IF the Conference South turned him into an ugly centre-half then it is the international stage where Fraser Franks is showing his footballing intelligence.
Released by Brentford, Franks was part of Terry Brown’s AFC Wimbledon side that famously won promotion to the Football League.
But a knee injury that ruled him out of the run-in and subsequent play-off final against Luton was to prove the catalyst for him to take a step back a season later with first team chances at a premium.
Loan spells at Hayes & Yeading and Newport County led to a frustrated Franks leaving the Dons for Welling and part-time football to “rebuild his career”.
Turning down better and higher offers, Franks signed for Jamie Day’s Wings and has barely looked back with a title, selection in the league’s Team of the Season, a first call-up for England C – as well a cracked rib, bruised lung and nose thrown in for good measure.
This year he’s continued where he left off with impressive performances for the Skrill Premier new boys and now a second England cap on Tuesday night.
“Paul Fairclough spoke to me when we joined up on Sunday because he’d been talking to Terry Brown about me,” Franks says in England’s Guildford hotel the day before playing Czech Republic.
“It took me about ten games to get into the Wimbledon team and then when I did I played 25 games in a row before a bad knee injury which kept me out for seven or eight months.
“When I did get back I was even more eager to play games rather than waste my time to sit on the bench. Eight months out is 30 or 40 games I don’t have in my career that other people have.
“I spoke to Browny when I was at Wimbledon and he was kind enough to let me go. I had the option to stay but he let me go for free and start rebuilding my career. Terry Brown said to Paul that maybe my downfall is I do want to play every week rather than be patient.
“I’ve learnt that lesson and in the future I know I’ll probably have to be more patient than I was at Wimbledon.”
The 23-year-old used those same high expectations to make sure he didn’t slip into the football oblivion like so many others.
“Since I was 16 I’d been full-time so it was tough,” he says. “It’s almost like you have too much time to think. I didn’t want to go out and get a job and become that typical Non-League footballer.
“I would make sure I was up at 7.30am and making the most of the day. I spoke to a couple of boys who had gone from full-time football – especially boys out of youth teams – and they sit in doors all day playing FIFA.
“I would go up the park by myself and that’s tough because you want to be around the boys. But I did what I had to do. I wanted to better myself off the pitch.
“We train three days a week now at?Welling so it feels more like full-time and I love it.”
Franks has made other lifestyle changes – “It’s not a big sacrifice but I’ve cut out nights out” – and he says he feels a better player at Premier level than the last time round.
On Tuesday he put another feather in his cap with a first England C goal as well as finishing the game with the captain’s armband after Jamie Turley’s substitution.
“The gaffer at Welling has been on at me to score more goals from set-pieces so I don’t know what he’s going to say now,” says Franks, who has attracted interest from League One Stevenage and Colchester.
“It’s good that we showed character in the second-half, the subs made a good impact and we’re pleased with the draw.”
