LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-Trevor Francis, a former England forward, who was the first player in Britain to be traded for £1 million and scored the game-winning goal for Nottingham Forest in the European Cup has passed away at the age of 69.
Francis had a notable career that began at the age of 16 with his debut for Birmingham City and included stops at Forest, Manchester City, Sampdoria, Atalanta, and Rangers before he entered management, originally as a player-manager.
Prior to taking on full-time managerial positions with Wednesday, Birmingham, and Crystal Palace, he spent time on a similar manner at Sheffield Wednesday after initially going there as a player only.
Birmingham and Wednesday both advanced to League Cup finals under his leadership.
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Francis was purchased from Birmingham by Forest under Brian Clough in February 1979 for more than £1 million.
The European Cup was won in his rookie season thanks to his goal against Malmö, and he was a member of the team who won it back the following year despite being injured for the championship game.
From 1977 to 1986, Francis made 52 appearances for England, scoring twice in his World Cup appearance in 1982.
A statement from his family 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.”
Gary Lineker, a former England teammate, tweeted: “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.”
Also, Peter Shilton, who played with Francis for Forest and England, tweeted: “I’m absolutely devastated to hear about my old team mate Trevor Francis such a wonderful gentleman a friend and a terrible loss.”