A Fox on Francis: In memory of a goalscoring great
Monday sadly saw the announcement of the death of the first million-pound English footballer, Trevor Francis. Adam Hodges pays tribute to a much-admired goalscoring great by relaying a fond family tale.
A player revered in both West and East Midlands, Francis would terrorise defences throughout the land and will forever be part of Nottingham Forest folklore by scoring the winner in the 1979 European Cup final. However, he would have a lasting impression on one Fox.
Growing up, I would listen intently to analysis from Francis when he was the co-commentator on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football games and would often hear my father say "I played against him".
With this memory taking a deeper meaning this week I asked my father to recount his encounter with Francis in the 1969-70 season:
"It was a Saturday afternoon 3pm reserve team fixture at St Andrews," reminisces John Hodges.
In those days Leicester City had three teams and John had been "held back" from the second 'A' team and instead played in goal for the reserves which was made up of apprenticeships, pros and schoolboys that included John - who wasn't even meant to be playing that day.
Leicester's reserve goalkeeper was Colin Mackleworth, and he had picked up a minor injury in Friday's training and was deemed unfit to play the following morning leading to a call-up for John.
On the opposing team, 16-year-old Trevor Francis was returning from injury and made a direct impact.
"The first half was fairly even contested and at half time we were 1-0 down. The second half was a different story, still evenly contested but every time they attacked, they scored - which saw a hat-trick from Trevor Francis.
"He was quick, alert, intelligent, and composed... he knew where the goal was, always!
"My abiding impression was that he was explosive and efficient and it was no surprise to me that his career was so successful," John said with admiration.
He may have had his success for our rivals, but Trevor Francis's talent is to be respected by all.
Read an obituary of Trevor Francis on the England Football website.
