Former Arsenal flop Francis Jeffers was once seen as one of the golden boys in the Premier League, but is now looking to kickstart his coaching career in the fifth tier.
Jeffers burst onto the scene with Everton after breaking into the team in 1997, making his debut as a half-time substitute against Manchester United. It took himself until the following season to score his first goal for the Toffees, going on to notch five more in the top-flight that campaign.
In total, Jeffers scored 20 times in 60 games before he rejected the offer of a new contract and decided to complete a dream move to Arsenal. Having enjoyed a bright start to his career, his decision to head to Highbury proved to be disastrous.
It cost the Gunners £8million to sign him from Everton, money that ended up being a waste. Injuries and competition from the likes of Thierry Henry and Sylvain Wiltord were the biggest obstacles to a successful spell.
He made just 22 Premier League appearances during his four-year spell with Arsenal. And the Englishman would later admit that he was simply not able to live up to the standards expected.
“I was out partying, living life, tossing it off in training because I always thought I wouldn’t play Saturday anyway. Now, I look back with a lot of regrets. That is where I should have been putting it in more. Wenger gave me a fair crack of the whip," he said in 2014.
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"I haven’t got a bad word to say about him. He tells you how it is, one of the only managers I played for who did. He said there were things going on in my head that shouldn’t have been and that it was an important time in my career.
"I am not saying I threw it all away, because I had a decent career. I fulfilled a lot of ambitions but I always say it, I know how much ability I had. I’m not soft. I know how good a player I was. One England cap wasn’t enough."
That England cap came in 2003, in the same match that Wayne Rooney made his debut for the Three Lions. While Rooney is now England's record goalscorer, it was Jeffers who netted in the defeat to Australia.
At the time, Jeffers was on loan at Everton, making 22 appearances and scoring twice. Wenger insisted the decision to send him back to Goodison Park was the right one to hand him more game-time.
"I wanted to give Franny an opportunity to play, to go back to his old environment and to gain confidence again. He has made one step forward in that he has not been injured for a long time. I am sure that if he stays without injury he can come back to his best," he said.
After falling out with David Moyes and returning to Arsenal, he was sold to Charlton Athletic for £2.6m. Again, Jeffers struggled to make an impact, scoring five times in his first season before spending his second campaign at the Addicks on loan at Rangers.
Having failed to score for the Scottish giants, Blackburn Rovers was his next stop, though he spent six months of it on loan at Ipswich Town. He was able to find form at the Trotters, scoring four times in nine appearances.
He left Blackburn after just a year, with Sheffield Wednesday providing his next opportunity. Jeffers was finally granted a consistent run, making 60 appearances during his three seasons at Hillsbrough.
Again though, he failed to hit the back of the net on a regular basis, with just five goals coming in his time at the Owls. In truth, that was the end of his career at an elite level, with short spells in Australia, Scotland and Malta next for Jeffers as his time in the sport wound down.
His final club was Accrington Stanley, who he scored two goals in seven games for before being released. Having failed to find a new club, Jeffers retired at the early age of 30, moving instead into coaching.
He returned to Everton to join their academy coaching staff in 2016, working closely with David Unsworth. The former striker gained his first taste of senior coaching at Ipswich Town last year, linking up with Paul Cook.
That spell would last just six months though before Cook and his entire backroom team were sacked. Now, Jeffers is back in football, this time with National League side Oldham Athletic.
Unsworth was this week appointed as their new manager, with Jeffers coming in as his first-team coach. The former Everton coach admitted his delight at finally getting his chance as a senior manager.
"This is a blank sheet of paper for me. I've been asked to come for period of time and build the football side back up but also to build an infrastructure. It's so appealing for a young coach to be able to do that at a club with the potential that this one has," he said.
Jeffers will be hoping his spell at Boundary Park goes much better than his time at Ipswich or Arsenal. Oldham are currently a lowly 14th in the National League, with Unsworth and his team facing a tough battle to rise back up the table.
