George Francis (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Edward Francis | ||
| Date of birth | 4 February 1934 | ||
| Place of birth | Acton, England | ||
| Date of death | 22 October 2014 (aged 80) | ||
| Place of death | Slough, England | ||
| Playing position | Centre forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1949–1955 | Brentford | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1955–1961 | Brentford | 228 | (110) |
| 1961 | Queens Park Rangers | 2 | (1) |
| 1961–1962 | Brentford | 32 | (14) |
| 1962–1964 | Gillingham | 51 | (19) |
| 1964–1965 | Hastings United | ||
| Hillingdon Borough | |||
| Stevenage Town | |||
| Total | 398 | (144) | |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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George Edward Francis (4 February 1934 – 22 October 2014) was an English former professional football centre forward, best remembered for his two spells in the Football League with Brentford. He is a member of the Brentford Hall of Fame and is synonymous with Jim Towers, their close friendship and strike partnership seeing the pair dubbed 'The Terrible Twins'.
A centre forward, Francis began his career as a schoolboy with a team fielded by the Odeon cinema in his hometown of Acton. He regularly played against Jim Towers of the local Gaumont cinema team and the pair would later link up as professionals at Brentford. Francis later represented the Acton, Brentford & Chiswick schools' team.
Francis signed for the junior team at Division Two side Brentford in 1949, after rejecting an offer from Blackburn Rovers. He progressed to the youth team and signed his first professional contract in January 1953, but had to wait until 1955 to make his first team debut, which came in a Division Three South match versus Walsall on 19 February. Francis had a dream start, scoring a late equaliser in a 2–2 draw. He made two further appearances in what remained of the 1954–55 season, scoring another goal. Francis made a minor breakthrough into the first team during the 1955–56 season, making 18 appearances, scoring eight goals and beginning a strike partnership with friend Jim Towers. He made his full breakthrough in the 1956–57 season, making 44 appearances and scoring 24 goals.
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