Abraham François (born 7 June 1977) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He competed in the

1997 Canada Games File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic (1997 film), Titanic'', the List of highest-grossing films, highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; ...

with

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, winning the competition. He was then selected to represent Canada at the Francophonie Games in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, also winning the competition. His career spanned from 1998 to 2016.

Career

Early career

François joined his first club at the age of 7. After competing at the Canada Games and the Francophine Games in 1997, François was signed by St. Louis Ambush for an indoor football season, also playing in 15 games in the 1997/98 NPSLi season. François also scored 2 goals in 8 games for Detroit Rockers in the 1997/98 NPLSi season.

Montreal Impact

In 1999, François was subsequently recruited by his native hometown club, Montreal Impact of the

USL A-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

for football and indoor football seasons, beginning his professional career.

Sol de América (loan)

Whilst under contract with Montreal Impact, François was loaned to

Primera División Paraguaya Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

team Sol de América for six months. With François in the squad at Sol de América was Dante Lopez,

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

player Aristides Rojas and

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

player

Enrique Vera Enrique Daniel Vera Torres, nicknamed ''Rambert'' (born 10 March 1979, in Asunción), is a retired Paraguayan football midfielder who last played for América de Quito. Vera has been primarily based since LDU Quito since 2006, winning the 20 ...

Tien Giang

After playing in Paraguay, François went to Asia to sign with Tien Giang FC in the V-League.

Ottawa Wizards

In 2002, he returned home to sign with league giants the

Ottawa Wizards Ottawa Wizards were a Canadian soccer club which operated in the Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL), from 2001 to 2003. The team's home stadium was the OZ Optics Stadium. Though the team had a relatively short tenure with the CPSL, the cl ...

of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. During his tenure with Ottawa he had a tremendous season recording a 17-game undefeated streak, which marked a milestone in CPSL history by becoming the second club to achieve a

treble Treble may refer to: In music: *Treble (sound), tones of high frequency or range, the counterpart of bass *Treble voice, a choirboy or choirgirl singing in the soprano range *Treble (musical group), a three-piece girl group from the Netherlands *T ...

the first being the

Toronto Olympians Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

. The Wizards clinched the Eastern Conference and finished first in the overall standings. They repeated their success in the

Open Canada Cup The Open Canada Cup was an annual knock-out cup competition in Canadian Soccer. The competition was first held during the 1998 season as the CPSL League Cup. It was organized by the Canadian Soccer League (formerly the Canadian Professional So ...

tournament by defending their title once more in a 1–0 victory over

Toronto Croatia Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

. In the post season he appeared in all the playoff matches and reached the finals where the club faced the

North York Astros The North York Astros were a Canadian soccer team that was founded in 1990. The team initially played in the National Soccer League. The team played their home games at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York, a district of the city of Toronto, Cana ...

, the Wizards ended up winning the playoff title in a 2–0 victory.

Return to Montreal Impact

François returned Montreal in 2003 helping the Impact finish second in the league behind the

Milwaukee Wave United The Milwaukee Wave United was an American professional soccer team, which last played in the A-League, the American second division. The Wave United was formed and joined the A-League after the Milwaukee Rampage folded in 2002. The team announced ...

with a 16–6–6 record. In the playoffs the Impact fell to the

Rochester Raging Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos to ...

in the first round of the playoffs by an aggregate score of 2–1. He managed to win a piece of silverware with the club the

Voyageurs Cup The Voyageurs Cup (french: Coupe des Voyageurs) is the domestic trophy for professional soccer in Canada, awarded to the best men's and women's clubs in the country. The Cup was conceived and commissioned by fans of the Canada men's nationa ...

. In 2004, François was part of the Montreal Impact team which claimed the championship. He did not fully participate that season due to an injury, tearing his ligament in his right knee in a pre-season match against

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

. Prior to the 2004 season, François played 45 minutes of a 2–1 pre-season friendly defeat against

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

team

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are n ...

. The team finished 17–6–5 record for 56 points in 28 games, and the team started with a record 12-game undefeated streak, which led to a

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

A-League

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

against the

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club w ...

in a 2–0 victory claiming their first Championship since 1994. In 2005, he returned to the Impact, but was deemed surplus to

Nick De Santis Nicolas De Santis (born November 11, 1967) is a former professional soccer player. Club career After beginning his pro career in 1987 with the Montreal Supra of the Canadian Soccer League, he signed for the Montreal Impact in 1993 where he he ...

Toronto Lynx

On 19 May 2005, François was traded with teammate

Sita-Taty Matondo Sita-Taty Matondo (born December 28, 1984, in Kinshasa, Zaire) is a Congolese-born Canadian former soccer player who played the majority of his career in Quebec with clubs in the Ligue de Soccer Elite Quebec, USL A-League/First Division, and ...

to arch-rivals the

Toronto Lynx Toronto Lynx was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1997, the team last played in the 2014 season of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes ...

in exchange for

Ali Gerba Ali Ngon Gerba (; born September 4, 1981) is a former professional soccer player who played as a forward. Born in Cameroon, he represented the Canada national team. Club career Canada and United States In 2000 Gerba signed with the Montreal ...

. He made his debut with the club on May 28, 2005, against the

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in a 4–4 draw. With the Lynx the team finished with a league worst 3 wins, 17 losses, and 8 ties and was the worst performance in league history and finished 12th place in the league.

Laval Dynamites

In 2006, François signed with the

Laval Dynamites Laval Dynamites (french: Dynamites de Laval) were a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1997. The men's team (founded in 2001) was a member of the Canadian Professional Soccer League/Canadian Soccer League, the highest professional soccer league i ...

of the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

, helping the franchise finish third in the National Division thus qualifying for the postseason; where the club faced

, but lost to a score of 1–0.

Detroit Ignition

On October 26, 2007, he signed for the

Detroit Ignition The Detroit Ignition were an American indoor soccer team that has played three seasons, most recently 2008–09. In April 2006, Greg Bibb, president of Hantz Group Sports and Entertainment, introduced the teams as a new Major Indoor Soccer Leag ...

of the

MISL The Misls (derived from an Arabic word wikt:مثل#Etymology_3, مِثْل meaning 'equal') were the twelve sovereign states of the Sikh Confederacy, which rose during the 18th century in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian ...

. François term with Detroit came with some success finishing first in the regular season and reaching the semi-finals in the playoffs. Following his retirement, François stated that physically he could have continued playing for one more year, but much traveling from the island of Montreal prevented this.

International career

In 1997, François competed in the Canada Games with Quebec, winning the competition, and was then selected to represent Canada at the Francophonie Games in Madagascar, also winning the competition. At the 1997 Francophonie Games, François played alongside

Patrice Bernier Patrice Bernier (born September 23, 1979) is a Canadian retired professional soccer player. A long-time mainstay of the Canada national team, the midfielder played the majority of his career with Montreal Impact in addition to playing in Denm ...

in the team. His best memory was defeating Cameroon 1–0 in the semi-finals of the competition. François played futsal by the QCSL World Cup 2010.

Personal life

François's father was a footballer in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. He was a coach for the Dragons of the Collège Saint-Jean Vianney.

Honours

Ottawa Wizards

* CPSL Championship (1):

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

(1): 2002 * Canadian Professional Soccer League Eastern Conference Champions (1): 2002

Montreal Impact

(2): 2003, 2004

Mont-Royal Outremont

Première Ligue de soccer du Québec The Première ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ) is a semi-professional soccer league created in 2012. The Quebec Soccer Federation operates both men's and women's divisions at the pro-am tier of the Canadian soccer league system. The league is pa ...

(3): 2013,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

* PLSQ League Cup (1): 2013 *Inter-Provincial Cup (1): 2016

References

External links

Detroit Ignition profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francois, Abraham 1977 births Living people Black Canadian men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Paraguay Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Vietnam Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Canadian men's soccer players Detroit Ignition (MISL) players Detroit Ignition (XSL) players Club Sol de América footballers Eastern Indoor Soccer League players Expatriate men's footballers in Paraguay Expatriate men's footballers in Vietnam Men's association football defenders Laval Dynamites players Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players Soccer players from Montreal Ottawa Wizards players Toronto Lynx players A-League (1995–2004) players USL First Division players Xtreme Soccer League players Ligue1 Québec players Canadian men's futsal players Canadian people of Haitian descent Haitian Quebecers CS Mont-Royal Outremont players CS Lanaudière-Nord players