Obituary for Trevor Francis: "A wonderful person," "a fantastic teammate," and a record-breaker

 

 

Trevor Francis, who passed away at the age of 69, will be remembered as Britain's first $1 million football player as well as a European Cup winner whose extraordinary talent allowed him to play in countries including the United States, Italy, and Australia.

Francis was the oldest of three siblings when he was born in Plymouth in 1954, and because his father played semi-professionally, his ability was apparent from a young age. In the Devon school system, he scored more than 800 goals, which piqued the curiosity of professional clubs.

He joined Birmingham City as an apprentice at the age of 15 and subsequently recalled bringing his spikes to the team's St. Andrew's field to run sprints and increase his speed.

That perseverance paid off, as the young player became Birmingham's youngest player at the age of 16 years and 139 days in September 1970, becoming the club's youngest player until current England and Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham broke the record in August 2019.

In his first 15 games of that season, he scored 15 goals, including four against Bolton Wanderers. The next season, as the Blues gained promotion, he added another 12 goals.

Francis's manager, Freddie Goodwin, compared him to Denis Law and Jimmy Greaves, but as an apprentice, the forward continued to scrub the stands, clean boots, and live in housing with a curfew of 10.30 p.m. until he was 17.

More than 50,000 spectators crammed into St Andrew's for one game thanks to Francis' influence and Birmingham's promotion to the top division, and he stayed with the team until that record-breaking transfer in 1979, amassing 133 goals in 329 games across all competitions.