Francisco Enrique Crespo dos Santos (born 9 April 1974 in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

), known as Francisco Dos Santos or Batata, is a Brazilian former

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 the majority of career with Canadian clubs in 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 ...

, and 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 ...

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 ...

Playing career

Dos Santos began his professional career in

Brasil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area an ...

with

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

in 1994. In 1998, he went abroad to Switzerland with

FC Kreuzlingen FC Kreuzlingen is a Swiss football club from the town of Kreuzlingen in Canton Thurgau, the German-speaking region of Switzerland. The team currently plays in 2. Liga Interregional 2. Liga Interregional (2nd League Interregional in english) ...

. After a season with Kreuzlingen he arrived in Canada to play in the

with the

. In his first season with the club he led his team in scoring with 13 goals and was awarded the club's offensive player of the year award. The following year he repeated his success by once more leading the team in scoring with 9 goals and being named for the second consecutive year in a row the club's offensive player of the year. He assisted the club by reaching the postseason the second time in the club's history. He contributed in the playoffs by scoring an equalizing goal in a 1–1 tie against the

Rochester 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 ...

. On May 8, 2001, the Toronto Lynx announced the re-signing of Dos Santos for the 2001 season. Unfortunately he had a disappointing season with the Lynx appearing only in 10 matches and having a scoring drought. It was reported in a press release on July 13, 2001, after having not scored a single goal in 10 matches, Dos Santos was released from his contract. After his release from Toronto he signed a contract with the

Brampton Hitmen Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it the ...

, making his debut on July 15, 2001, in a match against the North York Astros where he recorded a goal in a 2–1 defeat. After only appearing in single match for the club he was released along with head coach

Paul Kitson Paul Kitson (born 9 January 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He notably played in the Premier League for Newcastle United and West Ham United, as well as in the Football League with Leicester Cit ...

from their contracts. Dos Santos signed with the

Toronto Supra SC Toronto was a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1994. The team was a member of the Canadian Soccer League, and played its final home games at Lamport Stadium in the city of Toronto, Ontario. The club found success early on since its incep ...

of the Canadian Professional Soccer League for the 2002 season. He made his debut for the club in an

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 ...

match against the

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 2003, Dos Santos was transferred to 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 ...

. He made his debut for the club on July 21, 2003, in a match against the

Mississauga Olympians Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

and scored two goals in 3–1 victory. He had a tremendous season with the Astros scoring seven goals for the club. He would return to the Supra in 2005, and bring his career to a culmination with another run with North York, and Toronto. Dos Santos also had a stint in the National Professional Soccer League with the short lived expansion franchise the

Toronto ThunderHawks Toronto ThunderHawks were an indoor soccer team based in Mississauga, Ontario that competed in the defunct NPSL. The team began play in the 2000–2001 season, with home games at the Hershey Centre. The team was owned by businessman Neil Ja ...

during the 2000–2001 winter indoor season. He helped the ThunderHawks reach the postseason by finishing second in the National Conference, and reached the Conference finals where they were defeated by the

Milwaukee Wave The Milwaukee Wave is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1984, they have been the oldest continuously operating professional soccer team in the United States and are seven-time league champions, m ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dos Santos, Francisco 1974 births Living people Brampton Stallions players Brazilian footballers Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Men's association football forwards FC Kreuzlingen players North York Astros players Toronto Lynx players SC Toronto players A-League (1995–2004) players Toronto ThunderHawks players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate soccer players in Canada Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city)