Francis Stephenson - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Francis Stephenson is an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

former rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

footballer, and now the Operations Director at Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional rugby league club that plays in the European Super League and is based in Wakefield. They achieved promotion in 1999 and have remained in the League since. They are known to their fans as Wakey, Trinity, Wildcats, or historically The Dreadnoughts...

.

He retired from playing during the 2007 close season. He retires after playing in Hull K.R's promotion season in NL1

On signing in late 2005 Rovers made what they called a sensational swoop when the signed Stephenson from London Broncos a Super League star & club captain Yorkshire man Francis Stephenson put pen to paper on a two-year deal with the Robins. Francis nicknamed the colonel is a natural leader and has a presence on the pitch in the way he works with the team and in the changing rooms too.

Francis played his early rugby at Dewsbury Moor RLFC and impressed enough to represent England schools in 1992. His most memorable career moment came at Wakefield Trinity

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

, when he scored the match winning try in the 1998 NFP Grand Final, a try that ultimately took Wakefield Trinity

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

into Super League.

Francis enjoyed two exceptional seasons in Super League, which resulted in selection for the England World Cup squad in 2000. A transfer to Wigan Warriors

Wigan Warriors

Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....

on the back of these fine performances followed but his period at the JJB was hindered by injury problems.
A move to London Broncos came in 2002 and Stephenson soon established himself as a prominent member of the Broncos pack.

Soon after retiring he took up the role of General Manager at Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, following the departure of the previous Chief Executive.

Within months of this appointment he was also instated as Team Manager of the England U18's team on their 2008 tour of Australia.

Away from Rugby League he continues to manage his own web design agency Buffalo Creative Media which he launched during the later stages of his playing career. Although not directly responsible for the day to day running any more he still takes a very active interest in its success.

First Division Grand Final Appearances

Francis Stephenson played Loosehead-, i.e. number 8, and scored the match winning try

Try

A try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...

in Wakefield Trinity

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

’s 24-22 victory over Featherstone Rovers

Featherstone Rovers

Featherstone Rovers are a semi-professional rugby league club, based in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. They currently play in the Championship. The Rovers are one of the last vestiges of "small town teams" that were once common in rugby league during the early twentieth century...

in the 1998 First Division Grand Final at McAlpine Stadium

Galpharm Stadium

The Galpharm Stadium, formerly the Alfred McAlpine Stadium, is a multi-use sports in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of Huddersfield Town and Super League side, Huddersfield Giants.-The Stadium:...

, Huddersfield

Huddersfield

Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....

on the 26th September 1998.

Financial Crisis At Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

In 2000, at the height of a financial crisis at Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, the contracts of all players aged over 24 were terminated during September 2000. The players affected were; Andy Fisher

Andy Fisher

Andy Fisher is a professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s, and coach of the 2000s who at club level has played for Hull, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, and Dewsbury Rams, playing at , or , i.e...

, Bobbie Goulding

Bobbie Goulding

Bobbie Goulding is an English rugby league football coach and former player. He is currently the French national team's head coach....

, Warren Jowitt

Warren Jowitt

Warren Jowitt is a professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s, and coach of the 2000s who at club level has played for Stanley Rangers, Bradford Bulls, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, Salford City Reds, Hull, and Dewsbury Rams, playing at , i.e...

, Tony Kemp

Tony Kemp

Tony Kemp is a former New Zealand rugby league test representative and former coach of the New Zealand Warriors. He currently is a commentator for Māori Televisions coverage of the Auckland Rugby League competition and also serves on the NZRL Board.-Early years:Kemp was born in Whangarei but...

(player-coach), Steve McNamara

Steve McNamara

Steve McNamara is an English professional rugby league football coach and former player. He is currently coach of the England national team.-International honours:...

, Francis Maloney

Francis Maloney (rugby league)

Francis Maloney is an English rugby league player for the Batley Bulldogs in National League One. He plays as a stand-off and can operate as a centre...

, Martin Masella

Martin Masella

Martin Masella is a former rugby league player.Martin Masella was a Tonga international and played at the 1995 and captained his country in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup...

, Steve Prescott

Steve Prescott

Stephen Prescott MBE , is an English former rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s.Son of Eric Prescott, a formidable forward with St Helens in the 1970s, Steve Prescott played for St. Helens in the Rugby League Premiership and the Super League, and for Hull and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats...

, Bright Sodje

Bright Sodje

Bright Ojamohare Sodje is a 6'5 retired dual-code rugby player, who played for rugby league clubs Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, Hull Kingston Rovers and Sheffield Eagles in England as well as rugby union for Wakefield RFC....

, Francis Stephenson, and Glen Tomlinson

Glen Tomlinson

Glen Tomlinson is a former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s who at club level has played for Caboolture, Batley Bulldogs , Bradford Bulls, Hull, and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, playing at , i.e...

Genealogical Information

Francis Stephenson is the son of Nigel Stephenson

Nigel Stephenson

Nigel Stephenson is an English former professional rugby league footballer of the 1960s, '70s and '80s, and coach of the 1980s and '90s who at representative level has played for England, and Yorkshire, and at club level for , Dewsbury , Bradford Northern, Carlisle, Wakefield Trinity, and York,...

, the former for Dewsbury

Dewsbury Rams

Dewsbury Rams RLFC is a professional rugby league club based in the West Yorkshire town of Dewsbury. They are arguably most famous for becoming Champions in 1972-73 after finishing the regular season in 8th place. In the playoffs they beat Featherstone away, Warrington away, and then Leeds in the...

, Bradford

Bradford Bulls

Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....

, Carlisle RLFC

Carlisle RLFC

Carlisle RLFC were a rugby league team based in Carlisle, Cumbria.-Early rugby league in Carlisle:Carlisle City, based at Harraby Greyhound Stadium close to Gillford Park, were admitted to the Northern Rugby Football Union for the 1928-29 season. They withdrew on November 8, 1928 after only ten...

, Wakefield Trinity

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

, York

York City Knights

York City Knights Rugby League Club is a British professional rugby league club hailing from York. They play at the Huntington Stadium, situated to the north of York city centre...

, Yorkshire, and England

England national rugby league team

The England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league football tournaments. The team has now seen a revival, having largely formed from the Great Britain team, who also represented Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The team is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football...

, but is not a relative of Nigel Stephenson

Nigel Stephenson

's fellow Dewsbury

Dewsbury Rams

1973 Rugby Football League Championship winner Mike "Stevo" Stephenson

Mike Stephenson

Michael "Mike" Stephenson, also commonly known as Stevo, is an English Rugby League World Cup winning Rugby League, and presenter/commentator on British satellite television channel Sky Sports who also represented Great Britain in the sport.Stevo, the nickname that he is commonly known as on TV...

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.