Kevin Derek Michael Francis (born 6 December 1967) is a former 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 as a striker. At , Francis was at one time the tallest player in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. He is best known for his four-year spell at

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

, where he scored 117 goals.

Football career

Early career

Francis started his career at Mile Oak Rovers, before a big move to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

in 1989. He made 17 appearances for Derby, 15 as a substitute, scoring once in the FA Cup.

Stockport County

Danny Bergara Daniel Alberto Bergara de Medina (24 July 1942 – 25 July 2007) was a Uruguayan footballer and manager. Playing career Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Bergara began his playing career at the age of 16, playing for Racing Club in the Uruguayan F ...

spotted Francis whilst he was playing a reserve match and immediately wanted to sign him. County paid Derby £45,000 in March 1991. He scored 5 goals as County finished as runner-up in Division Four. The following season, he notched 26 as County made it into two

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

finals, followed by 33 in 1992–93 season as Stockport made it to the final of the Autoglass Shield. In his final full season he produced another 30 goals as County yet again made it to Wembley, however he was to lose for a fourth time. In 1994–95 he had already scored 13 times before he left Stockport in January 1995, for £800,000, a record at the time for County. He did make a return to County in 2000, but it was short-lived as after just four appearances he broke his leg in a match versus

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. He was released at the end of the season, a sad way to end his glorious County career. Due to his excellent goal-scoring feats he earned the honour of "County Player of the Century" in 2002. Francis appeared back at

Edgeley Park Edgeley Park is a football stadium in Edgeley, Stockport, England. Built for rugby league club Stockport RFC in 1891, by 1903, the rugby club was defunct and Stockport County Football Club moved in. Edgeley Park is an all-seater stadium hold ...

on 18 July 2014 as one of 30 Stockport County legends to play in Mike Flynn's testimonial match. Francis was welcomed back like a hero by the Stockport fans and stayed after the game to meet the fans.

Birmingham City

In January 1995, Francis was signed for £800,000 by

Barry Fry Barry Francis Fry (born 7 April 1945) is an English former football player and manager. A winger, Fry was an apprentice at Manchester United in his youth, and had brief spells with Bolton Wanderers, Luton Town and Leyton Orient, before he reti ...

for his hometown club

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

, and enjoyed a successful period, scoring 21 times in 94 appearances. This included the most successful season in his career, picking up a Division Two Champions medal as Birmingham secured promotion back to the 1st Division, and a winners medal in the Football League Trophy Final of the same season. Birmingham beat Carlisle United 1–0 at Wembley to secure a season double, with Francis finally breaking his Wembley duck after previously enduring four successive defeats with Stockport. Francis also played a major part in Birmingham's eventual promotion that season, scoring 8 times in the promotion run-in, (bringing his season tally to 21) including the first goal in a vital 2–0 home victory against second placed

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

(only one team secured automatic promotion from the league that season). Francis also played for Birmingham for a further two seasons in the 1st Division, although his time at St Andrews was disrupted by injury. Despite this, he played a major part in Birmingham's run to the League Cup Semi-Finals in the 95–96 season, scoring a brace as Birmingham eliminated Premiership

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

2–0 in a 4th Round replay at St Andrews. He also opened the scoring with a 25-yard rocket in the Semi-Final 1st Leg at St Andrews against another Premier League side, Leeds Utd. Unfortunately for Francis and Birmingham, Leeds Utd came back to win the first leg 2-1 before securing a 3–0 victory in the second leg at Elland Road, to progress to the final on a 5-1 aggregate.

Later career

Francis left Birmingham in 1998 moving to

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

, then

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

(for whom he scored once, against Lincoln City) and

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

followed, before Francis exited the

and joined

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

. He finished his career off with spells at

Redditch United Redditch United Football Club is an English football club based in Redditch, Worcestershire. The club participates in the and play their home games at the V Trico Stadium. They are managed by former Captain and Assistant Manager Matt Clarke. ...

and Studley before retiring in 2005.

Club statistics

Personal life

Born in

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 ...

, England, Francis played international football for

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of ...

, qualifying through his parents, who were both born in the country. He played his first international matches in the

Caribbean Cup The Caribbean Cup was the championship tournament for national association football teams that are members of the Caribbean Football Union. The first competition, established by Shell and run by former England Cricket fast bowler Fred Rumsey, wa ...

in April 1998. He moved to Canada, where he worked as a police officer in Calgary, Alberta. He is married to Sharon, with whom he has two children, Stacey and Keisha. Stacey plays

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

West Coast Fever West Coast Fever is an Australian netball team based in Perth, Western Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they competed in the ANZ Championship. Between 1997 and 2007, as Perth Orioles, th ...

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

as a defender.

Honours

Stockport County *

Football League Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

runners up: 1991 *

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

runners up:

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

Birmingham City *

Football League Division Two The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

Champions 1995 *

Winners 1995

References

External links

*
Interview (2005)
on PFA website {{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Kevin 1967 births Living people Citizens of Saint Kitts and Nevis through descent Saint Kitts and Nevis footballers Association football forwards Saint Kitts and Nevis international footballers Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English footballers Mile Oak Rovers F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players Redditch United F.C. players Studley F.C. players English Football League players Black British sportsmen English sportspeople of Saint Kitts and Nevis descent