| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Edward Francis[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1934-02-04)4 February 1934 | ||
| Place of birth | Acton, England | ||
| Date of death | 22 October 2014(2014-10-22) (aged 80)[1] | ||
| Place of death | Slough, England | ||
| Position | Centre forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1949–1955 | Brentford | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1955–1961 | Brentford | 228 | (110) |
| 1961 | Queens Park Rangers | 2 | (1) |
| 1961–1962 | Brentford | 32 | (14) |
| 1962–1964 | Gillingham | 51 | (19) |
| 1964–1965 | Hastings United | ||
| Hillingdon Borough | |||
| Stevenage Town | |||
| Total | 398 | (144) | |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
George Edward Francis (4 February 1934 – 22 October 2014) was an English professionalfootballer, best remembered for his two spells as acentre forward in theFootball League withBrentford. He is a member of the BrentfordHall of Fame and is synonymous withJim Towers – their close friendship andstrike partnership saw the pair dubbed 'The Terrible Twins'.[2]
Acentre forward, Francis began his career as a schoolboy with a team fielded by theOdeon cinema in his hometown ofActon.[3] He regularly played againstJim Towers of the localGaumont cinema team and the pair would later link up as professionals atBrentford.[3] Francis later represented the Acton, Brentford & Chiswick schools' team.[3]
Francis signed for the junior team atSecond Division club Brentford in 1949, after rejecting an offer fromBlackburn Rovers.[4] He progressed to theyouth team and signed his first professional contract in January 1953,[5] but had to wait until 1955 to make his first team debut, which came in aThird Division South match versusWalsall on 19 February.[6] Francis had a dream start, scoring a late equaliser in a 2–2 draw.[6] He made two further appearances in what remained of the1954–55 season and scored another goal.[6] Francis made a minor breakthrough into the first team during the1955–56 season, making 18 appearances, scoring eight goals and beginning astrike partnership with friend Jim Towers.[3][6] He made his full breakthrough in the1956–57 season and scored 24 goals in 44 appearances.[6]
Francis' best season came in1959–60, when he was an ever-present and scored 31 goals in 48 appearances.[6] A memorable moment in his season was scoring ahat-trick in a 4–2 victory atLoftus Road, home ofWest London rivalsQueens Park Rangers.[3] At the end of a lean1960–61 season (in which Francis scored only 10 goals),[6] the abolition of themaximum wage rule saw Francis and Towers depart the Bees.[3] Francis scored 121 goals in 243 appearances over the course of six years in the first team atGriffin Park.[3]
Francis and Towers joined Third Division club Queens Park Rangers in an £8,000 deal in May 1961.[1][3] Francis failed to last long at Loftus Road and scored three goals in as many appearances before departing in October 1961.[3][7][8]
Francis returned to Brentford in October 1961 and immediately won his place back in the team, though his 14 league goals couldn't prevent the Bees from suffering relegation toFourth Division.[3] He departed the club at the end of the season, having made 37 appearances and scored 15 goals during his brief return.[6] Across his two spells with Brentford, Francis made 280 appearances, scored 136 goals and was the fourth-quickest player to reach 50 goals in all competitions for the club,[3] behindJack Holliday,David McCulloch andBilly Lane.[9] He was inducted into the BrentfordHall of Fame in March 2014.[2]
Francis signed for Fourth Division clubGillingham in August 1962 for a £4,000 fee.[3] He scored 12 goals in 35 league games during the1962–63 season,[10] but the Gills missed out on promotion with a fifth-place finish.[11] Five months into the season, Francis was joined by his old friend Jim Towers at the club.[3] Though he made only 16 appearances, Francis scored seven goals during the1963–64 season and scored the winner versusNewport County on the final day,[10] which saw Gillingham clinch the Fourth Division championship.[3] He departed the club at the end of the campaign,[3] having scored 21 goals in 58 games for the Gills.[12]
After his departure from Gillingham, Francis dropped intonon-League football and closed out his career with spells atSouthern League clubsHastings United,Hillingdon Borough andStevenage Town.[3][13]
Francis undertook hisNational Service together with Jim Towers in theRoyal Irish Fusiliers in Germany.[3][5] After retiring from football, he became ablack cab driver and held a season ticket atStamford Bridge.[5] Francis died on 22 October 2014 atWexham Park Hospital inSlough,[5] after a long battle withbowel cancer.[14] He was 80 years old.[14]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Brentford | 1954–55[6] | Third Division South | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 2 | |
| 1955–56[6] | Third Division South | 17 | 7 | 1 | 1 | — | 18 | 8 | ||
| 1956–57[6] | Third Division South | 41 | 23 | 3 | 1 | — | 44 | 24 | ||
| 1957–58[6] | Third Division South | 45 | 22 | 1 | 0 | — | 46 | 22 | ||
| 1958–59[6] | Third Division | 45 | 22 | 4 | 2 | — | 49 | 24 | ||
| 1959–60[6] | Third Division | 46 | 26 | 2 | 5 | — | 48 | 31 | ||
| 1960–61[6] | Third Division | 31 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 10 | |
| Total | 228 | 110 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 243 | 121 | ||
| Queens Park Rangers | 1961–62[7] | Third Division | 2 | 1 | — | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | |
| Brentford | 1961–62[6] | Third Division | 32 | 14 | 5 | 1 | — | 37 | 15 | |
| Total | 260 | 124 | 18 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 280 | 136 | ||
| Gillingham | 1962–63[10] | Fourth Division | 35 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 13 |
| 1963–64[10] | Fourth Division | 16 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 8 | |
| Total | 51 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 58 | 21 | ||
| Career total | 311 | 143 | 21 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 338 | 159 | ||
Gillingham
Individual