Birmingham City created football history - £1m man is immortalised at St. Andrew's | OneFootball

Trevor Francis' influence at Birmingham City will be forever remembered

The term 'legend' is often thrown about loosely in modern football.

However, even in the current climate, with over 50 years passing since his initial breakthrough into the first-team fold at St. Andrew's, nobody can deny that Trevor Francis is the greatest player to ever don the royal blue of Birmingham City.

In fact, such claims have only been laid bare for all to see in the past 24 months, with Francis now immortalised in bronze outside the Kop Stand in B9, as supporters continue to remember his profound influence at Blues as both a star player and manager way beyond his sad passing in the summer of 2023, just days after current ownership, Knighthead Capital Management, acquired their initial stake in the West Midlands outfit.

Not only is Francis a hero in the blue half of the Second City for his brilliance and flair in a footballing era more often associated with a greater deal of physicality on extremely questionable surfaces, but his services are also remembered with great fondness by those who saw him feature for the likes of Nottingham Forest, Sampdoria, Sheffield Wednesday and the England national side throughout a playing career which lasted 24 years.

It also cannot be underestimated just how much Birmingham, as a club, helped create their own piece of footballing history after initially unearthing Francis as a youth prospect in the late 1960s, as his move to the City Ground in 1979 became the first of many high-profile transfer moves to gain such a strong amount of media attention.

Birmingham City helped create footballing history with Trevor Francis, Nottingham Forest agreement

At the time of his debut against Cardiff City in September 1970, Francis became Blues' youngest-ever player at just 16 years and 139 days - a record now held by Real Madrid and England starlet, Jude Bellingham.

His potential became immediately apparent through a record of 15 goals in his first 15 appearances, including all four in a home success over Bolton Wanderers, before his 12 goals, alongside Bob Latchford's 30 strikes, were crucial in Birmingham's return to the top flight in 1972.

Despite Birmingham's fluctuating league finishes under Freddie Goodwin, Willie Bell, Sir Alf Ramsey and Jim Smith, Francis' influence on the side failed to diminish, as his goalscoring record was either equalled or improved on in each of the following six campaigns.

Indeed, across the 1976/77 and 1977/78 campaigns, the forward's first burst onto the international scene coincided with a remarkable record of 46 goals scored in 84 league appearances, only intensifying transfer interest and Francis' desire to match his scoring success with a handful of major honours.

The aforementioned Smith then accepted his desire to depart St. Andrew's, moving to Forest for a then-record £1m transfer in February 1979 under the legendary Brian Clough OBE.

In typical Clough fashion, the Reds' most legendary manager issued a statement of "when I pick him" when Francis was asked about his potential for gametime at the City Ground.

However, it is a deal which the Reds had no regrets about, as within a matter of months, he would head home the winner in the European Cup final against Malmö FF in Munich, before playing a key role in the East Midlands side's retention of the honour 12 months later, although he would not feature against Hamburger SV in Madrid.

Trevor Francis' legacy at Birmingham City continued despite several luckless season endings

With Birmingham looking to end a lengthy exile from the top-flight after relegation and further falling into what is now League One in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Francis returned to St. Andrew's as manager in 1996 after Barry Fry's departure.

Throughout five full seasons in the managerial post, the Plymouth-born great would make Blues one of the second tier's strongest forces, with the lowest finishes coming in his first two seasons as they finished 10th and seventh, before enduring extremely hard luck in three subsequent play-off campaigns, as well as suffering penalty-shootout heartbreak against Liverpool in the 2000/01 EFL Cup final.

Indeed, Blues were defeated by Watford on penalties in the 1998/99 play-off semi-finals, before being dismantled over two legs by Barnsley at the same stage the following campaign.

The first full season within the 21st century did very little to change Blues' fortunes despite the fact that, en route to facing the Merseyside giants in Cardiff, they had defeated the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Ipswich Town, all of whom were Premier League sides at the time.

After responding to a Robbie Fowler stunner through Darren Purse's penalty, Andrew Johnson saw his spot kick in the shootout saved by Sander Westerweld to ensure the Reds took the trophy, before Blues suffered even more spot-kick agony at the hands of Preston North End months later.

Francis had firmly laid the groundwork for Steve Bruce to eventually break said curse the following season, with the Birmingham legend departing by mutual agreement in October 2001.

Francis was then a regular attendee of Blues games despite being based in Spain, where he passed away in July 2023.

As previously mentioned, though, he has been immortalised at St. Andrew's and throughout Birmingham in many ways. A statue of his was unveiled in August 2025 ahead of a pre-season memorial match against Forest, 12 months after playing out the same fixture against Rangers.