A statement from the Francis family announced his death at the age of 69 from a heart attack.

"This has come as a huge shock to everybody," the family said. 

"We are all very upset. He was a legendary footballer but he was also an extremely nice person." 

Francis was born in Plymouth, but he made his name in 1971 when he scored four goals in a Football League Division Two match for Birmingham against Bolton Wanderers.

He was still only 16 at the time.

"Trevor Francis is the name everyone talked about when we first came to Birmingham," Birmingham City Board chairman Thomas Wagner said in a message.

By 1977, Francis had made his debut for England in a 2-0 defeat against the Netherlands, but he went to play 52 times for his country.

He was also one of the first leading English players to play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the United States.

He joined Detroit Express and scored 36 goals in a short career, which even put him ahead of Pelé in the all-time NASL goalscoring charts.

In February 1979, Francis was signed by Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough, for what was then a British record transfer fee of approximately £1.15 million ($1.47million/€1.33 million).

Ineligible to play in Forest’s European Cup campaign until the final, he headed the winning goal against Swedish club Malmo in Munich.

It was the greatest moment in Nottingham Forest’s history.

Clough had a giant photograph of the goal placed in his office at Forest's City Ground.

"Nottingham Forest is deeply saddened to learn the passing of two-time European Cup winner, Trevor Francis. A true Forest legend who will never be forgotten," a club statement said this week.

"Trevor was up there with the great players and his ability was incredible at times," Forest and England teammate Peter Shilton told Sky News.

In 1980, an achilles injury forced Francis to miss out on an appearance in a second European Cup final.

He left for Manchester City in 1981 and played for England at the 1982 World Cup where he scored against Czechoslovakia and Kuwait.

Later that year, he joined Sampdoria in Italy and helped them win the Coppa Italia in 1985.

Francis also had a season with Atlanta before joining Scottish giants Rangers.

He then moved to Queens Park Rangers in West London where he became player-manager but lasted only a year in the role.

He left shortly afterwards for Sheffield Wednesday and was part of the squad which won the Football League Cup in 1991.

He subsequently became player-manager and guided them to the 1993 Football League Cup final and FA Cup final, but they lost both finals to Arsenal.

Francis ended his own playing career in 1994.

By this time he had also forged a role as a co-commentator, first for ITV and then for Skysports.

"Deeply saddened to hear that Trevor Francis has died. A wonderful footballer and lovely man. Was a pleasure to work alongside him both on the pitch and on the telly," former England team mate and fellow television pundit Gary Lineker said.

In 1996, Francis returned to his first club Birmingham as a manager.

They reached the playoffs and also lost the 2001 League Cup final  to Liverpool shortly before his time at the club came to an end.

There came a later spell at Crystal Palace but it ended in dismissal after disagreements with Palace owner Simon Jordan.

In 2017, Francis lost his wife Helen to cancer. 

They had been married for 43 years.