Tributes pour in for Trevor Francis from across the world of football

We're reflecting on the sad news today that one of England's finest players, Trevor Francis, has died aged 69. The legendary striker who scored the goal that made Nottingham Forest European champions died from a heart attack at his home in Marbella. A glittering playing career saw him make his first team debut at Birmingham aged 16 before that record-breaking move to Nottingham Forest. He won European honours there on two occasions. He spent time at Manchester City before moving to After returning to the UK, Francis played for Rangers in Scotland before ending his playing career at QPR and Sheffield Wednesday. He then became a successful coach and manager, being FA Cup and League Cup runner-up with Sheffield Wednesday, as well as leading Birmingham to the League Cup final in 2001 before going on to lose to Liverpool. Nottingham Forest described Francis as a legend who will never be forgotten. Sheffield Wednesday has said this. Francis is an iconic figure at Hillsborough, having played for and managed the club after a glittering career, taking in Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Manchester City, Sampdoria, Atlanta, Rangers and QPR. The gifted forward joined Wednesday for the final chapter of his playing days in 1990. To say Tricky Trev made an S6 impact would be an understatement. Time and again he entered proceedings from the bench to almost single-handedly turn games on their head. Francis left Hillsborough in May 1995, leaving an indelible mark on the club's history. Prior to Wednesday, of course, he was widely acclaimed as the finest footballer of his generation, becoming the first £1m British player after leaving Birmingham for Forest. Our thoughts are with Trevor's family and friends at this incredibly difficult time. Well, a huge part of Francis's legacy started at Birmingham, where he was both a player and a manager. They've tweeted to say Trevor will forever be revered as a giant of the club, the player everyone wanted to see. And we can speak now to former Birmingham midfielder Michael Johnson, who played under Francis. Good afternoon to you, Michael. Thank you so much for joining us to pay your tributes to Trevor today. Tell us a bit about your relationship with him as a manager and a friend. Well, good afternoon on this obviously sad occasion. Trevor was my manager at Birmingham City. He came in the mid-90s and left 2001. And we struck up a wonderful relationship. At the time, I wasn't going to be staying at the club because he brought in some big names in Gary Ablett, Steve Bruce, Paul Furlong. It was a complete change, Birmingham City for a new direction. But Trevor being Trevor encouraged me to work hard, which I did, and eventually managed to stay there for a longer period than I first thought. He was such a great guy, good manager. You don't get to all the playoff finals that we got to underneath Trevor Francis if he didn't have that mettle. And he did so well for a club. We eventually got promoted underneath Steve Bruce, but a lot of the work was definitely down to Trevor Francis. Look, lots of people have spoken about how humble he was, despite being that history maker as a player. What was that? Was that his personality? Yeah, without a shadow of a doubt. He had a humbleness, a flair with it. He would have been mid-40s, but without a shadow of a doubt, he was the best player every day in training sessions. But with that came a certain humility. We knew that Trevor had such an aura around Birmingham City, but he never played up to it. He was just the gaffer. He was just an immense character that really, really drove Birmingham City forward. I don't have enough words to speak about what he did for my career personally. Like I said to you, I wasn't going to be part of the Birmingham City history, but Trevor allowed me to stay there just because, obviously, the performances, but Trevor keeping his word. I'll never forget that. How did the supporters react to him? Idolised him. Idolised him. He was their hero, a 16-year-old to burst on the scene, first million pound player, to go and play for England, then not only to be the first million pound player and then to play to England, then to come back to the club. And as I said, you reach those playoff finals against Barnsley, against Watford, Preston, and he took us so close. And then to get to the cup final, where if we'd have beat Liverpool on penalties, we'd have been in Europe. And his win ratio was nearly 50%. He was idolised both as a player and as a manager. And it was interesting just listening to Jude Benningham, who's also idolised by Birmingham City. But even Jude says, hold on a minute, Trevor Francis comes first. He's the main man. Trevor is Mr Birmingham City. What was he like, Michael, as a manager? Was he an arm around? Was he tough? He wasn't one of those old school managers, throwing cups of tea around and shouting. He was very calm, collected, very emotional, though, wore his heart on his sleeve. And he had a in Ian Bowyer, who's won that. We can see Ian on the footage there, and Mick Mills from Ipswich. So he had a real calmness, but a real targeted approach. He knew what success looked like. He'd done it and achieved it as a player, wanted to do it as a manager, and brought in a team that knew how to win games. Both of these, Bowyer and Mills, had international experience, but also won big trophies in the domestic game. Michael, for me, whenever I used to speak about him, he could talk such a great game, but he never really wanted to slip himself into the conversation. Was that what he was like to you? Did he kind of say, look, I've done this, but I didn't feel he would ever say that. No, he wasn't like that, except if you've seen him in training. In training, he would do things that would make you giggle, and he would just look back and give you a little wink. But outside of the training, his arena, he was very humble. He could speak to anybody. He'd have time to sign autographs. I remember him coming back to Birmingham City, and children were lining up to sign autographs, as were elders. He took the time out to sign everybody. He was a really terrific man. My heart goes out to his children, Matthew and James, but also, obviously, he's lost his wife as well. He'll be reunited with his wife, hopefully. But it's just a sad, sad, sad moment for all of football, but especially for the clubs that he's been attached to. Yeah, I would agree with those words wholeheartedly. Look, Michael, you also grew up in Nottingham, didn't you? What did he mean to that city? Well, that was my city. That was my team at the time. That's one of the reasons why I fell in love with football, watching the likes of John McGovern, Viv Anderson, obviously Trevor France to see in Bollier. And they rejuvenated the city, even to this very day. The expectations of Nottingham Forest are based on what the team done in the seventies. To do what they did, which is not only come from the championship to the top league, and then go and win the European Cup, not only the first season, but the second season, it takes some doing. And there's not many clubs in England that have got that, where they can say, we're European Cup winners. Forest have, and Trevor Francis played such an integral part in that. It's a Hollywood movie, isn't it? Look, just finally, how will you remember him personally? As the gaffer, as the manager that, you know, really brought Birmingham, I know Steve Bruce brought us over the line, but I'm sure Steve would definitely be somebody enough to recognise the work that Trevor Francis had laid in terms of the work, both getting promoted in that early 2000 period. So for me, the gaffer has just been an amazing man in my life, and really sad to see what's happened today. Michael Johnsons, thank you so much for joining us on such a tough day for you. Thank you. Pleasure. Yeah, Michael was talking there about some of his Nottingham Forest heroes, wasn't he? We've had tributes from some of Francis's teammates as well. Viv Anderson tweeted this, just heard the unbelievable news regarding Trevor Francis. He was such a wonderful person, of fabulous teammates, he will be sadly missed. My condolences go to his family and friends, RIP. Peter Shilton said this, I'm absolutely devastated to hear about my old teammate Trevor Francis, such a wonderful gentleman, a friend and a terrible loss.