Kevin Derek Michael Francis was born on the 6th of December 1967 in Birmingham and was a man mountain of a striker regarded as possibly Stockport County's greatest player of all time. Spotted playing for West Midlands side, Mile Oak Rovers, he signed for Derby County in February 1989, but although he made ten league appearances for them, all of them were as substitute.Danny Bergara spotted him playing a reserve match and immediately wanted to sign him. County paid Derby £45,000 in March 1991and he was an instant success. Now considered a true County legend who in 156 appearances for Stockport County scored an amazing 88 goals. In 1990/1991 he scored twice in the last home game of the season, when County beat Scunthorpe United 5-0 to secure promotion out of the bottom league for the first time in a 21 season stretch in which County had not moved up or down. He also fired County to their first ever Wembley appearance, when he scored in both legs against Burnley in the Northern Final of the Autoglass Trophy. County lost that final to Stoke, but an amazing 8 days later County were back again in the play-off final against Peterborough, which they lost 2-1, but Big Kev scored County's first ever goal at Wembley. County made two more Wembley appearances in the next couple of years which saw 'Big Kev' score his second Wembley goal against Port Vale.
He became one of the most feared strikers in the lower divisions, scoring 28 league goals in consecutive seasons. Kevin recalls his time at Edgeley Park, "I've got wonderful memories of Stockport and the supporters. The feeling of affection was mutual. It was the biggest stage of my life as a person and as a footballer. Andy Preece was my striking partner and we had a little bit of rivalry when it came to scoring goals and that would spur us on."
Kev became only the third player to score 100 goals in all competitions for County, when he scored an overhead kick in front of the Railway End against Port Vale.
Big Kev and County fans thought he had made his final appearance against Bradford City as a substitute, in which he scored, as in January 1995 he was signed for £800,000 by Barry Fry for his hometown club Birmingham City where he enjoyed a successful period, scoring 21 times in 94 appearances. He then moved to Oxford United in February 1998 for £100,000 before he had a second spell back at Stockport whom he signed for in March 2000, but was released at the end of that season after picking up a bad injury against Man City. In 2002, Kevin was voted the player of the century at the Gala Dinner. He is also a member of the official County Hall of Fame.
Kevin played international football for Saint Kitts and Nevis, qualifying through his parents, who were both born on the Caribbean island. He played his first international matches for them in April 1998.
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