FRANS ON CLOUD NINE AT TANNADICE...
FREDERIC FRANS knows his new club Dundee United have not had their troubles to seek of late as they bid to return to the top flight at the third time of asking. But the 29-year-old Belgian defender, one of nine new summer signings unveiled at Tannadice yesterday, has reminded long-suffering fans there is always someone worse off in football. He points to his hometown club Lierse, the four-times Belgian champions who folded in May after chronic financial mismanagement by Egyptian owner Maged Samy. At a stroke, 122 years of history went down the drain. When the club were liquidated, a wake was held at the Lisp Stadium in Antwerp and tears were shed by players and fans. ‘Sadly, Lierse went out of business,’ said Frans. ‘We had an owner who was there for eight or nine years and, in the beginning, he was throwing money around. But, in the end, he got fed up. I think he lost up to £70million and the club went bankrupt. ‘It was my worst experience in football. I had been there since I was just a young boy — from when I was five till I was 25. The fans lost their club and, for many people, football is their life. ‘Now I have to look to the future and I am lucky to have such an exciting new challenge here at Dundee United.’ Frans, who spent two years with Partick Thistle from 2014 to 2016, was disappointed to see the Firhill side suffer relegation from the top flight last season. But now he is preparing to do battle with the Jags for the Championship crown. ‘I had an offer (from Thistle) to go back, but it wasn’t really what I was looking for, so I chose United,’ added Frans. ‘I am really happy to be back in Scotland because it’s my second home.’