Trevor Francis, Britain's first million pound footballer passes away at 69

Trevor Francis, Britain's first £1 million footballer and a prominent personality in football, has passed away at the age of 69 after experiencing a heart attack in Spain according to a family spokesman announced on Monday.

A statement shared on behalf of his family with ITV said: "Trevor Francis has died at the age of 69. He had a heart attack at his apartment in Spain this morning."

The statement continued: "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 his debut for Birmingham in 1970 at the age of 16.

He was a forward who joined Nottingham Forest from Birmingham in the record move in 1979, scoring the winning goal in the European Cup final just months after he joined the club.

He went on to win 52 caps for England, scoring 12 goals, and later as a manager guided Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham to major domestic finals, according to AFP.

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

He headed the winner in the 1-0 victory over Malmo to win the European Cup just a few months later.

However, Francis missed the European Cup win over Hamburg a year later due to an injury and joined Manchester City in 1981.

Spells at Sampdoria, where he won the Coppa Italia, Atalanta, Rangers, and QPR, where he was player-manager, followed.

Later, he moved to Sheffield Wednesday in 1990 before he replaced Ron Atkinson as manager, taking them to the finals of the FA Cup and League Cup in 1993, losing both times to Arsenal.

He subsequently managed at Birmingham and Crystal Palace.

Francis spent half a year in Spain and the rest near Birmingham. Although he suffered a heart attack 11 years ago, he kept himself fit with daily power walks.

He had an annual health check through the League Managers' Association and, according to his spokesman, was "enjoying life very much" having eventually gotten over the death of his wife Helen who died in 2017 after a battle with cancer.

Francis' former Forest team-mate Peter Shilton was among the first to pay tribute.

The former England goalkeeper tweeted: "I'm absolutely devastated to hear about my old teammate Trevor Francis such a wonderful gentleman a friend and a terrible loss."

Meanwhile, a tweet from Birmingham City read: "Trevor will forever be revered as a giant of the club, the player everyone wanted to see."

Additionally, Gary Lineker was among those sharing their tributes to the legendary striker, with the Match of the Day host tweeting: "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."

Viv Anderson, the first ever black player to play for England, posted on Instagram to say: "Just heard the unbelievable news regarding Trevor Francis, he was such a wonderful person and fabulous teammate he will be sadly missed, my condolences go to his family and friends RIP."

The official England Twitter account also added its own tribute to Francis's legacy. They wrote: 'We are deeply saddened by the news that Trevor Francis has passed away aged 69."

Sheffield Wednesday which marked the end of his career as a football player before he turned his hand to managerial work, said: "We are deeply saddened by the passing of Trevor Francis. Our thoughts are with Trevor’s family and friends at this incredibly difficult time."