Player from the Past!! Gerry Francis

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Gerald Charles James Francis (born Chiswick, December 6, 1951), is a former English footballer and manager. He was captain and a central midfield player at Queens Park Rangers during the 1970's and was also a regular member of the England team and for a time was England captain. He was a key player in the QPR side which came within a hair's breadth of their first-ever league title in 1976.



Francis began in management in 1983 when he managed Exeter City. He later succeeded Bobby Gould as manager of Third Division side Bristol Rovers. In 1990 he guided the Pirates to the Third Division title and they won promotion to the Second Division, but a year later he returned to QPR as manager.

In 1992-93, QPR finished fifth in the inaugural Premier League - highest placed of all the London teams. They finished ninth in 1993-94 and eighth in 1994-95, but in September 1994 Francis left Loftus Road for Tottenham Hotspur.

1994-95 was a 'nearly' season for Tottenham. They finished seventh in the Premiership - two places off a UEFA Cup place - and lost to Everton in the semi finals of the FA Cup. Mid table finishes in the next two seasons were unconvincing and Francis resigned in November 1997 with Spurs battling against relegation from the Premiership.




In September 1998, Gerry Francis was named as QPR manager for the second time. They had slumped since his departure four years earlier and were now Division One strugglers. He kept them clear of relegation over the next two seasons before finally resigning in February 2001 with a return to the lower half of the league imminent after more than 30 years. He briefly became Director of Football at Loftus Road before beginning his second spell as manager of Bristol Rovers in June 2001.

Three successive wins at the start of the 2001-02 campaign gave the Pirates hope for promotion back to Division Two, but injuries soon took their toll on the side's form and Francis resigned just before Christmas. The Pirates continued to slide and missed out on relegation to the Conference by just one place. Francis has not been in management since.



Francis still occasionally appears as a football pundit and retains the "mullet" hair style which he helped popularise in the 70s and 80s. He is a lifelong pigeon enthusiast