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Who Is Francis ' Frank' Fielding? - RamZone Player Profile
Who Is Francis ' Frank' Fielding? - RamZone Player Profile
Monday, 28th Feb 2011 11:45 by Daniel J Sewart

He is happy to be back and Rams fans are more than happy to have him back. Fielding went straight between the posts for the Rams victory on Saturday but what do you really know about our returning hero.

Francis David "Frank" Fielding was born on the 4th of April of 1988 in Blackburn Lancashire and came through the ranks at Blackburn as a product of Rovers academy.

Standing at 6’1” he got his first real taste of first team football when he joined Wycombe Wanderers in league 2 in 2007 on a three-month loan. Wanderers were having a terrible run of luck with major injuries to all of their keeper options (sound familiar?).

Fielding kept a clean sheet on debut and made such an impression that his loan was extended until the end of the 07/08 season. Such was his form in goal, once the clubs regular keepers had returned from injury; they were unable to displace him from the team.

In the 08/09 season he looked for more football at Northampton Town where he made 12 appearances over the 3 months he spent with the club.

For the rest of the 08/09 season Fielding was loaned to Rochdale where he was instrumental in the club reaching the play-offs. Unfortunately they lost to Gillingham in the semi-finals.

During the 09/10 season Fielding joined Leeds United on a one-month emergency loan and during that time was called up to England under-21 team.

Once the month at Leeds was up Fielding returned to Rochdale on loan until the end of the 2009–10 season and once again was a major influence in the club finishing third and this time round promotion to League One.

2010–11 started as it had been in his time at Blackburn finding himself third choice keeper with Paul Robinson firmly entrenched as number one.

Fielding issued a "come-and-get-me" plea to the Championship as rumours of interest from the Rams surfaced - "It is the worst feeling when you are training all week and not playing - so if anyone wants me on loan, I'm available!"

The rumours became reality as he joined Derby on a four-week emergency loan on 15 October 2010. Stephen Bywater was injured and Fielding went straight into the squad for the home match against Preston North End  in which he kept a clean sheet as the Rams had a comfortable 3–0 win.

The loan was extended for an additional month on until December and on returning to Blackburn his seven appearances had included three clean sheets, 15 points from a possible 21 and the Rams sitting fourth on the table.

Fielding returned to Blackburn and again was without regular football until the Rams came knocking again for his services.

At international level he has played for the England U19’s (2 appearances) and U21’s (8 appearances) for whom he is currently the first choice keeper.

Speaking to the DCFC official site after the loan signing was finalised, Frank was happy to be back and straight into the action:

"It is great to come back and see everyone again, I didn't need much persuading to come back because I had a great time here before, and the set-up is probably the best outside the Premiership.” 

"It will be easy to settle in because I know everyone around the place, other than one or two new faces. It will be even easier to settle back in if we get a win on Saturday.” 

"I haven't had any game time since I went back to Blackburn, so I'm dying to play regularly again." 

"It is a big game, but everyone has to remember we have 13 games left after tomorrow, so everything doesn't rest on this game. Obviously it will be massive for us if we win, but we have to keep our focus, not get carried away and do our best over the 90 minutes."

Nigel Clough was pleased that Fielding answered the call in the clubs time of need:

"We are delighted to have brought Frank back to the club and he will go straight into the team (against Sheffield United) on Saturday." 

"We know all about Frank and he knows about us, so it's an obvious choice and we are really pleased to have got this one over the line as there were a number of other Championship teams who wanted to take him."

Rams coach Martin Taylor had nothing but praise for the player:

"As we said when Frank first arrived, we've been interested in him for a while and we believe he has everything required to be a goalkeeper.” 

"Frank is brave, talks well and he kicks well, so he can be everything he wants to be in the future. He has a real willingness to learn, as well as an air of confidence about him, and I'm looking forward to working with him again.”

"It is unfortunate for Stephen and Saul they are injured right now, but the benefit for us is that Frank has been here before and he can slot straight in." 

"It wouldn't be fair on Ross (Atkins) or James (Severn) to chuck them in against Sheffield United or Doncaster on Tuesday because the games are massive. We needed someone with a bit of something about them to make a difference, which Frank can do."

RamZone wish Frank Fielding all the best on his return to DCFC and hope he can continue the talent that was once again on display against the Blades.

Plus I think I speak for many Rams fans when I say that hopefully this time around it leads to a more permanent arrangement. If we are building for the future, the likes of Fielding are the type of foundation on which to build.

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