Trevor Francis’ greatest moments in football as Britain’s first £1m player dies at 69 from interrupting Brian Clough’s squash match to joining Graeme Souness at Sampdoria

Trevor Francis sadly passed away at the age of 69 on Monday as Britain’s previous most expensive player in history was remembered by the footballing world.

Francis made history as the first £1million British player in 1979 when Nottingham Forest came calling and two European Cup triumphs followed him to the City Ground.

Football stars and friends of the 69-year-old paid tribute to Francis following his sudden death as news broke surrounding his passing in Spain.

Francis had previously looked back on his remarkable career with Mail Sport’s Ian Ladyman in 2019 and there were plenty of great moments that followed him throughout his storied career.

Mail Sport reflects on the best moments from Francis’ extraordinary playing career in football.

Trevor Francis became a two-time European champion during his time at Nottingham Forest

Being welcomed by Brian Clough mid-squash session

Francis is well-documented as becoming the first £1million British transfer but his arrival in Nottingham wasn’t as glamorous as the figure that his new club had just forked out.

A no-nonsense Brian Clough wasn’t in the mood to mess about and was in a rush to get back to his squash session with Garry Birtles that had been interrupted by Francis’ arrival where he was set to sign his contract in front of the media that had gathered.

Clough stayed dressed in a red leather jacket and carried his squash raquet into the room with him and started addressing the media without taking a seat before eventually sitting down next to Francis and answering questions with his arms crossed and in an evident rush to get back to his squash game.

Francis (left) was welcomed by an impatient Brian Clough (right) after making his record move to join Nottingham Forest

Completing his £1million transfer to Nottingham Forest

Becoming the first £1million British player, later revealed by Francis to actually be £1,150,000, kick-started the rat race of mega fees that dominate modern day transfers.

Francis was non-plussed by his status as the most expensive British player in history as he addressed the media for the first time as a Nottingham Forest player and explained he was solely focused on making an impact on the pitch, not the fanfare that surrounded his arrival.

Prior to joining Forest, the British transfer record was   just over £500,000, paid b West Brom to bring Middlesbrough forward David Mills to the Hawthorns.

Forest had pursued their new striker several times before and when the opportunity to get a deal done presented itself they didn’t think twice and the rest as they say is history.

His move sparked a flurry of increased transfer fees as the value of English top-flight football began to soar and the record would go on to be broken twice more in the same year, with Steve Daley and Andy Gray also moving for over £1m.

Scoring his first goal for Forest against Aston Villa

It would have been something to score on his debut at Forest but supporters had to wait until his third Division One appearance to see their new star striker find the back of the net.

Francis started up top with strike partner Tony Woodcock in front of 27,000 supporters at the City Ground and finally got off the mark in the 55th minute with his strike giving the hosts a three-goal cushion.

Martin O’Neil wrapped up victory by adding another with his fifth league goal of the season but this was Francis’ day as he started to repay some of the record fee Forest had forked out.

Forest fans were eager to see their new star in action and he scored his first competitive goal for the club in a 4-0 win over Aston Villa

European Cup final goal against Malmo

Francis made his European debut in arguably the club’s most important match ever, the 1979 European Cup final against Swedish opponents Malmo in Munich.

Clough’s English hopefuls were aiming to conquer Europe as they arrived in Germany and in front of 65,000 fans at the Olympic Stadium, a then 25-year-old Francis was the difference maker as he popped up with the winning goal.

As John Robertson burst down the wing, beating a host of Malmo players, Francis positioned himself at the back-post and was there to head the cross past Jan Moller and spark wild celebrations on the stroke of half-time.

Forest held on throughout the second-half to claim their first European title and suddenly Francis’ record arrival had been paid back with one winning goal. 

Francis (middle) scored in the 1979 European Cup final with a diving header to win the game

Second European title triumph

Forest were European champions and would follow that up with a second title a year later as Clough wrote his name into the book of great European managers and Francis was involved again.

The champions had a target on their back and Francis was one of the keys to the club’s back-to-back triumph when he scored twice in a Quarter Final second-leg against BFC Dynamo and again in the first-leg of the semi final against Ajax.

Although any repeat of final heroics for the Englishman weren’t to be as he injured his achilles before the final against German competitors Hamburg and wasn’t available for selection.

Forest went on to win their second European title and Francis had again played his part in their success. 

A second European title followed for Francis but he was unable to play in the final due to injury

Transfer to Manchester City

That injury caused a lengthy lay-off and Forest at the time were trying to continue their European domination and that meant Francis was shown the exit door.

Another mega-money move followed as he left to join Manchester City for £1.2million as Forest cashed in on their star and Francis made the short journey to link-up with his new manager John Bond.

He hadn’t reached the full potential that Forest fans had hoped he would at the time of his record move and City were on the rise after being transformed from relegation favourites to League Cup semi-finalists, FA Cup finalists and a 10th-placed Division One finish in 1980/81. 

However, Francis was plagued by injury during his time at Maine Road, making just six appearances and was sold on less than a year later as City encountered financial difficulty. 

Francis (left) later moved to Manchester City for £1.2million but was sold on less than a year later

Moving to Italy and joining Sampdoria

A difficult few years in England came to it’s end as Italian giants Sampdoria came calling and forked out £700,000 for the Plymouth-born forward as Man City made a heavy loss on the fee they paid out to Nottingham Forest.

After being passed around the North West, Francis had found his home in Italy and was given the chance to play alongside his great friend Graeme Souness as the Italian side returned to the Italian top-flight.

Club president Paolo Mantovani had identified Francis as a marquee signing and splashed out on the English star who made an instant impact as Sampdoria won their first three games topped off with a home win against a star-studded Juventus side.

Francis went on to make a total of 104 appearances for the club, clinching the Italian Cup and being labelled by Fabio Capello as the ‘best Englishman to have played in Italy.’ 

Francis (right) later starred alongside Graeme Souness (left) when he moved to Sampdoria