Martin O’Neill on ‘terrific’ Trevor Francis: ‘He was an avid Rangers fan but it didn’t stop us from proper friendship’
Trevor Francis and Martin O'Neill (inset) won the European Cup together at Nottingham Forest
Trevor Francis
Martin O'Neill
Martin O’Neill has paid tribute to Nottingham Forest teammate Trevor Francis, who died yesterday.
He described British football’s first £1m player as “very funny and dry-witted”.
O’Neill was on the bench when Francis scored the winner for Forest in the 1979 European Cup final.
He died at the age of 69 following a heart attack in Spain.
He had a distinguished career that included a spell at Rangers in the late Eighties. O’Neill went on to manage Celtic in the early 2000s.
Former England striker Trevor Francis dies at age of 69
“We didn’t cross [in Glasgow] at that time,” the former Northern Ireland captain told the Belfast Telegraph.
“He became a player for Rangers under Graeme Souness and Graeme and he both played in the same team [Sampdoria] out in Italy, so that might have been a bit more difficult for him.
“I must admit, he was a big, avid Rangers fan himself, but that didn’t stop us from a proper friendship. In fact, we used to laugh about it as much as anything else.
“When I say laughing, don’t get me wrong. Trevor took Rangers seriously; he was as avid a Rangers fan as I suppose I am a Celtic fan, but it didn’t impinge on our relationship at all.
“I think because our paths never really crossed in Scotland, that might have had something to do with it, and it had a more calming effect, shall we say.”
O’Neill quipped: “It might have been different had he been managing Rangers at the same time I was managing Celtic. I might not have been speaking to him then!”
Martin O'Neill
The former Republic of Ireland boss added he and Francis stayed in touch, and he had no doubt about the striker’s talents:
Read on belfasttelegraph.co.uk
