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When Chelsea Manager John Neal fell out with his experienced goalkeeper
Petar Borota prior to a League Cup clash with Southampton at the Dell in
October 1981, he made the bold decision to throw the club's 17 year-old
youth team keeper Steve Francis into the fray. Ninety minutes later the
Chelsea faithful had a new hero. He was beaten just once in that game,
by Kevin Keegan no less, as The Blues earned an impressive draw. Borota
returned for the next match but Neal had seen enough to convince him
that Francis was now ready to establish himself and just a month later
he was recalled. He embarked on a run of 73 consecutive matches in the
first team. Chelsea's league form was disappointing but there was no
doubt that without the talented youngster between the posts the league
position would have been considerably more perilous. The Blues did enjoy
an exciting FA Cup run which would prove particularly eventful for
Francis.
Travelling back from a Thursday night victory at Hull in a 3rd
round replay, the Chelsea team bus was attacked and Steve sustained
extensive cuts to his face. Less than 48 hours later, and with the scars
from his injury horribly apparent, he appeared against Wrexham in the
next round and kept a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw, The Blues eventually
progressing at the third attempt. Liverpool's illustrious stars were
next for Chelsea and Francis rose to the challenge, his performance in a
2-0 victory leading one journalist to proclaim him as 'the natural
successor to Peter Shilton in the England goal'. It was a harsh irony
that his first high-profile mistake of the season should come in the FA
Cup quarter-final defeat by Tottenham when, with The Blues a goal to the
good, he was unable to gather a weak Glenn Hoddle shot cleanly and
gifted a goal to Steve Archibald.
Francis' form the following season was
initially impressively but as Chelsea plummeted towards the relegation
zone, the pressure began to take its toll on the youngster and he
briefly lost his place in the team before being restored prior to the
end of the season. The impressive form of new signing Eddie Niedzwiecki
reduced Francis to just three appearances over the next two seasons but
when Eddie sustained a serious injury in March 1986 it gave Steve the
opportunity to re-establish himself. He kept a clean sheet on his return
as The Blues won 1-0 at Southampton and 24 hours later played in the
side which beat Manchester City 5-4 at Wembley to win the Full Members
Cup.
However, the four goals conceded at Wembley were followed by ten
more in the next two games as Chelsea lost 4-0 and 6-0 to West Ham and
QPR respectively. His confidence shattered, Francis was replaced by the
experienced Tony Godden and sadly never resurfaced in the first team. He
joined Reading for a fee of £15,000 in February 1987 and later
Huddersfield Town (see photo below). (Kelvin Barker).
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