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Exclusive interview with former Manchester City player Ed Francis on his FA Cup return to the Etihad with Exeter City, coming through the ranks with Phil Foden and his football journey.
Ed Francis first came across Phil Foden when the two football-mad kids were five years old taking their baby steps in the game. More than 20 years on, the pair will reunite at the Etihad on Saturday in a storyline that maybe only the FA Cup can write.
Francis and Foden were teammates for more than a decade, rising through the ranks at a changing club on the charge. The pair swapped Platt Lane for the City Football Academy and grew as players and people at the same time as City were growing from noisy neighbour to the dominant force of English football.
Foden was the diminutive, skilful playmaker with his talent clear for all to see, Francis was the ball-playing defender turned midfielder already displaying the character and leadership abilities that have seen him forge a successful playing career.
They went to school together within the City system, trained together, played together and hung out together. When City reached the 2017 FA Youth Cup final, Francis was the captain and Foden the star in the making.
Their football journeys have differed since but they could face off against each other on Saturday, with Francis relishing the chance to come up against his mate.
"He'll probably forget who I am," joked the Exeter man as he chats to the MEN in the build-up to Saturday's third round tie.
"I got on with him well and spent a lot of time together. We don't speak regularly but I am sure he'll recognise me and it will be nice to play against him if he does play. I hope he does so I can get one of his shirts, I'll message him and see if he can sort me one or two out!"
Even at a young age Francis recalls Foden's desire and determination to make it. The pair were part of a talented City age-group side that also included Jadon Sancho and both stepped up to train with the first team as talented teenagers. Francis was an old head on young shoulders, looking at the bigger picture of what was to come, while Foden was focused purely on football.
"He was just obsessed," said Francis of the now City star. "As a person, he was never bothered about school, he was just obsessed with football.
"He was football-mad, we all were, but he had an extra level from a young age. As a teenager you sometimes become sidetracked by other stuff but he was just football, football, football and you could see his talent but then once his physicality kicked on you can see the player he is.
"He had a few years where he was underdeveloped and wasn't physically there. But then I think he got to 16/17 and went on a pre-season tour and he was the only academy one who went. They always earmarked him as one who will get through. He played against United and (Paul) Pogba and there is a picture of him where he is up to Pogba's waist but Phil did really well and you did think if he can do it, we can do it."
Francis came closer than most to making the leap from prospect to first team player. He trained with Pep Guardiola's first team, was an Under-23 regular and made three appearances for City in the Football League Trophy. In the end, the breakthrough didn't come. Francis wanted senior football sooner rather than later and understood the squeeze of talent in front of him at the Etihad.
"For every kid that got through, like Phil, there is hundreds who got close," reflects Francis, now 26. "I am with the majority, not the minority.
"Looking back I am so grateful for being at City but at the time I was 'this is where I want to be, bring it on, this is the next step'. I had worked my way up from Under 6s to Under 23s so the first team was the next logical step.
"I was realistic enough to know that not everyone makes it so I knew it would be hard, but when I was there I believed I was good enough because if I didn't then no-one else will. You have to put that bravado on and treat it as another day."
Francis recalls Brian Kidd being a helping hand in bridging the gap between academy football and first team training, while John Stones was a welcoming figure and Raheem Sterling took the time to compliment and advise Francis during sessions.
"I remember being sat in a meeting in one of the first times I went up to the seniors and I was sat with Yaya Toure and Kompany, and when Pep walked in I was star struck, it was just wow," he recalls.
"The environment was good, it was tough because of the standard but the group was welcoming.
"I am lucky, that upbringing to me was just normal but most kids don't get that and the values they instil in you from a young age are exactly what you need. When you get close to the first team you see how good they are but also how bulletproof they are, they have a resilience and a mindset. Phil Foden had that from a young age but not all lads have that. Bulletproof is the best way to describe it. Obviously combined with being unbelievable physically and great players."
Francis took the decision to move on, Wolves came calling and the pathway to their first team seemed clearer than at the Etihad. A Molineux breakthrough didn't arrive and Francis dropped down to League Two with Harrogate and then the National League with Notts County and Gateshead. He twice won the FA Trophy during his spells in non-league before joining Exeter in 2024.
"My journey is completely different to what I imagined it to be and I realised a couple of years ago that everyone's journey is different and you could compare yourself to anyone and that is the devil. That is the thief of joy.
"I've enjoyed my journey. It has been tough at times and I have had to drop down to the fifth division to prove myself and now am starting to work my way back up. It is something I knew I could do but I had to go and do it and now I am on the way back up it is a really nice moment to go back to where I started."
It is full circle for Francis, who will have friends and family in the crowd on Saturday. The boyhood Blue still has four season tickets in his family with his dad and grandad big City fans. His mum, a United supporter and nervous watcher, will keep tabs on the tie from home but it will represent a proud moment for the Francis family and one that has been a standout on the calendar since the draw was made last month.
"I was sat at home in Exeter watching the TV and the one draw I wanted was Man City away," he said. "Man City came out and there were about 40 teams left in the draw so I thought, surely not? I didn't know what number we were and then 59 came out and I thought 'that could be us' and it was us and I couldn't believe it. It was a pretty surreal moment.
I ask Francis for his dad's name and whether he'd welcome being named in an article. "Yeah, put him in," was the enthusiastic reply. "Mark Francis. He'll like that."
Francis senior will be watching from one of the Etihad boxes on Saturday, if his son and Foden face off he may well get a flashback or two to watching the pair as kids strutting their stuff as City six-year-olds. It's the sort of story only the FA Cup throws up.
"It will be a nice moment," concludes Francis. "It is a boyhood dream of mine to play there and it's not for City but it is for Exeter City and I am happy with that. I have shown myself over the last couple of years and I want to continue doing it. It will be a nice occasion for people to see me play there and fingers crossed we don't lose 10-0!"
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