Interview with Ed Francis: Exeter midfielder reflects on his Man City upbringing, training with Pep Guardiola, and the challenges of non-league heartache

Ed Francis remembers the moment vividly when he first walked into the meeting room. "I was completely stunned," he says. "He was just standing there, and it felt like a surreal experience."

"He was just intense and a really good coach. I didn't get to work that closely with him one-on-one, but I could just see the level of detail he would go into. It was leagues and leagues above.

"He was so passionate, and he'd be stood in the middle of the training pitch telling the boys where to go and where to be. It was quite mind-blowing at the time to be a part of."

There are plenty of stories from Francis - 25 and now at Exeter - from his days at City. He was in the academy there from the age of five until 2019.

There is one chapter that stands out, however: the 2017 FA Youth Cup final.

The result of the second leg was one thing, a 5-1 win for Chelsea over Francis' Manchester City. But the teamsheets were the real story.

On his team: Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho and Brahim Diaz. The head coach? Lee Carsley. Jeremie Frimpong was an unused sub. Francis, that day, was their captain.

On the Chelsea side, there was Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah, Mason Mount, Marc Guehi and Callum Hudson-Odoi. Conor Gallagher was on the bench and didn't get on.

"There are so many of them that I grew up with who are at the top of the game now," Francis recalls.

"It gives me the confidence to think that I am at their level. It gives me belief that I can work my way back up and get to the highest level, because they're doing so well.

"I want to be one of those names that gets spoken about as well as all those boys when people look at that teamsheet.

"I certainly didn't feel out of my depth there."

Francis' journey hasn't been quite as simple as some of his old compatriots.

Craving first-team opportunity, he moved on loan to the Netherlands, before permanent switches to Wolves and then Harrogate Town.

"I'd trained with the first team at City 10 or 15 times, so I got to see the level. That was amazing as an experience, to see how they operated," Francis says.

"But I was just desperate to be a part of a men's team and go and and play week in, week out.

"Hindsight is a beautiful thing, and maybe I'd have done things differently. But it was all part of my journey and has led me to where I am now.

"The different experiences I've had were the things I needed."

Part of that experience was realising how different the facilities were at City to lower down the pyramid.

"City was all I'd known since I was five or six and it was normal to me," Francis says.

"Only when I stepped away did I realise how lucky I was and how good the boys have it there. You've got everything at your fingertips."

But does he regret moving too early? Does he feel he may have been better off staying and training and working his way through those world-class facilities?

Francis is not one to dwell.

"I went on loan when I was 18, which might have been a bit young," he says. "But I was still quite switched on and I knew how hard it would be to break into the first team. My mentality was that I was good enough to go out and play.

"Everybody has a different journey, and that's probably what I've realised in the past couple of years. I like the quote: 'Comparison is the thief of joy'.

"If I compare myself to where Phil or someone is now, I'd probably feel rubbish about it.

"Phil's done magnificently and he's flying now, but he was the only one who really got through.

"I know that my journey is completely different to him and we can't be the same."

Even with a different journey, he may not have expected to spend four seasons in the National League. And after a spell at Notts County, it took him until last season at Gateshead to really start fulfilling his potential and find his game.

"They put me on the pitch and let me express myself, and gave me the freedom and the confidence that I knew I was going to play every week," Francis says.

"By the end of it I was controlling games and it gave me that confidence and allowed me to excel."

But that segment of his journey didn't come without its own bit of heartache.

Gateshead has never been a Football League club, and they were denied the chance of getting there last season after being barred from competing in the play-offs for failing to meet entry criteria to the EFL.

"It was gutting," Francis admits. "A real sore way to go out.

"We didn't know about it. We'd done everything to get as high as we could and we thought we had a really good chance in the play-offs.

"It was a shock when we were told we couldn't play, because it was sort of unheard of.

"It was a real shame not to be able to play. But at least we had the FA Trophy a few weeks later, which at least let us finish the season on a high.

"The team are doing really well this season, so hopefully they can get it done this year."

But among all that, the form Francis showed alerted Exeter City. Now he's playing in League One for the first time in his career.

It is another step along the path which he is determined to follow, back to the highest level.

"I know it sounds crazy to a lot of people," admits Francis. "To say you think you can play in the Premier League when you've just been in the National League.

"But that has always been the dream. That's how I'll live my life day to day, as someone who plays at the top level. Then hopefully if the chance comes I can take it."

It certainly helps that his manager at Exeter, Gary Caldwell, was a late bloomer and riser himself as a player. He was among the key reasons behind Francis' switch to the Grecians.

"The gaffer here said to me before I signed that he was about 28 or 29 when he made his Premier League debut," he says.

"I'm 25 now so that's still a few years away for me. That was one of the main things.

"But one of my main strengths is probably the belief I've always had in myself. I do believe that I can get to the top of the game."

With belief and endeavour, you can get anywhere. Francis would not be the first nor the last to make the journey from non-league to the Premier League. It is certainly worth keeping an eye on.