Trevor Francis dead aged 69 as ex Rangers midfielder and Britain’s first £1m player mourned

Britain’s first £1 million player spent a season at Ibrox under Graeme Souness.

Former Rangers midfielder Trevor Francis has died at the age of 69.

The Englishman spent the 1987/88 season at Ibrox and helped them win the Scottish League Cup, scoring a penalty in the shootout win over Aberdeen at Hampden in the Final. Francis was signed by Graeme Souness having been a team-mate of the then Rangers boss at Italian Serie A side Sampdoria. He cost the Light Blues just £75,000 and moved on after one season when he joined Queens Park Rangers, where he later became player-manager.

Former Rangers star Trevor Francis dies aged 69 as tributes flood in for first £1m footballer - Glasgow Live

Francis was capped 52 times by England and made history when he moved to Nottingham Forest from Birmingham City in 1979 as he became Britain’s first £1million player. It proved to be money well spent as he helped Brian Clough’s men win back to back European Cups. He also had spells at Manchester City and Atalanta before finishing his playing career at Sheffield Wednesday. He later managed the Owls as well as Birmingham City and Crystal Palace.

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.”

Rangers paid tribute to their former star, saying: “All at Rangers Football Club are today saddened to hear of the passing of our former player Trevor Francis, at the age of 69. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.”

“I felt like a superstar” – Dutchman on his Celtic adventure and Rangers ‘pure hatred’

Former Celtic winger Regi Blinker has admitted he “felt like a superstar” at the club and insisted it was ‘pure hatred’ when it came to the rivalry with Rangers.

The former Hoops star has been speaking to Algemeen Dagblad ahead of Celtic’s clash with Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday, which meant a look back on his time at Celtic Park and, of course, the clashes with Rangers.

The Dutchman spent three seasons with Celtic after arriving from Sheffield Wednesday 1997, which naturally meant plenty of trips to Ibrox.

While still a fierce derby, to say the least, and demonstrated by the 15 fouls apiece and hostile atmosphere at Ibrox in Celtic’s recent 1-0 win over Michael Beale’s side, back in the 90’s it was a different matter altogether.

The Scottish giants’ hatred of each other was well established and often borne out on the pitch, with the Old Firm derby widely accepted as one of the fiercest derbies in world football.

That’s not quite the case today, of course, with that recent clash only seeing one yellow a piece for Rangers Todd Cantwell and Celtic’s Liam Scales respectively.

That wasn’t the case in Blinker’s day, with him admitting it was ‘pure hatred’ between the two sides when they met.

“After Sheffield I went to Celtic, because Wim Jansen had become manager there,” he said.

“There in Glasgow, football was so alive, it was truly unimaginable. With all the trimmings, eh. Paparazzi on the street to spot players.

“The idolization of the players by the fans – and there are quite a few at Celtic – was unique. Yes, I felt like a superstar there sometimes.

“But you can’t understand anyone at Celtic Park. As a player you don’t know what you will experience when you come out of the tunnel.

“I played an Old Firm against Glasgow Rangers there and then you really encountered a hurricane of noise. The sheer hatred you feel from Rangers fans for wearing the wrong shirt. And the support of Celtic’s supporters, who demand that you get into it from the first to the last minute.”