Englishmen Abroad: Trevor Francis

Francis joined Birmingham City in the June of 1969 and quickly established his name by scoring four goals in a League match whilst still aged 16.

After eight years and 118 League goals for the Blues, Francis became Britain's first £1 million player when he moved to Nottingham Forest.

Francis made the move to Brian Clough's Forest in January 1979, with the express purpose of providing the champions with more of a cutting edge upfront as they sought to defend their championship as well as advance in the European Cup.

Though he didn't have the best of starts at the City Ground, Francis came good as he memorably stooped low to head home the winning goal in the 1979 European Cup Final as Brian Clough's men beat Swedish champions Malmö 1-0 in Munich.  John Robertson crossed to the far post and Francis arrived late to squeeze the ball inside the post.

Though Forest failed to hold on to the championship, losing out by eight points to Liverpool, the Reds won through to a second consecutive European Cup final the following season and played favourites Hamburg in the Bernabeu final.

Despite their opponents having more possession, Forest shocked Kevin Keegan's German outfit, beating them 1-0 thanks to John Robertson's solitary first-half strike.

It wasn't until February 1977 that a 23-year-old Francis made his debut for England - Ron Greenwood finally giving him the chance after the striker had shown good form in the League. England won 2-0 in the Wembley friendly and Francis went on to make another 51 appearances for England, scoring 12 times.

After one more season at Forest, Francis had played just two league games of the 1981/82 campaign when he was on the move again, signing for John Bond's Manchester City for another £1 million fee in September 1981.

Having had a good season at Maine Road, Francis went to the World Cup in Spain as England's leading striker and his form carried on in Spain as he scored agaist both Czechoslovakia and Kuwait.

Unfortunately just when England needed goals - against the hosts and West Germany in the Second Phase - Francis and fellow strikers Kevin Keegan and Paul Mariner could not provide them and, after two goalless draws, England bowed out unbeaten.

Rarely among English exports, Francis' career outside England was a long one, lasting as it did six years with three different clubs.

In July 1982, Sampdoria of Italy's Serie A bought the 28-year-old Francis for £700,000 and in his first season in Genoa the Plymouth-born striker scored seven goals in just fourteen League appearances.

In both his first two terms at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Sampdoria had finished a disappointing seventh but in 1984/85 they made a real push for lo scudetto chasing hard for their first ever Italian championship. In the end though, they had to be satisfied with ending up in fourth place, just six points behind surprise champions Hellas Verona.

However the missing out of championship glory was made up for slightly as Sampdoria claimed the Coppa Italia for the very first time by beating Napoli in the Final.

Despite a good goalscoring record of six goals in just 24 games in 1984/85 Francis, now 30, did not have the best of times the following year as he only played in a handful of Samp's matches.

A fresh challenge was obviously what was required and Francis got it when he moved from north the Italian Riviera to Atalanta. The move to Bergamo went well for Francis as he got more first team football than he did back in Liguria. The goals still wouldn't flow though as Francis managed just one strike in over twenty appearances.

When Glasgow Rangers came in with an offer for Francis in August 1987, a return to Britain with the Scottish champions was too good an offer to turn down and the transfer went ahead, Francis costing the 'Gers £75,000.

But before the season was over, Francis had returned to England with Queen's Park Rangers where he played for two years in a player-manager role.

After leaving Loftus Road, Ron Atkinson took Francis to Sheffield Wednesday as a player in the season they were relegated to the Second Division. He played a key role in the 1990-91 promotion season and helped the club reach the League Cup Final, although he was a non-playing substitute on the day.

When Atkinson moved to Aston Villa, Francis took over as player-manager but his appearances in the first team were now becoming rare. Wednesday had an excellent first season 1991-92 under Francis, finishing third in the First Division.

Then the following season, the Owls reached the Final of both domestic Cup competitions but were unlucky to lose to George Graham's Arsenal in both matches.

An emotional return to St. Andrew's in May 1996 saw Birmingham repeatedly challenge for promotion into the Premiership but always fall at the final hurdle.

Francis left in October 2001 only to take up the reigns at Crystal Palace five months later.

Trevor Francis Factfile 

Nationality: English
Place of Birth: Plymouth, England
Date of Birth: 19 April 1954 
Height: 5' 10''
Clubs: Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Manchester City, Sampdoria, Rangers, QPR, Sheffield Wednesday
Position: Forward

Trevor Francis' Honours

1979 European Cup (Nottm Forest)
1980 League Cup (Nottm Forest)
1980 European Cup (Nottm Forest)
1985 Coppa Italia (Sampdoria)
1988 Scottish League Cup (Rangers)