24 October in a 2–1 victory at home toWeymouth.[11] Franks' second goal came on 14 November in a 3–2 defeat away toMaidenhead United and completed the loan spell with two goals from 18 appearances.[11] He was not offered a new contract by Brentford and was released by the club in May 2010.[12]
On 29 July 2010, Franks signed a one-year contract withConference Premier clubAFC Wimbledon.[13] He debuted as an 81st-minute substitute in a 2–1 victory away toKettering Town on 4 September and scored his first goals in a 3–0 victory at home toCambridge United on 29 September.[14] Franks went on to make 28 appearances in2010–11,[14] though he suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury in a 2–1 defeat away toGrimsby Town on 5 March 2011.[15] He required an operation that ruled him out of action for six months, causing him to miss the2011 Conference Premier play-off final victory overLuton Town,[16] and the beginning of AFC Wimbledon's first season in theFootball League.[15] Despite this, Franks had made enough appearances to trigger a one-year extension clause in his contract, keeping him at the club until the end of2011–12.[17]
In September 2011, Franks returned from injury and was loaned to Conference Premier clubHayes & Yeading United to gain match fitness.[18] He debuted on 24 September in a 3–2 defeat at home toGateshead, finishing the loan spell with seven appearances, but turned down the offer to extend the loan for a further month.[14][19] Franks made his return to the AFC Wimbledonstarting lineup away toSwindon Town on 8 November in aFootball League Trophy tie, the match finishing 1–1 afterextra time.[20] He scored the team's only penalty in the 3–1penalty shoot-out defeat.[20] On 22 March 2012, Franks joined Conference Premier clubNewport County on a one-month loan to play regularfirst-team football.[21] He made his debut and only appearance for the club two days later in a 2–0 defeat away toLincoln City.[14] The remainder of his loan spell was hampered by injury.[22] After making only five appearances for AFC Wimbledon in 2011–12,[23] Franks was released by the club in May 2012.[24]
On 19 June 2012, Franks signed for Conference South clubWelling United.[25][26] After signing, Welling managerJamie Day claimed Franks had turned down offers from higher leagues to be guaranteed regular first-team football.[25] He debuted on the opening day of2012–13 in a 1–1 draw at home toBath City and scored his first goal in the following match, a 3–2 victory overChelmsford City.[27] Franks finished the season with 43 appearances and four goals,[27] as Welling won the Conference South title and thereforepromotion into the Conference Premier.[28] He was named in the Conference South Team of the Year and signed a new one-year contract shortly afterwards.[29][30] Franks made his first appearance of2013–14 on the opening day of the season in a 2–1 defeat away toWrexham and went on to make 29 appearances for Welling during the first half of the season.[14]
On 17 January 2014, Franks signed for Conference Premier leaders Luton Town for an undisclosed fee after the club activated a release clause in his contract.[31] Due to bad weather postponing the club's matches throughout much of the rest of January, Franks did not make his debut until 11 February againstMacclesfield Town, which finished as a 2–1 victory and was named asman of the match byThe Luton News.[32] He made 18 appearances for Luton in the second half of2013–14,[27] as the club won the Conference Premier title and therefore promotion intoLeague Two.[33] Franks made his first appearance of2014–15 on 12 August 2014 in a 2–1 defeat at home to Swindon Town in the League Cup first round.[34] He struggled to force his way into the first-team, making just 17 appearances,[34] as Luton finished eighth in League Two,[35] having missed an opportunity to make an impression in the first-team in the absence of first-choice central defendersLuke Wilkinson andSteve McNulty through suspension.[36] After the end of the season, Franks informed the club that he felt his future lay elsewhere and was transfer-listed by managerJohn Still,[37] before his contract was cancelled a year early by mutual consent on 15 July 2015.[38]
On 17 July 2015, Franks signed for Luton's near-neighboursStevenage.[39] He debuted on the opening day of2015–16 in a 2–0 defeat at home toNotts County and scored his first goal in a 2–0 victory at home toHartlepool United on 22 August.[40] Franks finished the season with 42 appearances and three goals,[40] as Stevenage finished 18th in League Two.[41] He was named Season Ticket Holders Player of the Year, BoroChat Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year at the club's end-of-season presentation night.[42] Franks spent three seasons at Stevenage, making 120 appearances for the club, scoring eight goals.[43]
Franks re-signed for fellow League Two club Newport County on 18 June 2018 on a two-year contract.[44] He made his debut on the opening day of the2018–19 season, starting in the club's 3–0 away defeat toMansfield Town.[45] Franks scored his first goal for Newport in a 3–2 home win over Notts County on 21 August.[46] He captained Newport in a 2–1 victory at home to Premier League teamLeicester City in theFA Cup third round on 6 January 2019.[47]
Franks retired from playing on 21 March 2019, as a result of a heart issue.[48] Franks had made 34 appearances and scored three goals for Newport up to that point in 2018–19.[49] Franks had heart palpitations and chest pains, and had to be taken to hospital by his pregnant wife.[50]
In June 2013, Franks was selected for theEngland national C team and won his firstcap in a 6–1 victory overBermuda.[51] On 19 November 2013, Franks scored his first international goal in a 2–2 draw withCzech Republic U21, a match in which he alsocaptained the team for the first time.[52] Franks went on to earn five caps for the England C team, captaining the side four times, before becoming ineligible due to Luton Town's promotion to the Football League.
Franks was married to formerS Club Juniors singerStacey McClean.[53][48] Franks struggled with alcohol following his premature retirement from football, but following counselling from theSporting Chance Clinic, became sober on 1 August 2021.[4] Franks is an ambassador forAlcohol Change UK and together with lawyer Matt Himsworth,[4] runs mentoring firm B5 Consultancy.[54]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Brentford | 2008–09[55] | League Two | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009–10[56] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Basingstoke Town (loan) | 2009–10[11] | Conference South | 13 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 3[a] | 0 | 18 | 2 | |
| AFC Wimbledon | 2010–11[14] | Conference Premier | 24 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 2[b] | 0 | 28 | 2 | |
| 2011–12[23] | League Two | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 28 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 33 | 2 | ||
| Hayes & Yeading United (loan) | 2011–12[14] | Conference Premier | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| Newport County (loan) | 2011–12[14] | Conference Premier | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Welling United | 2012–13[27] | Conference South | 34 | 4 | 5 | 0 | — | 4[b] | 0 | 43 | 4 | |
| 2013–14[14] | Conference Premier | 26 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | ||
| Total | 60 | 4 | 8 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | 72 | 4 | |||
| Luton Town | 2013–14[27] | Conference Premier | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[d] | 0 | 18 | 0 | |
| 2014–15[34] | League Two | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | |
| Total | 30 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 0 | ||
| Stevenage | 2015–16[40] | League Two | 38 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 42 | 3 |
| 2016–17[57] | League Two | 41 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[e] | 1 | 46 | 4 | |
| 2017–18[58] | League Two | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 1 | |
| Total | 109 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 120 | 8 | ||
| Newport County | 2018–19[49] | League Two | 25 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[e] | 0 | 34 | 3 |
| Career total | 273 | 18 | 24 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 320 | 19 | ||
AFC Wimbledon
Welling United
Luton Town
Individual
