Trevor Francis: Former England, Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, QPR and

Trevor Francis played for Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Man City, Sampdoria, Atalanta, Rangers, QPR and Sheffield Wednesday; striker became Britain’s first £1m footballer; he won the European Cup twice with Forest; he featured 52 times for England, scoring 12 goals

Former England striker and first British £1m player Trevor Francis has died aged 69.

Francis died at his home near Marbella in Spain on Monday morning, a spokesman for the family has confirmed.

The statement said: “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.”

Born in Plymouth in 1954, Francis started his career at Birmingham City and went on to score 119 goals in 280 league appearances for the club before becoming Britain’s first £1m player when he joined Nottingham Forest in 1979.

Speaking about being the first £1m pound player in an interview back in 2019, Francis said: “I never realised at the time the significance of it.

“I smashed, literally smashed, the transfer record. Doubled it. It was just a magical figure – a million pounds. Paris Saint-Germain spent nearly £200m on Neymar, but I don’t think it has the same magical appeal that £1m did.

“Do I feel proud of being the first £1m player? Absolutely.”

Francis went on to score the winning goal in the 1979 European Cup final as Forest beat Malmo1-0 and was part of the squad when the club won the competition again the following year.

He left Forest for Manchester City in 1981 before having spells in Italy with Sampdoria and Atalanta.

He went on to play for Rangers, Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday before retiring in 1994.

Francis won 52 caps for England scoring 12 goals between 1977 and 1986 and featured at 1982 World Cup in Spain.

After his playing career, he moved into management and had spells in charge of QPR, Sheffield Wednesday, Birmingham City and Crystal Palace.

He guided Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham to major finals as a manager.

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

The former England goalkeeper tweeted: “I’m…