Former England forward Trevor Francis dies aged 69

The Three Lions star passed away at his apartment in Marbella, Spain on Monday morning (July 24th) after suffering a heart attack.

A statement from his family said: "Trevor Francis has died at the age of 69. He had a heart attack at his apartment in Spain this morning.

"On behalf of the family, this has come as a huge shock to everybody. We are all very upset. He was a legendary footballer but he was also an extremely nice person."

Francis started his career at Birmingham after joining as a schoolboy in 1970, making his debut for the club aged just 16.

His impressive displays for the Blues saw legendary Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough take an interest in Francis, who was made the country's first £1m player in 1979.

The move to Forest then came with plenty of success in the form of back-to-back European Cup in 1979, where he scored the winner against Malmo, and 1980.

Francis left Forest in 1981 to join Manchester City and also embarked on a spell in Italy with Sampdoria and Atalanta.

He moved back to the United Kingdom in 1987 and signed for Rangers, where he would spend one season before joining QPR as a player-manager.

He won 52 England caps scoring 12 goals, two of which came at the 1982 World Cup, before turning his hand to full-time management.

As a manager, Francis held roles with Sheffield Wednesday, Birmingham and Crystal Palace.

He led Wednesday to FA Cup and League Cup finals in 1994 and Birmingham to the 2001 League Cup final.