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Trevor Francis was a footballer best known not for scoring in a European Cup final, earning 52 England appearances or later managing in major finals – all notable achievements – but for one of the game’s historical landmarks, as British football’s first £1million player. In these days of £100million-plus fees, few now bat an eyelid at modest seven-figure moves but in 1979, when Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest smashed the British transfer record to sign Francis from Birmingham, the sum caused quite a stir. Naturally Francis, who has died aged 69, felt he deserved to be remembered for much more, after a 34-year career in football that began in his prodigious teenage years and took him around the world, but he was nevertheless pleased to have his own unique place in the game’s history. “I played professional football for 23 years until I was 39,” said Francis in an interview with The Guardian in 2019. “I won European Cups with Nottingham Forest, I played 52 times over nine years for England, but whenever I go to a sporting occasion I’m always introduced as the first £1million footballer, as if that’s the only thing I achieved in my career. “But do I feel proud of being the first £1million player? Absolutely.” Trevor John Francis was born at 41 Morley Place in Plymouth on April 19, 1954. He was the son of Roy Francis, a shift foreman with the South West Gas Board, and his wife Phyllis. Francis was the eldest of three children, having a younger brother Ian and sister Carolyn. His love of football was fostered at a young age by his father, who had played at semi-professional level. By the age of seven Francis was representing his school, Pennycross Primary, with boys at least two years older. He went on to Plymouth Public Secondary School for boys and was selected for the town’s schools side at under-11, under-13, under-14 and under-15 levels. In all he scored more than 800 goals in the Devon schools system and was soon attracting interest from Plymouth Argyle, Bristol City and Birmingham. The latter offered him an apprenticeship and he joined them at the age of 15. His dedication and determination made him stand out. This was underlined by his desire to improve his speed. Francis was known throughout his career for his pace but as a junior it had been one area where he was criticised. He wrote: “At that stage of my development I took the advice and I would come back to St Andrew’s in the afternoon wearing my spikes and I just ran sprints over and over again. It was worth it.” It certainly was. Francis scored at a prolific rate in the youth team and almost bypassed the reserves as he was fast-tracked into the first team. He became Birmingham’s youngest senior player as he made his debut at the age of 16 years, 139 days as a substitute against Cardiff. He made an instant impact with 15 goals in his first 15 games, including all four in a victory over Bolton – a match he did not finish because of injury. He was tagged “Super Boy” and comparisons with Jimmy Greaves and Denis Law were rife. Such was his impact the BBC Sports Report once began a segment with the announcement, “And Trevor Francis did not score today!” Do I feel proud of being the first £1million player? Absolutely Trevor Francis Birmingham, then in the Second Division, saw their crowds swell to nearly 50,000. The club even reported a gate of 10,000 after Francis appeared in a youth game. All the while Francis remained an apprentice and still had to sweep terraces, mop floors and clean senior players’ boots. Birmingham were promoted in 1972 and survived in the top flight for seven years. In all Francis scored 133 goals for the club in 328 appearances before that ground-breaking move to Forest. By then he was almost 25 and yearning to join a club that could challenge for silverware. “I want to be part of a successful team and unless I see signs that we are going somewhere I won’t stay,” he said after submitting one of six transfer requests that were swiftly rejected by the club. In the end, manager Jim Smith promised to let him go if fortunes did not improve and the club eventually accepted an offer from Forest in February 1979. Coventry pledged to match the deal with their chairman, Jimmy Hill, able to offer extra game time – with good financial incentives – with his American club, Detroit Express. Francis had previously spent a successful summer on loan with the Express but, ultimately, joining First Division champions Forest was more appealing. “At the time they were the only team in England that could challenge Liverpool,” Francis said. Forest’s charismatic manager Clough, who famously strolled into a press conference to unveil Francis carrying a squash racquet, immediately downplayed the fee. The previous record British move had been David Mills’ £516,000 switch from Middlesbrough to West Brom just weeks earlier and Clough feared the pressures the £1million price tag could bring. Clough claimed Forest had actually paid £999,999 for the player and said so persuasively, even if fees and taxes meant the final fee was around £1.15million. “Brian was very clever with the media,” Francis said. “He used to make headlines, and wasn’t bothered whether they were true or not.” Francis soon made further headlines himself, scoring the only goal as Forest beat Malmo in the 1979 European Cup final in Munich. Francis raced in at the back post to head a John Robertson cross from the left into the roof of the net. “I used to write a column for the Roy of the Rovers comic and this was my own Roy of the Rovers moment,” said Francis, whose fame saw his name – and apparent tendency to be photographed in tracksuits – written into the closing theme tune for popular sitcom ‘Only Fools and Horses’. Francis was on target again in the quarter-finals against Dynamo Berlin and semi-finals against Ajax as Forest retained the trophy the following year, although injury prevented him playing in the final against Hamburg. Injuries actually repeatedly disrupted his Forest career and, with Clough often playing him as a winger, he arguably never fulfilled his potential at the club. He scored 28 goals in 70 league appearances before moving to Manchester City for £1.2million in September 1981. That proved a short-lived move as injuries again bit and cash problems forced City to sell on the following summer, but he revived his career in an impressive four-year spell with Sampdoria, with whom he won the Coppa Italia in 1985. He then had a spell with Atalanta, won the Scottish Cup with Rangers in 1988 and finished his playing career with QPR and Sheffield Wednesday. On the international front, Francis won his first cap against Holland in 1977 and went on to score 12 goals for his country. He scored in group games against Czechoslovakia and Kuwait at the 1982 World Cup but was not selected for the 1986 tournament and did not play for England again. It was at QPR he took his first steps into management, operating as player-boss from 1988-89. It was not a successful spell and he sparked controversy when he fined Martin Allen for missing a game to attend the birth of a child. He fared better at Wednesday after taking over, again as player-manager, following Ron Atkinson’s departure in 1991. The Owls finished third in the First Division in 1992 and reached the League Cup and FA Cup finals of 1993, losing both to Arsenal. He was sacked after a 13th-placed finish in 1995 but returned to management with Birmingham. He took them to the brink of promotion to the top flight as they reached the play-offs three times in succession from 1999-2001 but they missed out each time. They also appeared in the 2001 League Cup final but were beaten by Liverpool on penalties. Despite those relative successes, he left the club later that year after a poor run of form and a number of disagreements with owners David Gold and David Sullivan and, on one particular occasion, with their chief executive Karren Brady. “When I sold her husband (Paul Peschisolido) to West Brom, let’s just say she wasn’t very happy,” he said. “Her language was somewhat colourful.” He returned to the game soon after with Crystal Palace but did not seek work in management again after being sacked at Selhurst Park in 2003. He went on to forge a media career as a football pundit and co-commentator. He suffered a heart attack in 2013 but made a full recovery. He leaves two sons, Matthew and James. His wife Helen, whom he married in 1974, died in 2017. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Former England striker Trevor Francis dies at age of 69 Cameron Green admits Australia ‘got out of jail’ in rain-ruined fourth Test Kadeena Cox says slow pace of move towards equality in sport ‘frustrating’

Trevor Francis, British football’s first £1million player, has died at the age of 69. The ex-Birmingham striker, who scored Nottingham Forest’s winner in their 1979 European Cup final triumph, earned 52 England caps and later guided Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham to major finals as a manager. Plymouth-born Francis burst onto the scene as a teenager with Birmingham, making his first-team debut at 16 in 1970. “He died in Spain this morning from a heart attack,” said a spokesman. Forest shattered the British transfer record when they paid £1.15million for him in 1979, although manager Brian Clough famously claimed the fee was £999,999 to take pressure off the player. He started his career at Birmingham, playing 328 times and scoring 133 goals. In 1971, at just 16-years-old, he became the youngest ever player to score four times in Football League history in Blues’ 4-0 win over Bolton. He earned his record move to Forest in 1979 and headed the winner in the 1-0 victory over Malmo to win the European Cup just a few months later. Francis missed the European Cup win over Hamburg a year later through 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. He moved to Sheffield Wednesday in 1990 before he replaced Ron Atkinson as manager. Under Francis, the Owls finished third in the old First Division in his first season in charge before finishing seventh in the newly created Premier League while also being runners up in the FA Cup and League Cup. He left in 1995 and returned to Birmingham the following year, reaching the play-offs three times and also the 2001 League Cup final where they lost to Liverpool. Francis left St Andrew’s in October 2001 and joined Crystal Palace soon after, leaving the Eagles in 2003 in what was his last job. Francis spent half a year in Spain and the rest in Solihull. He suffered a heart attack 11 years ago and had 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 got over the death of his wife”. Helen passed away in 2017 after a battle with cancer.

Gary Lineker has brushed off criticism from his Match of the Day predecessor Des Lynam who said he should “get on with the football” and stay away from controversial topics outside the game. Lineker, 62, had to “step back” from presenting the BBC’s flagship football show earlier this year until he and the corporation reached an “agreed and clear position” on his use of social media, the broadcaster said. His tweets have attracted controversy while he has been the BBC’s highest-paid on-air talent for the sixth consecutive year and the only star to earn more than £1 million in the year 2022/2023, according to the corporation’s annual report. Lynam, 80, told BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House programme: “I like him as a chap, I like him as a broadcaster. But I think there are some areas that he should stay out of. “For example, the last World Cup was in Qatar and he went very, very strongly about the limitations of society in Qatar. And he’s right, there are, but he’s not the person to say it. Get on with the football”. Lineker, a former Tottenham and Leicester striker, later commented: “Des is entitled to his opinion… as, of course, am I.” His response came in a tweet replying to a comment by Adil Ray, the creator and writer of BBC1’s Citizen Khan show. He wrote: “Love Des Lynam but just heard a clip on Radio 4 this morning saying @GaryLineker should stick to football. In 2013, Lynam, still an influential figure, came out publicly as a supporter of Farage and UKIP.” Lineker has tweeted widely about refugees and immigration policy where he has voiced support for a liberal approach to border controls, and he also expressed support for a second EU referendum. During last year’s Qatar World Cup he led criticism of Foreign Secretary James Cleverly for suggesting LGBT+ fans be “respectful of the host nation”. He posted in response to the cabinet minister’s comments: “Whatever you do, don’t do anything gay. Is that the message?” Lineker has been the face of Match Of The Day for more than 20 years but his future at the BBC came under the spotlight in March amid questions about impartiality. He was taken off air by the broadcaster after posting a tweet in which he said the language used by the Government to promote its asylum plans was not dissimilar to 1930s Germany. Lineker missed one edition of the Saturday night show, before returning to his presenting role after a boycott by top on-air talent. Read More Peers to grill BBC bosses about governance following Huw Edwards furore Jeremy Vine agrees deal with Twitter user who wrongly named him in presenter row BBC should ‘stand up for itself more,’ Blair says amid Huw Edwards furore The Huw Edwards affair should remind us we are lucky to have the BBC Gary Lineker remains at top of list of BBC’s highest paid on-air talent Gary Lineker slams Tory MP for ‘outrageous’ Nazi claim comments

Fans of Arsenal and Manchester United brawled in the stands at MetLife Stadium.

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The Women's World Cup enters its fourth day of fixtures on Sunday with some of the tournament heavyweights kicking off their campaigns.

A viral clip has appeared to show Kylian Mbappe turning down speculation that he is about to join Arsenal but not all is as it seems. Rumours have been circulating that Mbappe, arguably the best footballer in the world, is preparing to leave his current club Paris Saint Germain after he was left out of the French champions' squad for their pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea. The 24-year-old French superstar has only one year left on his contract with PSG and if rumours are true, is widely believed to be preferring a move to Real Madrid. On the matter PSG's president Nasser El-Khelaifi has said: "We don't want to lose the best player in the world for free. We can't do that. This is a French club. "He said he would never leave for free. If he changes his mind today, it's not my fault. We don't want to lose the best player in the world for free, that's very clear." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Given Mbappe's overwhelming talent it shouldn't come as a surprise that many top teams in England are being linked with the star despite there being no credible reports that any Premier League side can actually afford to sign him. Arsenal fans have been the most vocal about the player coming to the Emirates with the line 'Mpabbe to Arsenal' trending on Twitter for several days. Now a clip, that has been viewed nearly 200,000 times on Twitter shows Mbappe being asked whether he will make the switch to North London by a reporter only to turn down the idea. This isn't what it looks like though. This is actually from an interview in 2021 where Mbappe was asked if he would sign for the other North London team, Tottenham Hotspur after he had an interaction with one of their most famous fans, Spider-Man actor Tom Holland. Needless to say many fans were already aware of the video and called out its deceptive nature. The clip on Twitter has been carefully edited to remove any mention of Spurs and therefore doesn't reflect Mbappe's thoughts on a move to Arsenal although and likelihood of that transfer happening still would appear to be unlikely. Recently Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was asked about the possibility of the Gunners signing Mbappe to which the Spaniard said: "You know I never talk about players that don’t play for our club. I’m sorry." Arsenal are currently on a pre-season tour of the United States where they have already beaten the MLS All-Stars team 5-0 and are due to play Manchester United and Barcelona before the end of the month. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

YouTuber and streaming star iShowSpeed has found himself converted to being a Lionel Messi fan after witnessing the Argentinian legend score a stunning goal on his Inter Miami debut. Messi made his debut for his new club on Friday night in the Leagues Cup against Mexican side Cruz Azul. Although Messi didn't start the game he did come on shortly into the second half and by the end of the game he had grabbed all the headlines thanks to an unbelievable free kick on the 94th minute to give Miami a 2-1 win. It was a star-studded affair at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with David Beckham (the club's owner), Victoria Beckham, Serena Williams and Kim Kardashian in attendance. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter However, the most shocked person by the World Cup winner's incredible strike was iShowSpeed who made a wager with himself if Messi scored the goal. The 18-year-old online personality has amongst many things, made a name for himself for being an outspoken Cristiano Ronaldo fan. He even met the Portuguese icon earlier this year during an emotional encounter. Speed happened to be in attendance for the match and in a clip doing the rounds on social media, he was seen saying that if Messi scored the freekick he would become a fan of the footballer. Sure enough, Messi did score leaving Speed completely speechless but he was at least prepared. Speed, who was wearing a Portugal shirt with Ronaldo printed on it, removed the garment to show an Inter Miami shirt underneath with Messi on the back - Speed clearly had some hindsight into the occasion. 36-year-old Messi has signed a two-and-a-half year contract with Miami which will likely be the last club he plays for during his illustrious career. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Georgia Stanway’s retaken first-half penalty was enough to earn England a nervy 1-0 victory over World Cup debutants Haiti in their Group D opener at Brisbane Stadium. This was not the decisive victory most had predicted for the European champions and world’s number-four side against a team 49 places below them in the FIFA rankings. Haiti came close to levelling more than once, including a late second-half chance denied at the last by Mary Earps’ outstretched foot. While the Lionesses ultimately walked away with all three points, it was an underwhelming performance that will leave boss Sarina Wiegman with plenty of questions ahead of Friday’s meeting with Denmark. England fans were out in full force ahead of kick-off in the Queensland capital, where ‘Football’s Coming Home’ could be heard from a riverside rally and ex-Arsenal forward Ian Wright posed in a Lotte Wubben-Moy shirt beneath Story Bridge. For so much of the build-up of this tournament, the conversation around the Lionesses centred on their ongoing dispute with the Football Association over bonus payments and other commercial issues. On a clear Thursday night, England wanted their football to do the talking, yet it was Haiti who enjoyed the first spell of attack, winning an early corner before Chloe Kelly, the hero in last summer’s Euro 2022 final, tested Haiti goalkeeper Kerly Theus with a curled effort. One of the biggest dilemmas for Wiegman ahead of this tournament was who she would entrust as her number nine and – for this opener at least – it was Alessia Russo who led the England attack and rolled an early effort at Theus. England fans, who by the noise inside the stadium comprised the majority of those in attendance, felt their hearts leap to their throats when Roselord Borgella broke free and was one-on-one with Earps but rolled her effort past the far post. The Lionesses thought they had won a least a penalty when Dayana Pierre-Louis clattered into Kelly on the byline and appeared to clip her knee with a stud, but the Haitian midfielder got away with just a yellow card after it was determined – following a lengthy VAR check – that Russo had committed a foul in the build-up. Soon after that decision, however, Batcheba Louis was punished for a handball and Stanway stepped up to the spot. Theus sparked a jubilant Haitian celebration when she saved Stanway’s first effort, but VAR again intervened and Venezuelan referee Emikar Calderas ruled the keeper had encroached and the penalty was retaken. Stanway did not make the same mistake twice as she fired low into the left corner for what felt like an uneasy lead at the end of a stop-start first half. Melchie Dumornay, the 19-year-old midfielder bound for Lyon after this tournament, forced Earps into a leaping save shortly after the restart before Russo was twice denied in quick succession. Chelsea’s Lauren James made her World Cup debut after replacing Hemp, just ahead of another nervy moment for England when Dumornay found Haiti skipper Nerilia Mondesir in plenty of space before Jess Carter recovered the ball. James tried to get something started by delivering a cross to Russo, who came close but saw her attempt tipped over the crossbar, before Bright skied an effort and Theus picked crosses from Alex Greenwood and James out of the air. On came Rachel Daly for Russo in the 76th minute as Haiti pushed for an equaliser, which nearly came via Roseline Eloissaint but for the outstretched foot of Earps to deny the substitute from 18 yards out. Carter’s well-timed challenge broke up another Haiti run into the Lionesses’ final third, with Earps able to punch away the resulting corner. The chances came for the Lionesses to double their advantage but never the finishing touch as England finished with the result, but probably not the performance, they wanted. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live England’s chances of winning fourth Ashes Test set back by rain Brian Harman hoping history repeats itself after claiming huge halfway lead Denise O’Sullivan hails ‘unbelievable’ Ireland fans at World Cup

Lionel Messi made his long-awaited debut with Major League Soccer side Inter Miami with a flourish only the world's top player could produce.

Lionel Messi scored a dramatic, game-winning goal in his debut with Inter Miami