Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Francis Benjamin

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. postdlf (talk) 00:44, 14 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Francis Benjamin[edit]

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Contested PROD. Article fails both WP:GNG (due to lack of significant coverage) and WP:NFOOTBALL (has not player at senior international level or in a fully-professional league. Being a squad member of a tournament does not confer notability, as consensus in this AFD from February 2012 and this AFD from June 2012 show. Giant Snowman 19:59, 7 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in WikiProject Football's list of association football-related deletions. Giant Snowman 20:00, 7 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Comment - Are you sure he actually fails WP:NSPORT? He plays in a fully pro league, and it strikes me as odd that he would be called to the national team, especially for a major tournament, before making his club debut. Also, statistics on goal.com default to zero if data is missing or incomplete, so the source listed is far from conclusive. Obviously, I can't verify any of this yet, but definitely think a more thorough search for sources is called for. Sir Sputnik (talk) 20:15, 7 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
No stats at Soccerway though of course that could well be incomplete. Players being called-up to the senior international team with no club appearances is not unheard of, such as Corry Evans. Giant Snowman 20:21, 7 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Wait. Assuming it's correct that he's in the squad for the Confederations Cup, that tournament will be over in three weeks so why not wait until then to decide? At that point, if he played a game in the cup, he's presumed notable per WP:NFOOTY; if he didn't, people will have had more time to research whether or not he's played at a high enough level in Nigeria to qualify via that route. Dricherby (talk) 20:58, 7 June 2013 (UTC) Struck because of new evidence below. Dricherby (talk) 13:40, 8 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

WP:CRYSTAL. Giant Snowman 21:04, 7 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

WP:CRYSTAL is a policy about unverifiable speculation about the future. I am not speculating: in three weeks, we'll know whether he's notable or not. Why not wait until then to decide whether or not to delete the article? Dricherby (talk) 22:07, 7 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Delete - As per above comments. If he does play in the 2013 Confederation Cup and becomes notable, then the article can be recreated. At this point, I see no point to have it. User226 (talk) 21:23, 7 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Keep - Appears to meet notability per Struway2's comments and research below. User226 (talk) 19:49, 8 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Nigeria-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 01:13, 8 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Football-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 01:13, 8 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Sportspeople-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 01:13, 8 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Keep. Passes the football-specific notability guideline by having played since at least February 2011 in the Nigeria Premier League which is listed at WP:FPL. Other mentions in the NPL include July 2012, April 2013, and being one of four "key players" missing Heartland winning the "Super Four" competition, in his case because he was on international duty. This blog speaks of him having a "breakthrough season" in 2012. He was in the provisional squad for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, but didn't make the final cut, and had been included previously in national team squads, e.g. [1]. As such, I'd be surprised if he failed the general notability criteria. The reason he has no stats at Soccerway is that Soccerway doesn't yet do stats for the Nigeria Premier League. cheers, Struway2 (talk) 13:15, 8 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Incidentally, although his surname according to FIFA's Confed Cup squad lists would appear to be Benjamin, he's referred to much more often as Benjamin Francis. cheers, Struway2 (talk) 13:17, 8 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Keep per the presumption of notability by WP:NFOOTY (playing in a fully pro league) as shown by Struway2 above. Dricherby (talk) 13:40, 8 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Keep - It seems someone else beat me to it. Struway's sources show pretty clearly that he's played in the fully pro Nigerian Premier League, meaning the article passes WP:NSPORT. Sir Sputnik (talk) 19:46, 8 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Comment - this player has NOT played in a fully-professional league, see this. Giant Snowman 08:28, 10 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Not sure that an editor querying the value of the reference counts as invalidating the status of the league, but that's just me. Unusually for the list of fully professional leagues, there was a discussion before the NPL was added: please see Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Football/Archive 35#Nigerian Premier League. Unfortunately the link to the NPL website is now dead, but it seemed acceptable at the time. cheers, Struway2 (talk) 08:50, 10 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I've worded it poorly; what I meant to say was that there are doubts about the NPL being FPL. Giant Snowman 09:31, 10 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Keep - as he has played in a fully pro league. Struway's research also indicates that he is close on passing WP:GNG. Mentoz86 (talk) 09:43, 11 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.