TREVOR FRANCIS-A SAD DAY

NOTTINGHAM Forest star and England legend Trevor Francis has died, from a heart attack, aged 69, at his home in Marbella.

The icon was England's first-ever £1million player and was instrumental in helping Brian Clough's Forest win the European Cup in 1979. Francis was born in Plymouth and educated at Plymouth's Public Secondary School for Boys. He was an agile and skilful forward and joined Birmingham City as a schoolboy. Francis quickly rose in status, making his debut for Birmingham City's first team in 1970, aged just 16. His talent was noted when, before his 17th birthday, he scored four goals in a match against Bolton Wanderers. He ended his first season with 15 goals from just 22 games.

While recognised as the first British million-pound player, the actual transfer fee for the player was £1,150,000, including 15% commission to the Football League. Brian Clough wrote in his autobiography that the fee was £999,999, as he wanted to ensure the million-pound milestone did not go to the player's head, although Francis says that was a classic tongue in cheek remark by Clough.

Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1970–1979	Birmingham City	280	(118)
1978	→ Detroit Express (loan)	19	(22)
1979–1981	Nottingham Forest	70	(28)
1979	→ Detroit Express (loan)	14	(14)
1981–1982	Manchester City	26	(12)
1982–1986	Sampdoria	67	(17)
1986–1987	Atalanta	21	(1)
1987–1988	Rangers	18	(0)
1988–1990	Queens Park Rangers	32	(12)
1988	→ Wollongong City (loan)	3	(2)
1990–1994	Sheffield Wednesday	76	(5)
Total		626	(231)
International career
1977–1986	England	52	(12)
Managerial career
1988–1989	Queens Park Rangers
1991–1995	Sheffield Wednesday
1996–2001	Birmingham City
2001–2003	Crystal Palace