Francis Jeffers, an enigma who never lived up to expectations
Long before Wayne Rooney, Jack Rodwell and Jose Baxter burst into the scene, there was another youngster who everybody heralded as the next great English goalscorer. But since then, the youngster saw his career go spiraling down as he is now struggling to
find 1st team opportunities and even goals are hard to come by for that matter.
From being called ‘a fox in the box’, Francis Jeffers found himself become a luxury managers can rarely afford on the bench. Jeffers just signed a 10 week ‘guest player’ contract with Australian A-League team Newcastle Jets and is half way through his contract
and is yet to register. How did so much change for a guy who is still joint top scorer along with Alan Shearer, for England Under-21?
Francis Jeffers was only 16 when he made his debut for Everton against Manchester United at Old Trafford and not just the disconcerting angle of his ears, but his skill also made many English pundits draw comparison to Gary Lineker. It all seemed very justified
as his first few seasons saw him score 21 goals and signs were right when they suggested that the budding youth would surely go on to bigger and better things.
But his blossoming period at Everton came to a halt when he learnt a lesson the hard way; that one should never argue with a Scot about money, as he featured in a media-followed row with Everton manager Walter Smith and the gaffer dropped the teenager from
the side for exactly half a season.
His big move came when Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger splashed £8m for the youngster. It was the recognition of the youngster’s talent that led to Arsenal paying only £6m for World Cup winner Robert Pires in 2001.
Many considered that the signing of Francis Jeffers was the final piece in the jigsaw and was supposed to be the final product of the eloquence conversion of the likes of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars. But Highbury never saw the best of
Jeffers as niggling injuries and a secondary role in the first team hindered the youngsters’ development.
His miserly 4 goals during his time with the Gunners didn’t help him either but on the other hand, he progressed at the under-21 level and earned himself a senior cap in 2003 when Australia beat England 3-1, as Jeffers got a consolation goal from a Jermaine
Jenas pass.
But that cap was to be his first and last as his career spiraled out of expectations to a ‘could have been’. He was loaned back to Everton but this time new manager David Moyes, another Scotsman, showed him the exit door under acrimonious circumstances.
In a four year spell, Francis Jeffers did his time at Charlton, Rangers, Blackburn and Ipswich, where he scored a total of only 7 goals. He then went to Sheffield Wednesday and Wednesday turned out to be the only club that got the most out of the once promising
youth, in terms of playing minutes for that matter but scoring at a ratio of 1 in 10 outings was not to be a daunting task for opposing teams.
A head-butting incident with a Port Vale player saw his career at Sheffield come to an end as he never featured for Brian Law’s side again till the end of his contract which ended last summer.
He then went to Blackpool under Ian Holloway but didn’t impress the gaffer much, another manager who never got anything out of him. Finally, Francis Jeffers took a plane to the sunnier climates of Australia in a bid to revive his career.
He did made a quick mark in the A-League as he set up Marko Jesic with a brilliantly executed pass. In all honesty, a forward is always judged by the number of goals he scores. A lot is expected from England’s forgotten man in Australia but this time Jeffers
has emphasized that he is not just about scoring goals and his assist showed that.
Let’s just hope that Francis Jeffers puts in a decent shift for the Jets. The standard bar has been set pretty high by Newcastle Jets but maybe this is Francis Jeffers’ final chance to revive his career.
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