Ben Francis is showing The Athletic a photograph on his phone, but he can’t quite pinpoint when it was taken, so pings off a text to his father seeking clarification.
It turns out that the photo, which has a young Francis and his brother Joe wearing Aston Villa training gear, was taken in the early 2000s. Gary Shaw, the team’s former European Cup winner, is also pictured with each of the brothers.
Satisfied, the 32-year-old scrolls further through his camera roll.
“This one’s from Wembley when we got promoted,” he says, showing a video of him and his Canadian wife, Robin, jumping up and down after Villa secured promotion to the Premier League against Derby Country in 2019. “That was an amazing day. My wife didn’t know what was going on, but she has to be a Villa fan now.
“Our boys are 18 months old now. This season might be a little bit early for them, but as soon as they’re old enough to take it in, I’ll get season tickets and take them to Villa Park all the time.”
Ben Francis (right) and his brother Joe (left) with Gary Shaw
On this Monday afternoon, Francis, the founder of Gymshark, an exercise gear firm, has extended an invitation to The Athletic.
Even though its beginning is generally known, it is nevertheless amazing. Equipped with a sewing machine and a screen printer, Francis launched Gymshark in his parents’ garage when he was a teenager. After 13 years, he is seated at the main office of his company, which is located in Solihull, near the M42. The company employs over 900 people, who work in offices spread throughout five areas, including Colorado and Denver.
The buildings in Solihull are grand and striking. Modern workspaces, benches, coffee shops, and an open-concept, lively environment are all there, and the company’s global operations are managed from here. Gymshark has approximately 18 million social media followers overall, and its clothing is available in 230 countries.
Forbes estimates that in August 2020, Francis sold a twenty-one percent ownership to the U.S. private equity firm General Atlantic for $300 million (£235 million), valuing the company at $1.45 billion. Francis, who was awarded an MBE in 2023 for his achievements to the business sector, is reportedly still the company’s 70% owner. With an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion, he was placed 2,259th on Forbes’ list of the richest people in the world as of April 2023.
Today, however, Francis is here to talk about Villa.
“My dad and grandparents wouldn’t let me be anything else,” he says. “My grandparents would tell me stories about going down to the Villa even before every stand had been built; back in the day when it was literally just a hill.”
Gymshark’s quick rise to prominence has helped both the company and Francis, who is beginning to rank among Villa’s many well-known admirers, get recognition. He beams and says that his “goal” is to be a part of a club marketing campaign similar to Black Sabbath’s participation in this year’s viral kit launch.
Francis has an anticipated net worth of $1.3bn (Ben Francis)
After receiving his MBE, he tells about seeing fellow supporter William, Prince of Wales, and they have a brief conversation about Villa. Francis felt less anxious when they talked about how much they loved each other.
“It made me realise he’s genuinely a massive Villa fan,” he says. “I was stood getting my MBE with my mum, dad and wife behind me, chatting to the future king of England about the Villa game on the weekend; it was very cool.”
Time is a valuable resource when you are raising two young boys and the CEO of a company valued at over a billion pounds. A third kid is due soon.
Francis used to hold a season ticket to Villa Park, but his appearance there has decreased due to increased job responsibilities during the Martin O’Neill period. Francis looks back nostalgically on his best days from the Trinity Road Stand, before going to the Doug Ellis with his father and brother.
“You always had the characters where we sat,” he says. “You would have the quiet people or the bloke that would constantly be moaning.
“My dad would tell me about those times in the 1980s when we won in Europe. My nan worked at Safeway and David James went through her till. I remember her telling me and it was the coolest thing ever to think that my nan had served David James at Safeway.
“My early Villa memories would be John Gregory as manager. I remember the LDV logos on shirts and Dion Dublin was my favourite player. The point where I was properly immersed was under O’Neill.”
Villa’s chairman Doug Ellis, Dublin and Gregory (Tony Marshall/EMPICS via Getty Images)
There has never been just football, just what happens on the field. Other intangibles come to mind, such the people you sit with, your typical matchday activities, or, in Francis’ case, the parking spot his father used.
“We would just leg it through the church after the game to get to the car park on the other side,” Francis adds. “We would be chasing Dad because it was chaos. The car park was an industrial estate they closed off on the weekend. We’d walk past the bloke shouting ‘Heroes and Villains!’ and he’d have the magazines out.
“Going to Villa was just a really nice thing that I, my dad and brother could do every other weekend together.”
13 miles outside of Birmingham’s downtown, near Bromsgrove, is where Francis was reared. At Bromsgrove Town, where he played as a right-back or right-winger, depending on the manager, his playing career began and ended.
Football rivalries among school buddies resulted from living on the outskirts of the city; he believes there was a widespread divide between “Villa and Blues.”
“There were a few Wolves and (West Bromwich) Albion supporters, but not many of them,” he says. “You always get the oddballs that supported Manchester United, despite living nowhere near. When I was older, I started to go to games on my own. Gabby Agbonlahor was a legend. We played Blues at St Andrew’s and Gabby scored right at the end and I was there.
“I couldn’t celebrate because I’d gone in in the Blues end. My dad told me before: ‘Whatever happens, do not let anyone know that you’re a Villa fan’. So when Gabby scored I just stood there like this (he puts his hands straight to his side). All the Blues fans were going wild but I was sat there laughing under my breath.”
Agbonlahor scores at Birmingham City (Ian Kington/AFP via Getty Images)
Francis recalls those Midlands derby days, far more frequent then than now, with fondness.
Brother Joe remains a season ticket holder in The Holte End, while the 32-year-old, due to work and family commitments, was unable to witness last season’s eye-catching campaign. “From the age of 21 to 27, I would travel non-stop,” he says. “In our busiest year, I did 53 long-haul flights. But wherever I am, I’ll always watch the Villa.
“Last year, me and Noel (Mack, Gymshark’s chief brand manager) were working in Florida and we set a time in the day when we’d go to a sports bar and watch Villa. They didn’t actually play the game on TV in the end! I don’t get to go as much, but because I’m sat on a plane, I’ll just be there watching Villa YouTube videos or reading about them.”
Francis, in contrast to Prince William, has only had a fleeting encounter with Villa’s players—dating back to the premiere of Peaky Blinders. The topic of discussion turns to Ollie Watkins’ spectacular comeback against The Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semifinal.
“When Ollie scored that goal, I dropped him a message afterwards and said well done,” he says. “It was late so our kids had gone to bed. When he scored I wanted to scream, but I just couldn’t, so I sat there and, honestly, I could have been in tears.
“Ollie comes across as such a good bloke and it’s great to have watched him come to Villa, find his confidence and with Unai (Emery) coming in, he’s just gone to another level.”
Francis’ nous in business cannot be understated.
He left Aston University in 2010, where he was majoring in business and management, to devote all of his attention to Gymshark. The foundation of the business’s expansion has been its innovative brand awareness, superior clothing, and inventiveness. Francis has been more aware of Villa’s business development as a result, seeing that the team’s success is largely dependent on what occurs on the field.
“At Villa it seems like there are two separate businesses,” he says. “You’ve got the football side where you have to deliver results and it feels like the second half of the business — the commercial side — cannot succeed if the football doesn’t.
“But what the owners seem to have done is invest simultaneously in the football and commercially. Villa have always punched above their weight in kit sales and brand awareness. It is a massive club and it’s nice to see the results on the pitch are backing up Villa’s size.”
Watkins scores the goal that sends England to the final of Euro 2024 (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Would Francis be involved in any way with Villa? Having a role in your boyhood club or owning a piece of it has a certain romantic appeal.
“I’m a lifelong fan. I would love to do more and be involved with Villa,” he says. “I don’t know what that means or what it may be, but I just love Villa. Unfortunately, some of my mates are still Blues fans, but we all make mistakes.
“My brother got married the other week and we had his stag a few months earlier, with 15 people there; 13 were Villa fans, one didn’t follow football and the other was a Blues fan. All 13 of us are so optimistic about how the club is under the manager and owners.”
Francis plans to travel to Europe this year, despite his busy schedule, to “listen live” to the Champions League hymn. The Athletic makes the argument that this is a fantastic time for his kids to grow up in, encouraging them to reject the need to root for anybody else.
He shakes his head.
“They wouldn’t be allowed to support anyone else anyway. My dad bought them Villa kits for the day they were born — they’ll absolutely be Villa fans.”
(Top photo: Ben Francis)
