Former Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest forward Trevor Francis will be honoured in a pre-season friendly between the two clubs on Saturday. Francis made his debut for Birmingham as a 16-year-old and became British football's first £1m player when he left Blues to join Forest in 1979. A few weeks later, Francis scored the winning goal as Forest won the first of their two successive European Cups.
Former Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest forward Trevor Francis will be honoured in a pre-season friendly between the two clubs on Saturday.
Francis made his debut for Birmingham as a 16-year-old and became British football's first £1m player when he left Blues to join Forest in 1979.
A few weeks later, Francis scored the winning goal as Forest won the first of their two successive European Cups.
Francis died in 2023, aged 69. Before Saturday's match, a statue of Francis will be unveiled outside the Championship club's stadium.
Frank Clark, who played alongside Francis in Forest's 1979 final victory in Munich, told BBC East Midlands Today: "He was a terrific player and a really good bloke. He was Britain's £1m player but there was never any big-headedness about that. He just came into the club and was very quickly accepted as one of the lads.
"The manager [Brian Clough] made him make the tea for everybody on his first day after training, just to keep his feet on the ground."
Clark added: "We think [having the friendly] is important because since he died, we've always wondered why there had been no ceremony or function to pay tribute to him.
"This is the perfect example of the two clubs getting together. It'll be a proper pre-season game in honour of Trevor's memory."
Category: General Sports
