There have been some tragic stories about football players over the years. What sets the Neil Franklin story above the rest is his fall from such a pinnacle of hero to the depths of outcast within the space of a few weeks — a few days even.
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At the time he was definitely a Stoke icon – homegrown, wholesome, good looking, talented and his playing style was way ahead of his time.
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His Stoke side came close to winning the FA Cup and within a whisker of winning the League. He was club captain and THE FIRST NAME ON THE ENGLAND TEAMSHEET! He was even on the cusp of becoming bigger than Stan Matthews!
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John Leonard’s new book “Flight To Bogotá (England’s Football Rebel Neil Franklin)” rightly lays out Franklin’s extraordinary talents and his rise to the top of English football.
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But was it case of fame going to his head? In the late 1940s, as the rest of the country struggled to recover from the tolls of the Second World War, Franklin soon became disgruntled with his lot.
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With England and the English-League sides he became well travelled to the point of complacency. With Stoke he got to play top league football, although they struggled to emulate that 1947 season, which niggled him.
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But he wanted more. Status perhaps, but money mainly. So when a Colombian side offered princely sums, he spurned the opportunity to play for England in the 1950 World Cup (!!) and jumped ship to join an illegal league in Bogotá.
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John Leonard’s book charts in great and fascinating detail this leap of faith that had disaster written all over it.
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Franklin’s arrogance comes bounding forward as he lied to his club then lied to the FA, before going on to make some cringe-worthily dishonest statements to the press that in the cold light of day made him look a complete fool.
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As Leonard relates, he told Stoke he was just wanting to do some “coaching” abroad. He later told the press that the club had approved this when they hadn’t. He told the FA that he wouldn’t play in the World Cup in Brazil because he was staying at home to be with his wife who was expecting their second child.
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He then went on the tortuous trip to Bogotá (five separate plane flights!) dragging his poor pregnant wife & son, sprouting all sorts of nonsense to the press who followed him on the trip.
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On arrival in Bogotá, he (understandably) found it a hell-hole, and not the nirvana he was expecting. Any amount of pre-trip research would have told him that, but instead (as Leonard relates) he took the word of his Columbian contact whom he didn’t even meet until he actually arrived!
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His pregnant wife was now in quite a state – the hot & dirty city was after all 9000ft above sea-level! – and his son went down with dysentery!! Yet one British paper quoted him with the headline: “Franklin: I did it for my wife.”
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But after only a few games he returned to the UK, his career effectively over.
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Leonard’s revelations of the Bogotá jaunt are jaw-dropping. Franklin’s actions and statements at the time totally undermine his credibility and decimate his lack of judgement on all subjects.
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Any justifications for his actions or his views on the game, earnings, contracts, fellow players or managers go completely out the window. The blame he puts on the Stoke board & manager Bob McGrory, for whom he’d been a protege, unravels as he reveals himself to not being a team-player after all.
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This is particularly notable as he seemed to blame everyone but himself. He was even indignant that England didn’t pick him after all this!
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Reading this book you find yourself wondering “What were you thinking??!”, and this is what John Leonard tries to piece together. It is a sobering read that makes you wonder about your own lifetime decisions.
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After Franklin threw away his hero status, he saw out his career in the lower leagues, then running a small hotel and a pub.
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Leonard argues that “though a villain to his shocked critics, [Neil] was arguably a pioneer of the modern game.” Well, he certainly had critics, including the bewildered fans whom he deserted. And whether he was an influence on George Eastham (who later broke up the retain rules) or George Best (who broke every rule in the book) is a matter of argument.
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But John Leonard’s well-researched book is a must-read, with a story you will not forget for a long time.
