George Francis

George Edward Francis (4 February 1934 – 22 October 2014) was an English professional footballer, best remembered for his two spells as a centre forward in the Football League with Brentford. He is a member of the Brentford Hall of Fame and is synonymous with Jim Towers – their close friendship and strike partnership saw the pair dubbed 'The Terrible Twins'.

Career

Early years A centre forward, Francis began his career as a schoolboy with a team fielded by the Odeon cinema in his hometown of Acton. He regularly played against Jim Towers of the local Gaumont cinema team and the pair would later link up as professionals at Brentford. He progressed to the youth team and signed his first professional contract in January 1953, but had to wait until 1955 to make his first team debut, which came in a Third Division South match versus Walsall on 19 February. Francis had a dream start, scoring a late equaliser in a 2–2 draw.

Return to Brentford Francis returned to Brentford in October 1961 and immediately won his place back in the team, though his 14 league goals couldn't prevent the Bees from suffering relegation to Fourth Division. He was inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in March 2014. Five months into the season, Francis was joined by his old friend Jim Towers at the club. which saw Gillingham clinch the Fourth Division championship.

Non-League football After his departure from Gillingham, Francis dropped into non-League football and closed out his career with spells at Southern League clubs Hastings United, Hillingdon Borough and Stevenage Town. He was 80 years old. Southern League Premier Division 6 0 0 0 1 0 7 0

317 143 21 13 7 3 345 159

Honours Gillingham Football League Fourth Division: 1963–64

Individual Brentford Hall of Fame