Bristol City teenager scores against his own club after Portsmouth borrowed him for their friendly

Can we have our player back? Bristol City lend short-handed Portsmouth Marlee Francois for their pre-season friendly against each other… before Aussie youngster comes on and EQUALISES against his own club

  • Bristol City loaned Marlee Francois to Portsmouth for their friendly on Tuesday
  • The 18-year-old was allowed to play for Pompey with the visitors low on numbers
  • With the game extended to 120 minutes, he was sent on for the last half an hour
  • But 11 minutes into his brief loan, Francois equalised against parent club Bristol

Bristol City may consider being so generous in the future after they allowed a short-handed Portsmouth to borrow one of their own players in a pre-season friendly against them… before he then went on to bizarrely scored an equaliser. 

The Robins welcomed Pompey to their training ground for a pre-season game on Tuesday, which saw the League One side struggle to make up the numbers for the match.

As a gesture of good-will, Bristol City said they could borrow winger Marlee Francois for the game – a decision they would hilariously later regret.

Bristol City loaned Marlee Francois to Portsmouth for their pre-season friendly on Tuesday

With the move sanctioned for the one game, the two teams played out a thrilling contest, with Portsmouth’s Gassan Yahyai scoring a first-half brace before the Robins roared back to take a 3-2 lead in the second half.

And with the friendly being played over 120 minutes, Portsmouth decided to throw on Bristol’s Francois for the remaining half an hour. 

Just 11 minutes into the shortest of all loans, 18-year-old Francois popped up with the equalising goal against his own club to make it 3-3 on the day in bizarre circumstances.

The Robins winger was allowed to play for Pompey with the visitors low on numbers

The Robins winger was allowed to play for Pompey with the visitors low on numbers

With no footage from the match, each club’s Twitter channels reporting on the match couldn’t believe their eyes. 

Bristol City’s Twitter page tweeted: ‘Goal: Marlee Francois has scored for Portsmouth. Yes, you read that correctly.’

While Portsmouth reported: ‘Marlee Francois marks the world’s shortest loan deal with a goal. 

‘After excellent work from a trialist on the break, the Bristol City forward – filling in for the Blues following an injury – scores during his cameo.’ 

Both club's Twitter account were left in disbelief when reporting on the pre-season friendly

Both club’s Twitter account were left in disbelief when reporting on the pre-season friendly

The Australian teenager only signed his first professional contract with the Robins back in March and is keen to continue progressing at the Championship club.

‘It’s a great moment for my family and it’s something I’ve been working for my whole life. I’m honoured it’s with such a great club Bristol City,’ he said at the time.

‘My brother and I were always practising in the garden, always driving each other to get to the next level. It’s always been our dream to become professional footballers.’

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