Franklin April (18 April 1984 – 18 October 2015) was a

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

n football defender who played for FC Civics and the

Namibia national football team The Namibia national football team represents Namibia in men's international football and is controlled by the Namibia Football Association. They have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup but have made four appearances in the Africa Cup of ...

Club career

Nicknamed ''Piele'', April was born in

Khomasdal Khomasdal is a suburb of Namibia's capital of Windhoek in the Khomas Region. Founded as Windhoek's residential area for Coloured people, Khomasdal still is primarily composed of Coloured people. In October 2006, the City of Windhoek announc ...

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

, and started playing football as a striker and he was called-up for the national Olympic team in 2000. He was spotted and subsequently signed by

Civics In the field of political science, civics is the study of the civil and political rights and obligations of citizens in a society. The term ''civics'' derives from the Latin word ''civicus'', meaning "relating to a citizen". In U.S. politics ...

, winning three back-to-back Premiership titles with the club between 2005 and 2007. He remained at the club for the entirety of his career, retiring after the 2013/14 season.

International career

He was a part of the Namibia squad at the

2008 African Cup of Nations The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated with the Confeder ...

and earned 20 caps, scoring no goals.

Personal life

April died from an asthma attack in October 2015. He was survived by his fiancée Blanche Wimmert and three daughters. He was self-empoyed and worked in the retail business.

Honours

Civics *

Namibia Premier Football League The Namibia Premiership, or the Debmarine Namibia Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of domestic association football in Namibia. It operates under the auspices of the Namibia Football Association. History After ongoi ...

: 2005, 2006, 2007 *

NFA Cup The Namibia FA Cup (''Namibia Football Association Cup''), officially Bidvest Namibia Cup, is an association football tournament for Namibian club The competition was relaunched in 2024, following a number of years of inactivity due to the unavail ...

: 2003, 2008

References

External links

Player profile
* 1984 births 2015 deaths Footballers from Windhoek Men's association football defenders Namibian men's footballers Namibia men's international footballers 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Bucks Buccaneers FC players Namibia Premier League players 21st-century Namibian sportsmen {{Namibia-footy-bio-stub