ACE FRANCIS LEARNED TO BE PREPARED
FRANCIS Duku has been there – and knows what the pain feels like.
Then at Gravesend & Northfleet, a 24-year-old Duku had just been part of their 2001-02 Isthmian Premier title win and his performances were getting noticed.
“I was getting a lot of attention and, maybe, going back into the pro game,” Duku says. “But I broke my leg in pre-season at Weymouth. I had no idea it was broken. It was an attempt at an overhead clearance – it was hot and I didn’t want to keep running so I thought I could hook it away and take a breather! “Everyone thought it was a sprain, have a painkiller and some crutches. Being a pre-season tour, the boys were having a night out. In my mind I couldn’t miss that so I went. A few drinks later you don’t feel the pain. I woke up in the morning and my ankle was five times the size.” An X-ray back in London showed a broken ankle and he was booked in for an op. “The guy who did it, fixed me as if I was a non-athlete – put pins in my ankle, which created loads of scar tissue and my ankle was never the same again. To this day you can see the difference. I still did alright, but I wasn’t the level I was before.” Duku was able to use private medical care through his work in the city but it set the cogs whirring for Our Game, a service that aims to help players and clubs, and is once again a major supporter of Non-League Day this year. And help with injuries is a big focus.
“There’s a real motive to provide a route for change who want it,” Duku says. “We’ve spoken to people time and again, they look at me and say, ‘I get it, I get it’. But they don’t want to do anything; players, chairmen, managers.
“For me, it’s crazy. You know if you’re playing football, you’re going to get injured. You see GoFundMe pages from someone who is self-employed and needs to be on their feet to work, maybe they’ve got a young family. Everyone has shortfalls to cover. Rather than put structures in place, people choose to go that fundraising route. “I am not here to lecture. But clearly there is a better route and that’s what Our Game has built.” Members have access to affordable insurance policies as well as a whole network of benefits – and clubs can benefit too.
Fans can help their clubs with the launch of a new community scheme. It costs just £1 to register – including, by the end of March, entry into a draw for a five-star all inclusive holiday – and earns reward points for personal use in Our Game’s marketplace as well as for clubs. Duku says: “We’re also launching Project 250 where every club who takes out at Our Game club membership can get 250 people to register as part as your community, we have a digital infrastructure which can then help them create insurance benefits to cover costs of wages when players are injured, contract liabilities, cost of surgery – all subsidised or funded in full based on how far the club wants to get involved and how many fans get involved. Your club needs you!”