Francis Banks (February 1865 – after 1890) was an English professional

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 played in the

Football Alliance The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92. History In 1888, the same year the Football League was founded, The Combination was established by clubs who had been ...

for

Small Heath Small Heath is an area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman times, sits on top of a small hill. Th ...

. Banks was born in

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...

, now part of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, and joined Small Heath as a backup to

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Chris Charsley Charles Christopher Charsley (7 November 1864 – 10 January 1945) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Small Heath and England, and a police officer who rose to the rank of Chief Constable. Career Born in Leicester, he j ...

in 1889. In his first competitive game he conceded nine goals away at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

, and in his remaining three games, at the end of the 1889–90 season, he let in a total of nineteen.Matthews, p. 140. He then joined Warwick County of the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

References

1865 births Year of death missing Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Birmingham City F.C. players Warwick County F.C. players Football Alliance players Date of birth missing {{England-footy-goalkeeper-stub