The Million Pound Man

Where were you when you heard about the first Million Pound Man? It seems a lifetime ago that Trevor Francis put pen to paper to sign for Nottingham Forest from Birmingham City. In today’s game, £1m in top-flight football would be just enough to get you a ball-boy! In 1979 it got you an England international.

Francis wasn’t the first £1m transfer. Italian strikers Paolo Rossi and Giuseppe Savoldi had both transferred for a lot more than Francis when converting the currency. In fact, Brian Clough in order to take pressure off Francis indicated the fee was actually £999,999. For the record, the fee was £950,000 but with add-on amounted to £1.2m.

As Rossi and Savoldi plied their trade in Italy their transfers didn’t carry as much hype to the British press as Francis’. Everyone in England wanted that first interview with The Million Pound Man.

Forest Mean Business

Nottingham Forest had won the First Division championship in their very first year back in the big time. It remains one of the most incredible footballing stories in living memory. The signing of Francis sent out a message to the rest of the league and Europe that Forest meant business. They were at the top of English football and that’s where they wanted to stay.

Clough wasn’t a manager keen on using the chequebook to achieve success. He’d managed to gain promotion the season before from the Second Division with the same squad that won the First Division. However, when he heard there was a chance of acquiring Francis it was time to dust off the chequebook quick pronto.

And so on the 9th of February 1979, Francis was officially unveiled to the waiting members of the press in Nottingham. Clough typically stole the show by turning up late for the press conference. When he did he arrived in a bright red jacket holding a squash racket. It was trademark Clough.

Trevor Francis: Forest and Detroit Express

In time details of the transfer became more public. Especially the now legendary story that indicated the deal very nearly didn’t happen at all. For several days Clough and Francis were at loggerheads regarding the contract on offer. Francis had surprisingly already agreed to play a second post-season for Detroit Express in the US. Having already played one close season with Detroit whilst at Birmingham City in 1978. He wanted to honour this deal but Forest manager Brian Clough was having none of it.

Francis later revealed, had Clough stood his ground, another of Forest’s midlands rivals Coventry City were waiting to pounce. Their Chairman the legendary Jimmy Hill was a huge fan of Francis and wanted him at Highfield Road. They put in front of Francis a monetary deal much bigger than that Forest had offered.

Francis though wasn’t interested in the money. He saw Clough and Forest as the better avenue to further his career and to win silverware.

The Million Pound Man

Remarkably Clough backed down and allowed Francis to play the close season with Detroit Express. He would receive a £45,000 signing-on fee from Forest as well as a whopping £80,000 from Detroit Express. Trevor Francis became Trevor Francis – The Million Pound Man.

Even though the season ended there, Francis duly headed back to Detroit for another summer playing in the NASL, where once again he was named to the first XI alongside Johan Cruyff (LA) and Giorgio Chinaglia (NY), despite playing only half the season. In his brief NASL career, Francis scored 36 goals in 33 regular season matches and had 18 assists, placing him one spot ahead of Pelé on the all-time scoring list, despite playing 23 fewer games.

Keen to get his Forest career going Francis agreed to play in a Midlands Intermediate League game against Notts County. Short of fitness following an injury prior to signing he saw it as an ideal opportunity to hit the ground running. There were rumours that Forest hadn’t had time to insure Francis prior to the match due to the speed of the transfer.

“His Name is Trevor !”

During the game, Francis took a shot and missed. “You’ll have to do better than that, Francis,” screamed a supporter. Clough raced halfway around the pitch to confront the supporter, shouting: “His name is Trevor!’”. Once again….trademark Clough.

The speed and nature of the transfer meant that Francis was unable to play in Europe due to registration issues. He watched from the stands as Forest beat Grasshoppers from Zurich in the quarter-finals. They followed that up by beating Cologne in the semi-final, once again Francis watched from the stands.

By the time the European Cup Final against Malmo from Sweden came around Francis was eligible to play. Francis repaid a huge chunk of his transfer fee by scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win. All told he scored just 6 goals in 20 games for Forest in his first season with the club. Not an eye-catching return for a million-pound investment.

Better than Pele

Even though the season ended there, Francis duly headed back to Detroit for another summer playing in the NASL. In his brief NASL career, Francis scored 36 goals in 33 appearances and had 18 assists, placing him one spot ahead of Pelé on the all-time scoring list, despite playing 23 fewer games.

The following season Forest would once again win the European Cup. However, they did it without Francis in the final. Due to an ankle injury, he missed the victory against Hamburg. During his time with Forest, he managed to score 28 times in 70 appearances. The majority scored from a right-wing position, not his favoured position as a central striker.

From Forest to City

The following season he was once again part of another million pound deal when he signed for Manchester City for a £1.2m fee. With the £1.2m price tag Francis was still to be known as The Million Pound Man.

Did Trevor Francis change the landscape when it came to big money transfers? Probably yes..

A ceiling had been broken and with it transfers for big money became commonplace. Right to the point of today when players move for sums of money that make Francis’ £1m deal look like loose change down the back of your sofa.