LONDON, 24 Jul. (PA Media/dpa/EP) –
The former English striker Trevor Francis, European champion on two occasions with Nottingham Forest, died this Monday at the age of 69 at his home in Marbella (Málaga) due to “a heart attack”, as confirmed by a family spokesman.
Francis was the author of Nottingham Forest’s winning goal in the 1979 European Cup final against Swedish Malmoe, who crowned the English team for the first time, which they would repeat the following year, although without their contest due to injury.
The striker was capped 52 times with England, scoring 12 goals, two of them in the 1982 World Cup in Spain, and made his debut at a very young age, at the age of 16, in the Birmingham first team, where he became the youngest player to score four goals in the history of the Football League. In 1979, Forest paid the equivalent of more than one million euros to sign him, and in 1981 he was transferred to Manchester City.
He then went through Italian football, playing for Sampdoria and Atalanta, before ending his British football career in the finals for Glasgow Rangers, Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday. As manager, he managed QPR, Sheffield Wednesday, Birmingham City and Crystal Palace.
“The ‘Blues’ are deeply saddened and shocked to learn of the death of club legend Trevor Francis at the age of 69. Trevor will always be revered as a club giant and the player everyone wanted to see,” Birmingham City fired him on his official ‘Twitter’ account. “Nottingham Forest are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of two-time European Cup winner Trevor Francis. A true Forest legend who will never be forgotten,” said the double European champion.