What ever happened to… Francis Jeffers?

One game,one goal for England. That’s what Francis Jeffers CV says. It also says £8 million transfer to Arsenal, as well. Rather impressive it would seem. But as always its one thing on paper and another thing in reality.

Born and raised in Liverpool, Jeffers made his début for Everton at the age of 16. Big things were expected for the striker and at the start of his career it seemed as if we had a striker to challenge his across city rival Michael Owen for an England starting birth. He scored 13 goals at under 21 level and shares the record with a certain Alan Shearer. So far so good.

In 5 years he scored 20 goals in 60 matches, a strike rate of 1 in 4 for a team like Everton at the time was considered impressive enough for Arsene Wenger to make him one of his most expensive transfers at the time by spending £8 million on him. However, he was dogged by injuries and the competition between Thierry Henry, Sylvain Wiltord and Dennis Bergkamp seriously cut down playing time and his potential started to stall.

In the season 2003/2004 he returned to Everton on loan but failed to score a single goal in the league for them. It seemed his talent was diminishing. The pace and instinct that interested Arsenal in the first place seemed to have been lost through his months on the side lined through injuries.

He was sold to Charlton for £2.6 million Arsenal making a huge loss. Was less pressure, regular football and a smaller price tag the thing to help kick start his career again? Well not really, 5 goals in 24 matches didn’t spark much excitement and at the end of the season he was loaned for 6 months to Rangers in the hope that the Scottish Premier League would finally provide the right stage for the Liverpudlian boy to come good. Nope, his performances didn’t match the hype and he returned to Charlton to see out the rest of his contract and leave on a free at the end of the season.

He joined Blackburn Rovers for the 2006/2007 season and scored one goal in the UEFA cup. In March 2007 he signed for Championship side Ipswich Town on loan and scored 4 goals in 9 games. Had he found his level? Was a few season at Championship level what he needed to finally kick-start his career? He was given the opportunity because after failing to agree terms with Ipswich he signed for Sheffield Wednesday as a replacement for Cardiff bound Steve MacLean.

He didn’t get the goals his performances deserved and once again injuries hampered his stay in South Yorkshire. Ill discipline during a match tempered his manger Brian Laws, who fined him and placed him on the transfer list for his behaviour.

A complete culture change followed after being released by The Owls and he joined Newcastle United Jets in Australia. He enjoyed the best part of his career since leaving Everton for Arsenal making a positive impact in Oz with both player and club wanting to extend his contract but neither agreeing terms, he left and joined Motherwell United in Scotland. His stay was short in North Lanarkshire, and he returned to Australia to re-sign for the Newcastle United Jets. But he couldn’t rediscover his original form and was released at the end of his contract.

At the Age of 31 he is a free agent. Does he need to drop down the division again? Could a move to an ambitious league 2 club help invigorate him? He is an England international don’t forget. In bits through out his career he showed glimpses of brilliance. But injuries and bad luck stunted his development as a footballer and he is no longer the Fox in the Box he was described as. Jeffers always had a good football brain and maybe a rethink in position and club level could do him wonders.

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