Mannes Francken

Who was Mannes Francken?

Mannes Francken was a Dutch football player, who played for HFC.

Francken started out as a goalkeeper, but quickly became a forward. He made his debut for the Netherlands national football team on 1906-04-29, in a 5-0 away defeat to Belgium. He would go on to play 22 caps, scoring 17 goals. The final of these goals, against Belgium on 1913-03-09, made him the all time top scorer for the Netherlands. This record would hold until 1935-11-03, when Beb Bakhuys of HBS Craeyenhout scored his 18th goal for the Dutch national team. Francken is still ranked 11th in the list of all time top scorers.

Francken played his final match for the Netherlands in 1914. He moved to the Dutch East Indies in 1916. Francken died in 1948.

His brothers Harry, Jacques and Peddy Francken also played for HFC.