Benjamin Francis
Welsh field hockey player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Benjamin Francis (born 20 March 1996) is a Welsh field hockey player who has represented Wales. He competed for Wales at two Commonwealth Games.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
20 March 1996 Wales | |||||||||||||
| Playing position | Forward | |||||||||||||
| Senior career | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Exeter Univ | |||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Reading | |||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Crefelder | |||||||||||||
| 2019–2026 | Wimbledon | |||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Caps | Goals | |||||||||||
| 2015– | Wales | 120 | ||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
Biography
Francis played club hockey for Swansea Bay Hockey Club and went on to gain caps for Wales at U16, U18 and U21 level.[1] He studied Economics at the University of Exeter, where he played club hockey for the University of Exeter Hockey Club.[2]
He made his full Welsh debut against Scotland in 2015 and won a silver medal at the 2017 Sultan of Johor Trophy[1] before joining Reading Hockey Club in the Men's England Hockey League.[1] While at Reading in 2018, he was selected to represent the Welsh team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.[3]
After playing in Dutch league for Crefleder, Francis joined Wimbledon for the 2019–20 season.[4]
Francis was selected to represent Wales again at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham,[5][6] helping his nation to a sixth place finish during the men's tournament after being defeated by New Zealand in the fifth place play off match on 7 August 2022.[7]
In 2023, Francis was part of the Welsh team at the 2023 World Cup, which was the first time in their history that Wales had appeared in the world Cup.[8] Additionally he was part of the Welsh team that played at the 2023 Men's EuroHockey Championship.[9]
In 2025, he helped Wales win the gold medal at the European Championship II, defeating Ireland in the final.[10][11]