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

Tributes have been flooding in from across football after Trevor Francis, Britain’s first £1 million player, died at the age of 69.

Peter Shilton, his Nottingham Forest team-mate in Brian Clough’s legendary two European Cup-winning teams, said that he was “absolutely devastated” by the news and described his friend as a “wonderful gentleman” whose death was “a terrible loss”.

A statement, which was released on behalf of the Francis family, said that he died of a heart attack at his apartment in Spain on Monday morning. “On behalf of the family, this has come as a huge shock to everybody,” said the statement. “We are all very upset. He was a legendary footballer but he was also an extremely nice person.”

Forest shattered the British transfer record when they paid £1.15million for him in 1979, although Clough famously claimed the fee was £999,999 to take pressure off the player.

An England forward between 1977 and 1986, Francis also scored twice at the 1982 World Cup finals and went on to have a managerial career spanning some 25 years at Queens Park Rangers, Sheffield Wednesday, Birmingham City and Crystal Palace, which included three Wembley finals.

Garry Birtles, another key member of Forest’s greatest teams, told The Telegraph that Francis was “so humble” despite making so many headlines for the transfer fee that Forest had paid to Birmingham City.

“It was an honour to know him and play alongside him – he was such a kind, laidback and quietly spoken guy,” he said.

“He was such a help to me throughout my career. When I was struggling at Manchester United, Trevor and his wife Helen were so supportive.

“He was also a trailblazer when he went to Italy at a time when it was a really tough place to play. He’s the first one to pass away from the European Cup winning team at Forest and it’s such a devastating loss.”

Gary Lineker, the BBC Match of the Day presenter and former England team-mate, said that he was “deeply saddened” by the news. “A wonderful footballer and lovely man – was a pleasure to work alongside him both on the pitch and on the telly,” he said.

Viv Anderson, another former team-mate at Nottingham Forest, wrote: “Just heard the unbelievable news regarding Trevor Francis, he was such a wonderful person and fabulous team-mate he will be sadly missed, my condolences go to his family and friends.”

Nottingham Forest published a photographic tribute of Francis holding the European Cup on his head. “A true Forest legend who will never be forgotten,” they said.