Juan Francia (20 March 1897 – 2 October 1962) was an Argentine

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 as centre forward and left winger. Due to his skin body and great agility, he eventually received the nickname ''Mono'' ("Monkey").Reportaje a Juan Francia
on ''El Gráfico'', 1924 Francia's career include tenures on the most renowned clubs of

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

, such as

Tiro Federal Club Atlético Tiro Federal Argentino (mostly known just as Tiro Federal or Tiro Federal de Rosario) is an Argentine football club from the city of Rosario, in Santa Fe Province. The team currently fun plays in Torneo Argentino A, the third divis ...

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the Englis ...

, and

Provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

. He 6 titles with Rosario Central and 3 with Newell's Old Boys. In international football, Francia played eight matches for the

Argentina national football team The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in men's international football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina. Nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' ('The White and S ...

from 1918 to 1922. He was also part of Argentina's squad for the

1922 South American Championship The sixth edition of the South American Championship was scheduled to be held in Chile, but Brazil asked to host it as part of its 100th anniversary independence celebrations. Thus it was held in Rio de Janeiro between 17 September and 22 Octob ...

, being the top scorer of the tournament.

Biography

His beginnings in football found him playing at an early age for Rosarian Club Belgrano, but he was forced to leave the team due to his short age. Francia then moved to Gimnasia y Esgrima which he joined in 1915. The following year he moved to the recently founded Rosario and Puerto Belgrano, playing the Santiago Pinasco Cup, second division of the

Liga Rosarina de Football The Liga Rosarina de Football was the main body that organised the practice of association football in Rosario, Argentina, from 1905 to 1930. Rosario Central, Newell's Old Boys, Rosario A.C. and Atlético Argentino were its founding members.

. In 1917 he joined

, where he was part of the team that promoted to Rosario's Primera División. His good performances attracted the interest of

, which he joined in 1918. With Newell's, Francia won the

Copa Nicasio Vila The Copa Nicasio Vila was an official Argentine football cup competition organised by Liga Rosarina de Football. The "Copa Vila" was the top football division in Rosario, being held between 1907 and 1930, when it was replaced by Torneo Gobernad ...

(Liga Rosarina's first division) that same year. After his tenure on Newell's, Francia returned to Tiro Federal, but in the middle of the championship, a new schism happened in Rosarian football when one of dissident teams,

, added Francia to its roster. With the Arroyito team, Francia won his first national title, the

Copa de Competencia (Asociación Amateurs) The Copa de Competencia was an official Argentine football cup competition contested between 1920 and 1926. It was established by the "Asociación Amateurs de Football", a dissident body formed a year before. The Associación Amateurs organized i ...

in 1920 after beating Sportivo Almagro 2–0 at GEBA Stadium. Rosario Central also won the 1920 and 1920 Asociación Rosarina de Football championships (dissident competition). When the club returned to Liga Rosarina, they won two competitions else in 1922 and 1923. After a brief period in

Gimnasia y Esgrima de Santa Fe Club Atlético Gimnasia y Esgrima (usually known as Gimnasia de Santa Fe) is an Argentine football club. Their home town is the neighbourhood of Ciudadela, in Santa Fe city, Santa Fe Province of Argentina. They currently play in regionalised 5th ...

, Francia returned to Newell's in 1925, staying there five years until he joined Rosario Central in 1930. Francia finished his career in

Club Atlético Provincial Club Atlético Provincial, also known as Provincial de Rosario, is an Argentine sports club located in the city of Rosario, Santa Fe. A wide range of sports are currently hosted by Provincial, such as athletics, basketball, boxing, field Hockey, g ...

in 1931."En azul y amarillo" by Carlos Durhand on ''La Capital'' newspaper, p. 162–176, 2010 Apart from his football career, Francia worked at the Sunchales station of

Central Argentine Railway The Central Argentine Railway, referred to as CA below, (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Central Argentino) was one of the ''Big Four'' broad gauge, British companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina. The company had been establish ...

Titles

National

;Rosario Central * Copa de Competencia (AAmF) (1): 1920

Regional

;Newell's Old Boys *

(2): 1918, 1929 * Copa Estímulo (1): 1925 ;Rosario Central * Asociación Amateurs Rosarina de Football (2): 1920, 1921 * Copa Estímulo (1): 1922 *

(2): 1923, 1930

National team

;Argentina *

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

(1):

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

In his own words

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Francia, Juan 1897 births 1962 deaths Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers Place of birth missing Association football forwards