Tributes continue to flow in following the death of Trevor Francis on Monday morning in his Marbella apartment on the Costa del Sol. News of his passing was confirmed by his family in a statement, “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.”
Francis made history when me moved from Birmingham City, becoming the first player to break the £1 million transfer mark, when he was signed by Brian Clough for Nottingham Forest in 1979. He went on to win consecutive European Cups with the club, scoring the winner in the final win over Malmo in that same year.
Former England team-mate Gary Lineker was one of the first of his former colleagues to pay tribute to Francis on social media.
“Deeply saddened to hear that Trevor Francis has died,” he tweeted. “A wonderful footballer and lovely man. Was a pleasure to work alongside him both on the pitch and on the telly. RIP Trevor.”
The English FA were also quick to release a short tribute on Twitter:
We are deeply saddened by the news that Trevor Francis has passed away aged 69.
He won 52 caps and scored 12 goals – including two at the 1982 @FIFAWorldCup – for the #ThreeLions between 1977 and 1986.
All of our thoughts are with his family, friends and former clubs. pic.twitter.com/GNBeV4onDp
— England (@England) July 24, 2023
He played as a forward for a number of clubs in England, the United States, Italy, Scotland and Australia before going into management, most notably with Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City. His final managerial post was at Crystal Palace, whom he left in 2003.
