47: Trevor Francis, Nottingham Forest, Match 2000 Millennium Collection

This week’s post from Richard Allinson was due out a few months back but the untimely passing of its subject meant we put the brakes on to allow some space for the fitting obituaries to a talented footballer and manager. To provide some context for this article throughout the summer Rich and I kept ourselves entertained by making up farcical transfer news which was a good way of passing the morning commute until reality outpaced us thanks to the likes of Todd Boehly and the great bunch of lads behind the Saudi Pro League. Trevor Francis was much more than a transfer record and the outpouring of admiration and respect following his death more than proved that. His infamous transfer to Nottingham Forest, however, set the wheels in motion for the transfer jamboree we all enjoy today. Over to Rich.

I write this article slap bang in the middle of the 2023 summer transfer window. So far, Newcastle United have paid £55m for Alberto Aquilani; Arsenal are on the verge of paying £105m for Gareth Barry; and Everton have actually really signed Ashley Young. That isn’t to mention the various iterations of “Oldham Athletic have completed the free transfer signing of centre-half Matty Rawson following his release from Burton Albion” or “Charlton Athletic have snapped up former Chelsea and France u16 international winger Lassana Tiote after his contract with the West London giants expired”. It goes without saying that all of these players are “… delighted to be here. As soon as I heard of the interest, I asked my agent to get it done. I had a chat with the gaffer and the way he plays the game suits me and I like his ambitions for the club. I can’t wait to get the shirt on and play in front of these great fans.”

Of course, one of the most famous transfers of all time, and one that smashed through the transfer ceiling, was Trevor “the first £1m pound man” Francis' move from Birmingham City to Nottingham Forest in February 1979. Nowadays, a million quid would see something like Bristol City securing the signing of Norwich City right-back Jake Windsor-Browne, but back in 1979 it was a record breaking sum of money. For context, only once in British football history had someone paid over £500,000 for a player, and that had only happened a couple of weeks prior when West Bromwich Albion spent the rather precise sum of £516,000 on buying David Mills from Middlesbrough. In fact, only Giuseppe Savoldi (1975) and Paolo Rossi (1976) had been transferred for over £1m previously, or 2 billion Lira in old money. I love pre-Euro currency. 

Francis started his career with Birmingham City in 1970, where he made his debut as a 16-year-old schoolboy. Unbelievably given his age, he finished his first season with fifteen goals in 22 games, including four in a match against Bolton Wanderers. Over the space of nine years in the second city, Francis played 329 games and scored 133 goals, without ever having had a realistic prospect of picking up a trophy. Speaking in 1976, Francis said: “I want to be part of a successful team and unless I see signs that we are going somewhere I won’t stay…” and he was to follow this up in 1978 when he outlined: “I’m 24 in April and in another eight years I’ll probably be finished… I’ve not won a thing and without being unkind to the club it doesn’t look as if we’re going to win anything in the future.” Has anyone got Harry Kane’s phone number? 

Such was his reputation at the time, the prospect of Francis being available for transfer was described by The Guardian as “like a Rembrandt coming on to the open art market”. Although there was significant interest in a man who had been selected in the PFA First Division Team of the Year for both 1977 and 1978, there were few clubs that could afford the fee being sought by the Blues. In fact, it was only Forest and Coventry City that had the readies, the latter of which we’re proposing shared ownership with Detroit Express (yeeeehaw!) a club co-owned by Jimmy Hill, and one at which Francis went on loan to on two separate occasions scoring 36 goals in 33 games. 

Although generally touted as the first £1m player, the fee for Francis was disputed slightly at the time. Rumours were that Brian Clough capped his offer at £999,999 and refused to pay a penny more, which definitely has shades of Arsene Wenger’s £40m plus a quid offer for Luis Suarez some 34 years later. However, Francis has subsequently said that Cloughie did this to create headlines in the media, whilst it was also reported that the figure was designed to take the pressure off Trevor being labelled with the £1m price tag. 

Regardless, the reigning First Division and League Cup champions had got their man. At the unveiling, Francis turned up looking smart, resplendent in a suit and kipper tie (which was the style at the time) whereas Clough, well he turned up in a tracksuit, carrying a squash racquet. At the press conference, Clough’s assistant Peter Taylor said: “We believe Trevor is the most exciting player in the country at this moment…he is lucky he is joining Forest at their peak. If we mess this up we may as well emigrate.” Winning the European Cup, with Francis scoring the decisive goal, shortly afterwards certainly wasn’t “messing it up.” Overall, although Trevor’s time at the City Ground was disrupted by injuries, he played 93 games, scoring 37 goals and picked up two European Cups and the European Super Cup in the process. Not bad really is it?

Reflecting in The Guardian on the 40th anniversary of the transfer, Francis explained: “I never realised at the time the significance of it. I smashed, literally smashed, the transfer record. Doubled it. It was just a magical figure – a million pounds... On Saturday I’m going to be watching Plymouth Argyle against Portsmouth. I’m not going to be marking the day with anything special. But do I feel proud of being the first £1m player? Absolutely.”

That seems as good a place as any to leave it. Just one word of caution, when you’re making up transfers as I did at the start of this article (not the Ashley Young one, I reiterate, that actually happened) be sure to Google the names that you choose. In my initial draft, one of the names I plumped for literally turned out to be an axe murderer.