Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Cornelius Franklin | ||
Date of birth | 24 January 1922 | ||
Place of birth | Shelton, Staffordshire, England | ||
Date of death | 9 February 1996 (aged 74) | ||
Place of death | Stoke-on-Trent, England | ||
Playing position | Defender | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
1939–1950 | Stoke City | 142 | (0) |
1950 | Independiente Santa Fe | 6 | (1) |
1951–1956 | Hull City | 95 | (0) |
1956–1957 | Crewe Alexandra | 66 | (4) |
1957–1958 | Macclesfield Town | 13 | (1) |
Total | 342 | (6) | |
National team | |||
1946–1950 | England | 27 | (0) |
Teams managed | |||
1963–1964 | APOEL | ||
1964–1968 | Colchester United | ||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
Cornelius 'Neil' Franklin (24 January 1922 – 9 February 1996) was an English footballer.
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Franklin had made a impression at schoolboy level, playing at both inside and centre forward. In his quest to gain selection for the England Schoolboys side he was overlooked in favour of Len Shackleton.
Franklin turned professional in January 1939, and his career was just about to take off only to be put on hold by the suspension of League football because of the Second World War.
During the war he made 186 appearances for Stoke City in friendly and regional fixtures as well as representing England in wartime internationals.[1]
When peacetime football resumed he was generally regarded as the country's best centre-half, and went on to make 142 League and 20 FA Cup appearances for Stoke, as well as winning 27 full England caps. By 1950, however, he was ready to leave Stoke - he was unhappy with the £20 a week maximum wage limit imposed by the FA, and felt the local air was not conducive to healthy living, as the local pottery kilns continually belched out their smoke and fumes. He wanted to move his family away to a cleaner climate, but what no-one envisaged was that would mean not just another club, but another continent.
In the summer of 1950 Franklin broke his contract with Stoke City and left the country for Colombia, to play for Independiente Santa Fe of Bogotá. He was on a £5,000 per year contract, with £35 win bonuses - a small fortune in the 1950s. However, Colombia was outside FIFA jurisdiction and their FA was considered a rebel authority. The situation was further aggravated when Franklin, who had just won his 27th consecutive England cap, declined to join the squad for the 1950 World Cup finals in neighbouring Brazil. Political and social unrest in Colombia made it hard for Franklin and his family to settle, and they returned to England after just two months.
A suspension from league football followed and he never played for Stoke or England again. In February 1951, he moved to Second Division club Hull City for £22,500, at the time a world record fee for a defender.[2]
After leaving Hull, he had brief spells with Crewe Alexandra, Stockport County and Macclesfield Town and also tried management at Colchester United.
He also was the landlord of the Thwaites Arms on Thwaites Road in Oswaldtwistle; during this period he served on the FA pool's panel with Stan Mortensen late of Blackpool FC. He later ran a pub called the Dog and Doublet in Sandon, Staffordshire and died in 1996 aged 74.
Billy Wright, when selecting his Dream Team for the 50th Anniversary of the Footballer Of The Year award, had no hesitation in selecting Neil Franklin:
Stanley Matthews also rated Franklin:
Tom Finney also selected Neil Franklin for his Dream Team:
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Total | |||
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Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Stoke City | 1945–46 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
1946–47 | 37 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 42 | 0 | |
1947–48 | 35 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 0 | |
1948–49 | 36 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 0 | |
1949–50 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 0 | |
Total | 142 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 162 | 0 | |
Independiente Santa Fe | 1950–51 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 1 | ||
Total | 6 | 1 | 6 | 1 | |||
Hull City | 1951–52 | ||||||
1952–53 | |||||||
1953–54 | |||||||
1954–55 | |||||||
1955–56 | |||||||
Total | 95 | 0 | 95 | 0 | |||
Crewe Alexandra | 1955–56 | ||||||
1956–57 | |||||||
Total | 66 | 4 | 66 | 4 | |||
Stockport County | 1957–58 | ||||||
Total | 20 | 0 | 20 | 0 | |||
Career Total | 329 | 5 | 20 | 0 | 349 | 5 |
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