Francis Jeffers has been lifting the lid on the surprise phone call ahead of his Everton debut and the dilemmas he faced when leaving his boyhood club for Arsenal
Francis Jeffers, and inset, during his playing days at Everton
Francis Jeffers, and inset, during his playing days at Everton
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Francis Jeffers has lifted the lid on the Christmas night phone call from Howard Kendall when he found out he’d be making his Everton debut at Manchester United while admitting that leaving his beloved Blues “killed” his career.
Jeffers made his first-team debut for Everton as a 16-year-old on Boxing Day 1997, replacing captain Dave Watson at the interval.
Speaking on the Wayne Rooney Show for the BBC, the now 45-year-old said: “I never had a mobile phone. It’s Christmas night, I’m just putting a pair of chinos on, I’m just thinking I’ll go have a glass of coke in the Western before I head into town, for a glass of coke in town.
“My mum or dad shouts to me, the house phone has rang and it’s Howard Kendall. I’m thinking: ‘What have I done? I’ve been off for a few days so I can’t have done anything wrong.
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“Howard was unbelievable. I answered the phone and said: ‘Hello boss.’
“He said: ‘How are we son?’ I said: ‘Yeah, I’m all right boss, I’m sound.’ He asks: ‘Have you had a good Christmas?’ I said: ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m just having my dinner.’
“He says: ‘What are you up to tonight?’ So, I said: ‘I’m just going to chill out with the family, that’s it.’ He replies: ‘You’re not. Get yourself to Bellefield, Big Duncan’s not well.’
“I thought: ‘Too right he’s not well, it’s Christmas, he’s not going to be well, is he? He had the same idea as me Dunc!’
“He says: ‘Big Dunc has gone down, we need you in the squad tomorrow. We’re leaving Bellefield at 8 o’clock on Christmas night, and going to a hotel in Manchester.’
“The chinos are off, the Everton trackie is on. There are no mobile phones or nothing, so I think the lads were waiting for me in the Western.
“You couldn’t ring anyone to tell them you weren’t coming. So, I had to get word through a mate, through a mate, through a mate, don’t be waiting there for Franny, he won’t be coming.”
Everton were second bottom of the Premier League at the time but Manchester United, who had been champions for the previous two seasons, were top of the table, boasting a side including the likes of David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Andy Cole, who netted the second goal that day.
Jeffers said: “The next day, I’m on the bench and we’re getting beat 2-0 at Old Trafford. We’re walking back up the tunnel at half-time and Everton hadn’t really had a kick, so Howard said to me: ‘Get yourself ready, you’re going on son.’
“I s**t myself. Excuse my language, but I did. I wasn’t a big kid, I was skinny and a little runt. I remember warming up and looking down at the Man United players and thinking: ‘Wow, look at the size of them.’
“When he said: ‘You’re going on,’ it was like, really, you’ve been dreaming about this your entire life, but now it’s: ‘I’m not sure you know, can we wait until next week when we’ve got Bolton at home.’
“He puts me on, 2-0 down, and we end up losing the game 2-0. A dream had come true.”
Francis Jeffers celebrates scoring during the match between Everton and Charlton Athletic at Goodison Park on April 24, 1999
Francis Jeffers celebrates scoring during the match between Everton and Charlton Athletic at Goodison Park on April 24, 1999(Image: David Davies/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
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Jeffers made 60 appearances and scored 20 goals for Everton before making an £8million transfer to Arsenal in June 2001 aged 20. He recalled the circumstances of the move while revealing that he was in an interesting location when he was told it was about to happen.
The star, who attended De La Salle School in Croxteth like Rooney, said: “I did have a mobile by this point. I was actually in BCM nightclub in Magaluf.
“That’s where I was when I was told that this deal is happening at Arsenal, so you better get home. I said: ‘Can it wait until tomorrow? The foam has just come on!’
“It had been mooted and it was tough because I’m a massive Evertonian. I just am, like him (points at Rooney), we’re Everton people, our families are Everton people, we love Everton.
“But at the time, it needed money. Every summer there was a sale, or two.
“It happened to be me, Michael Ball and Richard Dunne. Three younger boys who had come through the academy, who were probably the most saleable assets there. The club needed money to stay afloat. It’s just the way it was.
“I tried to agree a new deal with Everton. I think they knew as well they were probably going to have to cash in.
“If I was going to leave Everton, I wasn’t going to anyone who, no disrespect, was mediocre. I wanted to go and play for the best.
“If it wasn’t Man United or Arsenal, I was probably going to stay at Everton. I told the club that I thought I was at a stage in my career where if I was leaving my boyhood club, and the place where I wanted to be – and I did want to be at Everton – then I was only leaving for the best.”
Rooney, who would depart Everton in even more acrimonious circumstances three years later, explained the difficulty for players such as Jeffers and himself departing the Blues and said: “It’s so tough to leave.
“Everyone around you, your family, your mates, the area you’re from, their dream is to play for Everton. You’ve got it there and you’re leaving, it’s so difficult.”
Arsenal's new signings in 2001: Francis Jeffers, Sol Campbell, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Junichi Inamoto and Richard Wright
Arsenal's new signings in 2001: Francis Jeffers, Sol Campbell, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Junichi Inamoto and Richard Wright(Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
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Jeffers, who later returned to Everton on loan, said: “I went and met David Dein and Arsene Wenger, the deal is quickly done and I’m an Arsenal player. It was tough, I remember being in the car with my mum and dad leaving Highbury and I felt real happiness but also a lot of sadness.
“That Everton badge that meant so much to me. I wasn’t wearing that anymore, I was now an Arsenal player.
“You know what I found really tough, it was the stick that I got. Your own people that loved you yesterday now hated you.
“Hate is a strong word, they probably disliked you, or didn’t like what you’d done. But, listen, it wasn’t solely my decision to leave Everton Football Club.
“I do regret it a little bit. I think it killed my career.
“I had to back myself. I just watched Arsenal lose to Liverpool in the FA Cup final when Michael Owen scored. Arsenal battered them and the deal was close to be doing done then.
“I remember thinking: ‘Wow, you’ll get some chances in that team.’ I forgot that Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Kanu and Sylvain Wiltord were all thinking the same.
“I went in there as a young lad with big shoulders, thinking: ‘I’ll get someone out of the team.’”