Trevor Francis, Britain’s first £1m footballer, dies aged 69

The former England forward Trevor Francis, the first player to be transferred in Britain for £1m and the scorer of a European Cup-winning goal for Nottingham Forest, has died at the age of 69.

Francis had a distinguished career that started with his Birmingham City debut at 16 and included spells with Forest, Manchester City, Sampdoria, Atalanta and Rangers before he went into management, initially as a player-manager.

Related: Trevor Francis – a life in pictures

That began with QPR and included a stint on a similar basis at Sheffield Wednesday – after a period there as a player – before he took full-time manager roles with Wednesday, Birmingham and Crystal Palace. He led Wednesday to an FA Cup and League Cup final, and Birmingham to a League Cup final.

Brian Clough’s Forest paid more than £1m to buy Francis from Birmingham in February 1979. His goal against Malmö secured the European Cup in his first season and he was part of the squad that retained the trophy a year later, although he was injured for the final.

Francis played 52 times for England from 1977 to 1986, featuring at the 1982 World Cup in Spain, where he scored twice.

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.”

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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.”