Former England striker Trevor Francis dies in Spain

London, Beritasatu.com – Former England striker and the first English player to earn £1 million, Trevor Francis died at the age of 69, Monday (24/2023) morning local time.

Francis died at his home near Marbella, Spain.

“Trevor Francis has passed away at the age of 69. He had a heart attack in his apartment in Spain this morning. On behalf of the family, this was a huge shock for everyone. We are all very sad. He was a legendary footballer, but he was also a very good person,” a family spokesperson said in a statement.

Born in Plymouth in 1954, Francis started his career at Birmingham City before becoming England’s first £1 million player when he joined Nottingham Forest in 1979.

In an interview in 2019, Francis admitted that he had never expected to become the first player to earn £1 million.

“I never realized at the time how important it was. I broke, literally broke, the transfer record. Double that. It was just a magic number, a million pounds. Paris Saint-Germain spent almost £200 million on Neymar, but I don’t think it has the same magical appeal as £1 million,” he said at the time.

“Do I feel proud to be the first player with a price of £ 1 million? Absolutely,” he added.

Francis scored the winning goal in the 1979 European Cup final as Forest beat Malmo 1-0 and was part of the squad as the club won the competition again the following year.

He left Forest for Manchester City in 1981 before playing in Italy with Sampdoria and Atalanta. He later played for Rangers, Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield

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