Stijn Francis (born 18 December 1982) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who played for

Westerlo Westerlo () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises seven towns: * Westerlo centrum * * Tongerlo * Heultje * Voortkapel * Oosterwijk * In 2021, Westerlo had a total population of 25,288. The ...

Oud-Heverlee Leuven Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, '' F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration number it inherited, '' ...

and Verbroedering Geel. He is now active as a football agent.

Players' career

Francis started his career with Westerlo at the highest level of Belgian football but played only one match in the Belgian 1st division with the first team when he was a late substitute in a 1–4 win away to

Beveren Beveren () is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders which comprises the towns of Beveren, Doel, Haasdonk, Kallo, Kieldrecht, Melsele, Verrebroek and Vrasene. The port of the Waasland (Dutch: ''Waaslandhaven'') is in Beveren, ...

on the penultimate matchday of the

2000–01 Belgian First Division The 2000–01 season of the Jupiler League began on August 12, 2000 and ended on May 20, 2001. Anderlecht became champions. Promoted teams These teams were promoted from the second division at the start of the season: * Antwerp (second divisi ...

. He also played European football with Westerlo in the so-called Intertoto Cup. At the end of that season, he moved to

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division (known as the Proximus League for sponsorship reasons) was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Associa ...

team Verbroedering Geel, where he stayed two seasons. In the winter of the 2004–2005 season, he signed for Oud-Heverlee Leuven and played three more season in the Second Division. Thereafter he moved to lower divisions, playing for

Tempo Overijse In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

from 2008 to 2012, before he moved to SMS Lubbeek as he could no longer combine football with his main profession as a lawyer.

Professional career

After a career as a business lawyer at the law firms of Clifford Chance and Nelissen Grade, Francis founded Stirr Associates in 2014. Stirr Associates is a football agency and has been involved in transfers of players such as

Dries Mertens Dries Mertens (; born 6 May 1987), nicknamed "Ciro", is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Belgium national team.

Toby Alderweireld Toby Albertine Maurits Alderweireld (; born 2 March 1989) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or right-back for Belgian Pro League club Royal Antwerp. Alderweireld began his professional career at Dutch club Ajax, whe ...

and

Zinho Vanheusden Zinho Vanheusden (born 29 July 1999) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Belgian Pro League club Standard Liège, Standard Liege, on loan from Serie A club Inter Milan, and the Belgium national football team, Belgi ...

. Francis is considered to be one of the leading football agents in Belgium. Francis is also active as arbitrator in the Belgian Court of Arbitration of Sports and lectures at the International Football Business Institute. Francis is also the author of the ''Bankrupt Footballer'', a book on the business side of a footballer's career.

References

1982 births Living people Belgian men's footballers Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players K.V.C. Westerlo players Oud-Heverlee Leuven players Men's association football midfielders {{Belgium-footy-midfielder-stub