Francino Rousseu Francis (born 18 January 1987) is a Jamaican

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 ...

who is currently player-manager for

West Midlands (Regional) League The West Midlands (Regional) League is an English association football competition for semi-professional and amateur teams based in the West Midlands county, Shropshire, Worcestershire, southern Staffordshire and northern Herefordshire. It has tw ...

Premier Division side Wolverhampton Sporting, his position is defender. He currently plays cricket for Rugeley CC in the 3rd XI

Career

Stoke City

Born in Kingston, Francis began playing for Tamworth, in the club youth academy, before being spotted by

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

in 2004. He never really made the grade with the club, and after one season playing mostly in the youth and reserves, he was released.

Watford

Francis joined

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

's Academy in July 2005. Whilst still an Academy scholar, he made his first team debut in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

victory against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

on 20 September 2005, and also made substitute appearances against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

. He was an unused sub a further two times that season, as Watford gained promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

by winning the Championship play-off final against Leeds United at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

. In February 2006, he was sent on

work experience Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal tr ...

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

. While with The Harriers, Francis made six league appearances, including three starts, before returning to

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cassi ...

. Following the expiry of his contract he was released by Watford manager

Adrian Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...

after failing to impress in his first season with the club.

Halesowen Town

Francis went on to join

Halesowen Town Halesowen Town Football Club is a football club based in Halesowen, West Midlands, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Grove Recreation Ground. History The club was believed to have been established around 1873, but rec ...

, but was released on 15 January 2008, by manager Morell Maison.

Willenhall Town

He then joined Southern Division One Midlands outfit Willenhall Town.

Barwell

Francis joined

Barwell Barwell is a civil parish and large village in Leicestershire, England, with a population of 8,750 residents, Increasing to 9,022 at the 2011 census, the name literally translates as "Stream of the Boar" and is said to originate from a boar that ...

in 2008, where he was initially employed as a striker. However, with the club facing a defensive crisis, manager

Marcus Law Marcus William Law (born 28 September 1975) is an English former professional footballer. He has since managed several non-League clubs, including Kettering Town, Tamworth, Coventry Sphinx, Racing Club Warwick, Quorn and Barwell.http://www.ke ...

asked Francis to play a centre half in a match, following an injury to their current centre half, Francis played the role. He continued to play in the position and spent three seasons with the club, making 151 appearances and scoring 30 goals.

Tamworth

Francis re-joined his former Barwell manager Marcus Law at his new club Tamworth on 16 June 2011. Francis became the first casualty in Tamworth's rebuilding for the 2012–13 season, after being released on 9 May 2012.

Hednesford Town

Francis started Hednesford's pre-season friendly against former club Tamworth on 28 July 2012, impressing enough to earn a contract.

Barwell return

In December 2014, Francis returned the club following his release from Hednesford Town.

Wolverhampton Sporting

Francino was confirmed as manager of

Premier Division side Wolverhampton Sporting on 26 September 2019.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Francino 1987 births Living people Footballers from Kingston, Jamaica Jamaican men's footballers Jamaican expatriate men's footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football forwards Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Redditch United F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Watford F.C. players Wealdstone F.C. players Halesowen Town F.C. players Willenhall Town F.C. players Barwell F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players Chasetown F.C. players Sutton Coldfield Town F.C. players Hinckley A.F.C. players Heath Hayes F.C. players Wolverhampton Sporting C.F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Expatriate men's footballers in England