Abraham François (born 7 June 1977) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

retired

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 lea ...

. He competed in the 1997 Canada Games with

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, winning the competition. He was then selected to represent Canada at the Francophonie Games in

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, also winning the competition. His career spanned from 1998 to 2016.

Club career

Early career

François joined his first club at the age of 7. After competing at the Canada Games and the Francophine Games in 1997, François was signed by St. Louis Ambush for an indoor football season, also playing in 15 games in the 1997/98 NPSLi season. François also scored 2 goals in 8 games for Detroit Rockers in the 1997/98 NPLSi season.

Montreal Impact

In 1999, François was subsequently recruited by his native hometown club, Montreal Impact of the

USL A-League The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second Di ...

for football and indoor football seasons, beginning his professional career.

Sol de América (loan)

Whilst under contract with Montreal Impact, François was loaned to

Primera División Paraguaya Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...

team Sol de América for six months. With François in the squad at Sol de América was Dante Lopez,

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

player Aristides Rojas and

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

player

Enrique Vera Enrique Daniel Vera Torres, nicknamed ''Rambert'' (born 10 March 1979, in Asunción), is a Paraguayan Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current manage ...

Tien Giang

After playing in Paraguay, François went to Asia to sign with

Tien Giang FC Câu lạc bộ bóng đá Tiền Giang, simply known as Tiền Giang, is a Vietnamese football club based in Mỹ Tho, Tiền Giang Province, Vietnam. They are now playing in V.League 3. The team is currently playing at Tiền Giang Stadium. ...

in the V-League.

Ottawa Wizards

In 2002, he returned home to sign with league giants the

Ottawa Wizards Ottawa Wizards was a Canadian soccer club that played in the Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL) from 2001 to 2003. The team's home stadium was the OZ Optics Stadium. Though the team had a relatively short tenure with the CPSL, the club do ...

of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. During his tenure with Ottawa he had a tremendous season recording a 17-game undefeated streak, which marked a milestone in CPSL history by becoming the second club to achieve a treble the first being the

Toronto Olympians Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. The Wizards clinched the Eastern Conference and finished first in the overall standings. They repeated their success in the

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 ...

tournament by defending their title once more in a 1–0 victory over

Toronto Croatia C.N.S.C. Toronto Croatia (Croatian National Sports Club Toronto Croatia) is a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that plays in the Supergroup Open Division in the Canadian Academy of Football. The team's colours are red, white and b ...

. In the post season he appeared in all the playoff matches and reached the finals where the club faced 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, Ca ...

, the Wizards ended up winning the playoff title in a 2–0 victory.

Return to Montreal Impact

François returned Montreal in 2003 helping the Impact finish second in the league behind the

Milwaukee Wave United The Milwaukee Wave United was an American professional soccer team, which last played in the A-League, the American second division. The Wave United was formed and joined the A-League after the Milwaukee Rampage folded in 2002. The team announced ...

with a 16–6–6 record. In the playoffs the Impact fell to the

Rochester Raging Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American association football, soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-Major League Soccer ...

in the first round of the playoffs by an aggregate score of 2–1. He managed to win a piece of silverware with the club the

Voyageurs Cup The Voyageurs Cup () is the domestic trophy for professional soccer in Canada, awarded to the best men's and women's clubs in the country. The Cup was conceived and commissioned by fans of the Canada men's national team, the Voyageurs, in 20 ...

. In 2004, François was part of the Montreal Impact team which claimed the championship. He did not fully participate that season due to an injury, tearing his ligament in his right knee in a pre-season match against

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

. Prior to the 2004 season, François played 45 minutes of a 2–1 pre-season friendly defeat against

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

team Reggina. The team finished 17–6–5 record for 56 points in 28 games, and the team started with a record 12-game undefeated streak, which led to a

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

A-League

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

against the Seattle Sounders in a 2–0 victory claiming their first Championship since 1994. In 2005, he returned to the Impact, but was deemed surplus to

Nick De Santis Nicolas De Santis (born November 11, 1967) is a former professional soccer player. Club career After beginning his pro career in 1987 with the Montreal Supra of the Canadian Soccer League, he signed for the Montreal Impact in 1993 where he help ...

Toronto Lynx

On 19 May 2005, François was traded with teammate

Sita-Taty Matondo Sita-Taty Matondo (born December 28, 1984, in Kinshasa, Zaire) is a Congolese-born Canadian former soccer player who played the majority of his career in Quebec with clubs in the Ligue de Soccer Elite Quebec, USL A-League/First Division, and Ca ...

to arch-rivals 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 D ...

in exchange for Ali Gerba. He made his debut with the club on May 28, 2005, against the

Puerto Rico Islanders The Puerto Rico Islanders were a professional association football team based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. They played in several different leagues from 2004 to 2012, when they suspended operations. In their last two seasons they played in the Nort ...

in a 4–4 draw. With the Lynx the team finished with a league worst 3 wins, 17 losses, and 8 ties and was the worst performance in league history and finished 12th place in the league.

Laval Dynamites

In 2006, François signed with the Laval Dynamites of the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) 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 (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

, helping the franchise finish third in the National Division thus qualifying for the postseason; where the club faced

, but lost to a score of 1–0.

Detroit Ignition

On October 26, 2007, he signed for the

Detroit Ignition The Detroit Ignition were an American indoor soccer team that has played three seasons, most recently 2008–09. In April 2006, Greg Bibb, president of Hantz Group Sports and Entertainment, introduced the teams as a new Major Indoor Soccer Leagu ...

of the

MISL Major Indoor Soccer League has been the name of three different American professional indoor soccer leagues: *Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992), known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League *Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2 ...

. François term with Detroit came with some success finishing first in the regular season and reaching the semi-finals in the playoffs. Following his retirement, François stated that physically he could have continued playing for one more year, but much traveling from the island of Montreal prevented this.

International career

In 1997, François competed in the Canada Games with Quebec, winning the competition, and was then selected to represent Canada at the Francophonie Games in Madagascar, also winning the competition. At the 1997 Francophonie Games, François played alongside

Patrice Bernier Patrice Bernier (born September 23, 1979) is a Canadian retired professional soccer player. A long-time mainstay of the Canada national team, the midfielder played the majority of his career with Montreal Impact in addition to playing in Denma ...

in the team. His best memory was defeating Cameroon 1–0 in the semi-finals of the competition. François played futsal by the QCSL World Cup 2010.

Personal life

François's father was a footballer in

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. He was a coach for the Dragons of the Collège Saint-Jean Vianney.

Honours

Ottawa Wizards

CPSL Championship The Canadian Soccer League championship final, or CSL Championship, is the post-season match of the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) and is the successor to the CNSL Championship. The winner is crowned champion as in other North American sports lea ...

(1):

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

(1): 2002 * Canadian Professional Soccer League Eastern Conference Champions (1): 2002

Montreal Impact

(2): 2003, 2004

Mont-Royal Outremont

Première Ligue de soccer du Québec A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the film ...

(3): 2013,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

* PLSQ League Cup (1): 2013 *Inter-Provincial Cup (1): 2016

References

External links

Detroit Ignition profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francois, Abraham 1977 births Living people Black Canadian men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Paraguay Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Vietnam Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Canadian men's soccer players Detroit Ignition (MISL) players Detroit Ignition (XSL) players Club Sol de América footballers Eastern Indoor Soccer League players Expatriate men's footballers in Paraguay Expatriate men's footballers in Vietnam Men's association football defenders Laval Dynamites players Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players Soccer players from Montreal Ottawa Wizards players Toronto Lynx players A-League (1995–2004) players USL First Division players Xtreme Soccer League players Ligue1 Québec players Canadian men's futsal players Canadian sportspeople of Haitian descent Haitian Quebecers CS Mont-Royal Outremont players CS Lanaudière-Nord players