HE’S GOT ED FOR HEIGHTS!
ED FRANCIS hasn’t given up on his Premier League and international dreams after making a bright start to life at EFL newboys Harrogate Town.
The 21-year-old midfielder, who has been playing at leftback in recent weeks, arrived at the EnviroVent Stadium in December with plenty of pedigree.
He came through the ranks at Manchester City before a 2019 switch to Wolves, where he regularly captained the U23 side.
Despite being a regular in first-team training at Molineux, Francis struggled to force his way into boss Nuno Espirito Santo’s plans and took the plunge of cutting his contract short in October, in search of playing time.
With England youth international experience and two loan spells abroad under his belt as well, Francis is confident the time was right to step down the divisions and earn some senior minutes.
Brilliant
“All I’ve ever wanted to do is play in a first-team environment and I just knew that wasn’t going to happen at Wolves,” he said. “I wanted to back myself to go and play.
“I learnt a huge amount at Wolves and there is no ill-feeling there at all. I’ve had a brilliant upbringing in the game, and I think my time at City especially carved me into the player I am today.
“I spent time with Almere City in the Netherlands during the 2018-19 season and in Switzerland with Grasshoppers last year as well, and although I didn’t get the game-time I wanted, dealing with the challenges of moving to a new country on my own has really helped me mentally.
“I’ve got all of those experiences and now it’s just about proving myself on the pitch. I’ve always believed I can show people what I can do if given the chance and thankfully Harrogate have shown that belief in me.”
Having trialled at Luton before agreeing terms with Harrogate in mid-December, Francis admits there were periods of uncertainty during his two months as a free agent, but boss Simon Weaver wasted no time throwing his new signing into the action and he has been an ever-present since joining the club.
Town sat just seven points off the play-off places before yesterday’s game with Grimsby and Francis – who scored his first Harrogate goal against Salford in January – believes back-toback promotions isn’t out of the question.
“I did alright at Luton but Nathan Jones advised me to take a chance lower down if it came up, and then everything happened very quickly at Harrogate. I ended up making my debut on the same day I signed,” he said.
“The lads have been brilliant at helping me settle in, and I’ve loved working with the gaffer. The sort of environment he’s created makes it so easy to do well – if I do something wrong he’ll tell me, but if I do something right he’ll compliment me.
Realistic
“He’s always saying that if we put a good run together we could be in and around it at the end of the season.
“We’ve got to be realistic but there’s no point just settling for where we are. We’re growing in confidence all the time.”
While he attempts to engineer Harrogate’s rise up the EFL, Francis still harbours ambitions of a return to the top level, having seen former youth colleagues such as Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho thrive on the global stage.
He added: “In the future I definitely want to be in the Premier League, pushing for England places and things like that. You’ve got to reach for the stars, because there’s no point otherwise.
“As for now, I just take it game by game, and I know I have to play well if I want to be in the team for the next match.”