Former England striker Trevor Francis dies at age of 69

Trevor Francis, British football’s first £1million player, has died at the age of 69.

The ex-Birmingham striker, who scored Nottingham Forest’s winner in their 1979 European Cup final triumph, earned 52 England caps and later guided Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham to major finals as a manager.

Plymouth-born Francis burst onto the scene as a teenager with Birmingham, making his first-team debut at 16 in 1970.

We are deeply saddened by the news that Trevor Francis has passed away aged 69.He won 52 caps and scored 12 goals – including two at the 1982 @FIFAWorldCup – for the #ThreeLions between 1977 and 1986.All of our thoughts are with his family, friends and former clubs. pic.twitter.com/GNBeV4onDp

— England (@England) July 24, 2023

“He died in Spain this morning from a heart attack,” said a spokesman.

Forest shattered the British transfer record when they paid £1.15 million for him in 1979, although manager Brian Clough famously claimed the fee was £999,999 to take pressure off the player.

He started his career at Birmingham, playing 328 times and scoring 133 goals.

In 1971, at just 16-years-old, he became the youngest ever player to score four times in Football League history in Blues’ 4-0 win over Bolton.

He earned his record move to Forest in 1979 and headed the winner in the 1-0 victory over Malmo to win the European Cup just a few months later.

Francis missed the European Cup win over Hamburg a year later through injury and joined Manchester City in 1981.

Spells at Sampdoria, where he won the Coppa Italia, Atalanta, Rangers and QPR – where he was player-manager – followed.

He moved to Sheffield Wednesday in 1990 before he replaced Ron Atkinson as manager.

Under Francis, the Owls finished third in the old First