181: Francis Jeffers, Everton, Merlin’s F.A. Premier League 2000, Millennium Edition Sticker Collection

In February 2003 Sven Goran Eriksson’s England took on Australia in a friendly match at the famous Boleyn Ground. Never one to shy away from handing out some international caps the Swede decided to substitute his entire starting eleven at half-time in an attempt to bring through some new talent to provide back up for the supposed ‘Golden Generation’. Captain David Beckham was replaced with Owen Hargreaves. Ashley Cole was replaced with Paul Konchesky for the first of his two caps for the Three Lions. Former Tottenham Hotspur captain Sol Campbell gave way to future Spurs’ skipper Ledley King. At the other end of the pitch former boy wonder Michael Owen came off for debutant Wayne Rooney who became his country’s youngest player since James Prinsep back in 1879. Just over a year later Prinsep would also lose his longstanding record as the youngest ever FA Cup finalist when Millwall’s Curtis Weston came off the bench in the last minute of their 3-0 defeat to Manchester United.

There’s a lot to take away from this particular international. It was the first and only full England international to be played at the home of West Ham United, a ground which is now some very nice apartment blocks, despite the Hammers apparently winning the 1966 World Cup. It was the beginning of Wayne Rooney’s international career which would go on to see him captain his country, become its all-time leading goalscorer and get sent off for stamping on Ricardo Carvalho’s bollocks at the 2006 World Cup. Amusingly England also lost 3-1 to Australia, with Harry Kewell tormenting Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand, and only managed to trouble the Socceroos’ defence when Rooney linked up with his fellow substitute striker, and fellow Everton academy product, Francis Jeffers. 

Jeffers made his first team debut for the Toffees in the 1997/98 season at the age of sixteen and helped his boyhood club to FA Youth Cup glory in the same campaign. Six goals followed in just fifteen Premier League appearances the following season with a further six in 21 games in 1999/2000. Five goals in the opening five fixtures of the 2000/01 season hinted at a coming of age for Jeffers but multiple ankle and shoulder injuries hampered his progress. Nevertheless the young striker earned a reputation as a classic “fox in the box” and his goal every other game ratio attracted the attention of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. Despite the efforts of Walter Smith to convince Jeffers to sign a new contract at Goodison Park he moved to Highbury for an initial fee of £8m in June 2001.

His new employers went on to lift the Premier League title and the FA Cup but a combination of injury and the incredible form of fellow forwards Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Sylvain Wiltord denied Jeffers a winners’ medal for the league and saw him overlooked for the matchday squad for the cup. He contributed three goals in the Gunners’ route to the 2003 FA Cup final but this time missed out on the Millennium Stadium final through injury. With just eight goals in his first two seasons in North London it’s fair to say that Jeffers struggled to live up to expectations and his price tag and the 2003 Community Shield final would be his last appearance for Arsenal. As a snapshot of his time with the Gunners it wasn’t a bad one. He came on for Dennis Bergkamp on the hour mark with the scores level but was sent off just twelve minutes later for kicking out at Manchester United’s Gary Neville. United went on to win the traditional season opener on penalties earning Eric Djemba-Djemba his first major club trophy.

While Arsenal went on to complete their famous ‘Invincibles’ season Francis Jeffers returned on loan to Everton where he managed 22 games, two FA Cup goals and a falling out with David Moyes before returning to his parent club. He departed Highbury for Charlton Athletic in the summer of 2004 and contributed five goals across his first season at The Valley. A fairly unsuccessful spell in Scotland with Rangers on loan followed before Blackburn Rovers picked him up on a free in 2006. One goal in fifteen appearances didn’t convince his new employers to stick with him, however, and after a loan spell at Ipswich Town he found himself at Sheffield Wednesday at the start of the 2007/08 campaign. Across three seasons he managed just five goals for The Owls in sixty appearances and departed for Australian side Newcastle Jets in 2010. Jeffers’ sandwiched a brief spell with Motherwell in between two stints down under before plying his trade at Floriana of the Maltese Premier League. Here Jeffers returned to his goal every other game best although as he only turned out twice this might be stretching this comparison somewhat. After a fake Twitter account claiming to be the former Everton man slagged off the quality of competition in Malta the real Jeffers resumed his playing career with a brief spell at Accrington Stanley where his two goals in seven appearances proved to be his last in professional football.

Four years after Francis Jeffers scored in his one and only England appearance Preston North End’s David Nugent completed a similar feat when he tapped in a goalbound effort from fellow striker Jermain Defoe to seal a 3-0 win against Andorra. In the post-match interview Nugent revelled in his statistical achievement but failed to mention, despite his lifelong devotion to Everton, that he had joined the Francis Jeffers Club. In terms of goals per game ratios both Nugent and Jeffers finished their international careers with perfect records. Such statistics landed Jeffers a big money move and the weight of expectation placed on all young English players tipped for greatness. Jeffers ended his career with 52 goals in 292 professional appearances before moving into coaching at Everton’s academy alongside David Unsworth and later Ipswich Town. It’s more than likely that alongside his famed predatory penalty box instincts he passed on the knowledge to his young charges that for every Wayne Rooney there was also a Francis Jeffers.