Trevor Francis, the former England forward who became the first £1m player in British football history, has passed away at the age of 69.
His family confirmed that he died of a heart attack in Spain, where he spent half of his time. He had suffered a heart attack 11 years ago and had kept himself fit with daily power walks.
Francis was a prolific striker who scored 12 goals in 52 appearances for England, including two at the 1982 World Cup. He also had a successful managerial career, leading Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City to major finals.
He started his playing career at Birmingham City in 1970, making his debut at 16. He scored 133 goals in 328 games for the Blues, becoming the youngest player to score four times in a Football League match in 1971.
In 1979, he made history when he joined Nottingham Forest for £1.15m, although his manager Brian Clough insisted the fee was £999,999 to ease the pressure on him. He repaid the investment by scoring the only goal in the 1979 European Cup final against Malmo, securing Forest’s first continental trophy. He missed the following year’s final win over Hamburg due to injury.
He left Forest in 1981 and joined Manchester City, before moving to Italy where he played for Sampdoria and Atalanta. He won the Coppa Italia with Sampdoria in 1985. He then had spells with Rangers and QPR, where he became player-manager in 1988.
He joined Sheffield Wednesday as a player in 1990 and took over as manager from Ron Atkinson in 1991. He guided the Owls to third place in the old First Division and seventh place in the inaugural Premier League season. He also led them to the FA Cup and League Cup finals in 1993, losing both to Arsenal.
He left Wednesday in 1995 and returned to Birmingham City as manager in 1996. He took them to three play-off campaigns and the 2001 League Cup final, where they lost to Liverpool on penalties. He left St Andrew’s in 2001 and had a brief spell at Crystal Palace before retiring from management in 2003.
His former clubs and teammates paid tribute to him on social media, expressing their shock and sadness at his death.
“Nottingham Forest is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of two-time European Cup winner, Trevor Francis,” Forest wrote on Twitter. “A true Forest legend who will never be forgotten.”
Birmingham City tweeted: “We are deeply saddened by the news. He represented Blues on 330 occasions, scoring 133 goals.”
Gary Lineker, who played with Francis for England, wrote: “Deeply saddened to hear that Trevor Francis has died. A wonderful footballer and lovely man. Was a pleasure to work alongside him both on the pitch and on the telly. RIP Trevor.”
Peter Shilton, who played with Francis for Forest and England, wrote: “I’m absolutely devastated to hear about my old teammate Trevor Francis such a wonderful gentleman a friend and a terrible loss.”