NEIL FRANKLIN
DAVID DOCHERTY EXAMINES AN ENGLAND DEFENDER’S ILL-ADVISED DECISION...
His Colombian gamble
IN 1950 Neil Franklin was widely regarded as the best centre-half in the world. A true footballer who liked to use the ball constructively at every opportunity, he was the Virgil van Dijk of his day.
The 28-year-old was an automatic pick for his country. He had played in every international since the war and had represented England on no fewer than 45 occasions, in both official and unofficial matches. His 26 full caps had come in consecutive matches. He was also captain of his club side Stoke City.
However, like many players of his day, Franklin felt totally undervalued. In his case it was not just financial as he felt that his style of play for his club was being unfairly criticised by his manager Bob McGrory. He had requested a transfer but that had been refused.
A possible solution came his way when, out of the blue, he received a letter via his club from Luis Robledo, president of the Santa Fe club of Bogota, Colombia.
The letter simply asked him whether he would consider signing for the South American club. It set out the much greater financial rewards available to him than he could ever hope to earn in Britain due to the draconian restrictions of the maximum wage which, at that time, was set at £12 per week.
It all sounded too good to be true but Franklin wrote back saying he was very interested. His main concern at the time
was that Colombia, as members of FIFA, would be controlled by their rules which prevented free movement of players without proper transfer negotiations between clubs.
The response he received informed him that the Colombian Football Association was not a member of FIFA so there were no obstacles in his way.
During the course of these postal negotiations, Franklin’s wife fell pregnant, with the baby expected in September. This caused questions regarding medical conditions and nationality to be raised.
Whilst there were no search engines in those days, you would have expected that Franklin may have done some research of his own but as a famous footballer he was most probably well used to others doing all of the thinking on his behalf (NB: not much has changed in that respect in the past 70 years!).
He must then have decided that Santa Fe was for him as he wrote to the FA stating that he would prefer not to be considered for the forthcoming World Cup finals in Brazil to be played during June and July (note dates) as he did not wish to be away from his pregnant wife and family.
The FA agreed, in the circumstances as described, not to consider him for selection.
As for Santa Fe, they were more than happy for his wife to travel out with him and to have the baby in Colombia. They confirmed that their medical services were first class and that as for nationality there was no problem – the baby would be British!
Franklin’s Stoke City team-mate George Mountford had also been approached (whether direct or via Franklin is unsure) and the two men concocted a story to the effect that they had been offered coaching appointments in Colombia.
Mountford was duly granted 12
months’ leave of absence by the club to take up the role. Franklin was also given permission to go but only subject to the approval of the FA.
The truth was that although some coaching may have been involved, both had signed playing contracts for a year.
Following the final match of the 1949-50 season – a 5-3 home defeat by Arsenal – Franklin, Mountford and their families flew out of London Airport bound for Bogota.
It proved to be a nightmare journey and by the time they eventually arrived via New York, Miami and Kingston, Jamaica, Mrs Franklin was both exhausted and upset.
Robledo met his new recruits for the very first time at the airport and his first words were to tell them to beware of pickpockets!
Already alarm bells began to ring as they were driven in a noisy convoy into the city past numerous shacks and hovels. This did not appear to be the El Dorado they had been expecting.
Bogota was 9,000 feet above sea level which caused Franklin’s wife even more discomfort in her delicate condition. They were soon in for yet another shock when they discovered that the cost of living was four times that of Britain!
That put the estimated £3,000 signing-on fee and the £300 per month salary plus bonuses into a whole different perspective.
Franklin quickly found out that the football was very different, too. Heated arguments, brawls and pitch invasions were commonplace. Whereas Robledo had stated in correspondence that Bogota was spring-like throughout the year, he apparently omitted to mention the incessant rain. Not surprisingly, he totally failed to mention the political unrest in the
country brought about by widespread poverty, which resulted in violent demonstrations and frequent power cuts and curfews.
Given no time to acclimatise to their new surroundings, Franklin and Mountford were thrown in at the deep end in the constant rain that turned every pitch into a mud-bath.
Concerned about his wife’s condition and having checked out first-hand the medical facilities available, Franklin, having by now played six matches for his new employers, agreed with the club that his wife should return to Britain to have her baby.
He was to accompany her on the first leg of the journey to New York to put her on the London flight. He claimed that he had never intended to return to the UK with her but, as circumstances developed during the long journey, he found himself back in Britain.
Once there, he cabled both Mountford and the club to inform them that he would be back in Bogota as soon as his wife had recovered her health.
Tired of his ongoing problems and his constant whinging, the Santa Fe officials dropped a bombshell by announcing to their increasingly concerned supporters that Franklin would not be returning as he had broken his contract and let them all down.
The die was well and truly cast and Franklin now had to face the music.
On August 25, 1950, he received a letter from the FA signed by Sir Stanley Rous informing him that he, Mountford, Billy Higgins of Everton and Charlie Mitten of Manchester United (who had also opted for the “better life” option in Colombia) were suspended forthwith until they themselves applied for and were granted reinstatement.
Happily, the baby was born fit and well.
Franklin’s case was heard by a commission in Liverpool in October 1950. After hearing testimony from Franklin himself and a number of others, including Stoke manager McGrory, the commission concluded that Franklin had:
*Given untrue reasons to the FA for not wishing to be considered for international matches.
*Deceived his club and broken his contract.
*Made statements to the Press and allowed articles to appear under his name likely to bring the game into disrepute.
It was decided that his suspension would be removed on January 31, 1951.
This, of course, led to a parting of the ways with Stoke City and in November 1950 Second Division Hull City, then managed by his former England teammate Raich Carter, paid £22,500 for his services.
The one-time automatic choice, Franklin never got back into the England set-up.
In December 1951, his run of bad luck continued when he suffered cartilage trouble which ruled him out for the rest of the season.
Just eight matches into the 1952-53 season, his knee broke down again and that sidelined him for the remainder of the campaign.
In fact, it was not until the 1954-55 season that Franklin became a regular in the Hull City side again. In five seasons with the club, he would make fewer than 100 appearances, which proved a very poor return on their considerable investment.
He went on to play for Crewe, Stockport and Macclesfield before managing APOEL (Cyrpus) and Colchester. He died in 1996, aged 74.
These days, top footballers are paid obscene amounts of money. I read recently that Arsenal free transfer man Aaron Ramsey will be paid around £400,000 a week by his new employers, Juventus.
It appears that the attempt to better himself and his family cost Neil Franklin everything. It certainly cost him his international career and left his reputation and his integrity in tatters.
The real sadness is that he obviously felt that he had to go about it all in such an underhand and deceitful way.