Trevor Francis: Former England, Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, QPR and Sheffield Wednesday striker dies aged 69
Trevor Francis played for Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Man City, Sampdoria, Atalanta, Rangers, QPR and Sheffield Wednesday; striker became Britain's first £1m footballer; he won the European Cup twice with Forest; he featured 52 times for England, scoring 12 goals
Monday 24 July 2023 16:19, UK
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Former England striker and first British £1m player Trevor Francis has died aged 69.
Francis died at his home near Marbella in Spain on Monday morning, a spokesman for the family has confirmed.
The statement said: «Trevor Francis has died at the age of 69.
»He had a heart attack at his apartment in Spain this morning. On behalf of the family, this has come as a huge shock to everybody. We are all very upset. He was a legendary footballer but he was also an extremely nice person."
Born in Plymouth in 1954, Francis started his career at Birmingham City and went on to score 119 goals in 280 league appearances for the club before becoming Britain's first £1m player when he joined Nottingham Forest in 1979.
Speaking about being the first £1m player in an interview back in 2019, Francis said: «I never realised at the time the significance of it.
»I smashed, literally smashed, the transfer record. Doubled it. It was just a magical figure — a million pounds. Paris Saint-Germain spent nearly £200m on Neymar, but I don't think it has the same magical appeal that £1m did.
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«Do I feel proud of being the first £1m player? Absolutely.»
Francis went on to score the winning goal in the 1979 European Cup final as Forest beat Malmo1-0 and was part of the squad when the club won the competition again the following year.
He
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