Sadness, friendship and a one-kick debut: Ron Atkinson remembers Sheffield Wednesday legend Trevor Francis

Atkinson was the man who brought the legendary figure to Hillsborough as a veteran player in 1990 - and later recommended he take over from him when he left for the Aston Villa job a year later.

Francis of course got the nod to step into the Hillsborough hotseat and achieved great things, leading Wednesday to Europe and to two domestic cup finals in the same 1992/93 season. It marked the end of an iconic playing career in which he became Britain’s first £1m player, winning two European Cups with Nottingham Forest, racking up 52 England caps and stepping out for the likes of Sampdoria, Rangers and Atalanta.

The pair shared a relationship much deeper and for far longer than most will realise - their first meeting coming when Francis was a wiry teenager lining up against Oxford United. The pair spent much of their lives living and working in the Midlands and would often find themselves sat next to one another at functions or watching cricket at Edgbaston, when they’d regale Wednesday tales of old.

Though clearly emotional on a day he says he has spent speaking about his old pal all day, Atkinson’s voice picks up a touch as he launches into after dinner mode to explain their first afternoon together.

“I actually marked him on his full debut for Birmingham,” he said. “He was a young lad making his way and I was asked to man mark him at St Andrews. He only had one kick all day.

“Mind you, it was the equaliser!

“He was a magnificent player who had such a wonderful career and I was proud that he ended it with us. The lad Bellingham may well end up taking him over but he’s still got some way to go - Trevor is the greatest player to ever play for Birmingham City.

“He’d just come out of a difficult time at QPR and had just finished there. I told him to come along to play a cameo role for us rather than sit inside fretting on it. And that’s exactly what he did.

“He came in and had a big influence on the team, mostly in cameo roles but sometimes starting in games and he seemed to enjoy it.

“The things he’d picked up in Italy stuck with him a lot. The way he ate his food, the customs, the way he’d prepare for games, it was all very much in his character by the time he got to us and it made a big impact on him.

“He’d been down because he;d lost the job at QPR and I’d known him for a long, long time. I could talk to him along the lines of ‘Don’t sit at home moping, get yourself up here and come and enjoy it.’ Thankfully for us, that’s what he did.”

Francis’ signing for Wednesday was a little left-field. Having been sacked as player-manager at QPR, he came in to a club whose frontline was dominated by David Hirst. Dalian Atkinson and then Paul Williams acted as deputy-in-chief in the two seasons Atkinson was in charge, with the legendary figure often playing third string or out wide.

But it was out wide that he achieved such huge success for the Owls, Hirst describing a secret system in which Francis would cross either to the front of back post depending on the way he had turned his body on approaching defenders. He rarely missed. Hirst described him as one of the major influences on his career.

Atkinson remembers matches at Plymouth, at Bristol Rovers and at home to Tottenham Hotspur as particularly outstanding Francis appearances in blue and white. The latter saw him go off injured with the Owls 2-1 up. A Paul Gascoigne-inspired Spurs would go on to win 4-2 in Francis’ absence and remarkably, Wednesday went on to suffer relegation. Atkinson looks back at the afternoon as a shock turning point.

“England had used him a lot as a winger,” Atkinson said. “He was always a good crosser of the ball and I always put that down to the fact that strikers always know what sort of cross strikers like. That was a big thing for us, and for the likes of Hirsty who benefitted from it. And if he got half a chance he’d usually take it by the way.

“For such a superstar player, such a magnificent player, he was a quiet lad, quite unassuming and very humble. I knew him for years and years. It’s a word that has been used a lot today I know was a gentleman.

“It was such a shock to hear the news this morning. We have a few lads that were mates with both of us and when I was broken the news I couldn’t believe it.

“The number of phonecalls I’ve had today from people has been frightening, particularly with us both living in Birmingham. It shows how well Trevor was regarded and how well liked he was.”

A managerial career beyond Hillsborough took him back to Birmingham City and to Crystal Palace before a career in broadcasting saw him become one of the iconic voices of punditry.

By his own admission, the death of his beloved wife Helen in 2017 took a lot of out of Francis and it is seen as a sadness to the game that he never felt he was unable to return to management despite a fledgling CV. His last job came at Selhurst Park ended in 2003 when he was just 49.

“When I left, I recommended him for the manager’s job,” Atkinson remembered. “He knew how the club worked and what he’d need to do and thankfully that’s what the club did. I was delighted to see him and the club go on to some success.

“It’s a terribly sad day. He was such a lovely, unassuming man. You can see just how highly regarded he was when you see the people who have spoken about him and the way they have spoken about him. Such a sad day.”