"there has only ever been one perfect man, the Lord Jesus, and we killed him. I only missed a putt."
One in a Million
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Trevor Francis, Pitch Publishing 2019. ISBN: 978-1-78531-499-5
Trevor Francis was the first footballer to be transferred for £1Million when he signed for Nottingham Forest from Birmingham City in February 1979. Forty years on Francis feels that he is still defined by that moment: “I think that I have always been known as the first million-pound footballer. Every sporting event or function that I go to, I am always announced as: ‘we’ve got with us the first million-pound footballer, Trevor Francis’. At the time it created more excitement and more interest than any of the modern-day transfers.
Forty years on, Francis has now told his on story in Trevor Francis, one in a million. The structure of the book is linear starting with his early life, then a chapter on each club he played for or managed and a chapter on his England career. The two final chapters are a series of reflections on his life in football and an account of what he has done since his last job in football.
While only one chapter is devoted to it, for most people the Nottingham Forest years and his assessment of and stories about Brian Clough are the most interesting part of the book.