Ed Francis interview: Exeter midfielder on Man Metropolis upbringing, coaching beneath Pep Guardiola & non-league heartache | Soccer Information

Even for a lad who grew up at Manchester Metropolis, it was at all times an thrilling second when Pep Guardiola turned up.

“I remember the first time he came in when we were sat in the meeting room, and I was just absolutely gobsmacked,” Ed Francis remembers. “He was simply stood there and it was actually surreal.

“He was just intense and a really good coach. I didn’t get to work that closely with him one-on-one, but I could just see the level of detail he would go into. It was leagues and leagues above.

“He was so passionate, and he’d be stood in the midst of the coaching pitch telling the boys the place to go and the place to be. It was fairly mind-blowing on the time to be part of.”

There are many tales from Francis – 25 and now at Exeter – from his days at Metropolis. He was within the academy there from the age of 5 till 2019.

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There’s one chapter that stands out, nonetheless: the 2017 FA Youth Cup remaining.

The results of the second leg was one factor, a 5-1 win for Chelsea over Francis’ Manchester Metropolis. However the teamsheets had been the actual story.

On his crew: Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho and Brahim Diaz. The pinnacle coach? Lee Carsley. Jeremie Frimpong was an unused sub. Francis, that day, was their captain.

On the Chelsea aspect, there was Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah, Mason Mount, Marc Guehi and Callum Hudson-Odoi. Conor Gallagher was on the bench and did not get on.

“There are so many of them that I grew up with who are at the top of the game now,” Francis remembers.

“It gives me the confidence to think that I am at their level. It gives me belief that I can work my way back up and get to the highest level, because they’re doing so well.

“I wish to be a kind of names that will get spoken about in addition to all these boys when individuals have a look at that teamsheet.

“I certainly didn’t feel out of my depth there.”

Francis’ journey hasn’t been fairly so simple as a few of his outdated compatriots.

Craving first-team alternative, he moved on mortgage to the Netherlands, earlier than everlasting switches to Wolves after which Harrogate City.

“I’d trained with the first team at City 10 or 15 times, so I got to see the level. That was amazing as an experience, to see how they operated,” Francis says.

“But I was just desperate to be a part of a men’s team and go and and play week in, week out.

“Hindsight is a wonderful factor, and possibly I would have finished issues otherwise. Nevertheless it was all a part of my journey and has led me to the place I’m now.

“The different experiences I’ve had were the things I needed.”

A part of that have was realising how totally different the services had been at Metropolis to decrease down the pyramid.

“City was all I’d known since I was five or six and it was normal to me,” Francis says.

“Only when I stepped away did I realise how lucky I was and how good the boys have it there. You’ve got everything at your fingertips.”

However does he remorse shifting too early? Does he really feel he might have been higher off staying and coaching and dealing his method by means of these world-class services?

Francis just isn’t one to dwell.

“I went on loan when I was 18, which might have been a bit young,” he says. “But I was still quite switched on and I knew how hard it would be to break into the first team. My mentality was that I was good enough to go out and play.

“All people has a distinct journey, and that is most likely what I’ve realised up to now couple of years. I just like the quote: ‘Comparability is the thief of pleasure’.

“If I compare myself to where Phil or someone is now, I’d probably feel rubbish about it.

“Phil’s finished magnificently and he is flying now, however he was the one one who actually received by means of.

“I know that my journey is completely different to him and we can’t be the same.”

Even with a distinct journey, he might not have anticipated to spend 4 seasons within the Nationwide League. And after a spell at Notts County, it took him till final season at Gateshead to actually begin fulfilling his potential and discover his recreation.

“They put me on the pitch and let me express myself, and gave me the freedom and the confidence that I knew I was going to play every week,” Francis says.

“By the end of it I was controlling games and it gave me that confidence and allowed me to excel.”

However that phase of his journey did not come with out its personal little bit of heartache.

Gateshead has by no means been a Soccer League membership, they usually had been denied the possibility of getting there final season after being barred from competing within the play-offs for failing to fulfill entry standards to the EFL.

“It was gutting,” Francis admits. “A real sore way to go out.

“We did not learn about it. We would finished every thing to get as excessive as we may and we thought we had a very good likelihood within the play-offs.

“It was a shock when we were told we couldn’t play, because it was sort of unheard of.

“It was an actual disgrace not to have the ability to play. However not less than we had the FA Trophy just a few weeks later, which not less than allow us to end the season on a excessive.

“The team are doing really well this season, so hopefully they can get it done this year.”

However amongst all that, the shape Francis confirmed alerted Exeter Metropolis. Now he is taking part in in League One for the primary time in his profession.

It’s one other step alongside the trail which he’s decided to observe, again to the best degree.

“I know it sounds crazy to a lot of people,” admits Francis. “To say you think you can play in the Premier League when you’ve just been in the National League.

“However that has at all times been the dream. That is how I am going to reside my life everyday, as somebody who performs on the high degree. Then hopefully if the possibility comes I can take it.”

It certainly helps that his manager at Exeter, Gary Caldwell, was a late bloomer and riser himself as a player. He was among the key reasons behind Francis’ switch to the Grecians.

“The gaffer right here mentioned to me earlier than I signed that he was about 28 or 29 when he made his Premier League debut,” he says.

“I am 25 now in order that’s nonetheless just a few years away for me. That was one of many important issues.

“But one of my main strengths is probably the belief I’ve always had in myself. I do believe that I can get to the top of the game.”

With perception and endeavour, you will get wherever. Francis wouldn’t be the primary nor the final to make the journey from non-league to the Premier League. It’s definitely value maintaining a tally of.