Shock and sadness as legendary Sheffield Wednesday figure Trevor Francis passes away aged 69

The much-loved forward, known across the world as Britain’s first £1m player after Brian Clough parted with that figure to take him from Birmingham City to Nottingham Forest in 1979, played nearly 100 times for the Owls between 1990 and 1994.

He featured as the club’s player-manager for much of that period, taking over after the departure of Ron Atkinson to Aston Villa in 1991 and famously leading Wednesday to both domestic cup finals in the feted 1992/93 campaign. He played 52 times for England.

As a player, he won the 1991 Rumbelows Cup with Wednesday and achieved promotion from the Second Division in the same campaign. Having previously played abroad with the likes of Sampdoria and Atalanta, he sought to deliver a fresh professionalism to Hillsborough.

His time in South Yorkshire proved to be something of a career renaissance, arriving after an unsuccessful stint as player-manager of QPR before playing an important role as a classy veteran substitute option under Atkinson.

Owls legend David Hirst is among the Wednesday players to have credited Francis with having a hugely positive impact on his own career.

Francis went on to managerial success with the likes of Birmingham City and Crystal Palace and was a popular television pundit before he largely stepped away from the game in the late-00s.

Reacting to the news, former Wednesday teammate Viv Anderson - who also played under Francis’ management at S6 and had also been his teammate at Nottingham Forest, posted on social media to express his sadness.

He wrote: “Just heard the unbelievable news regarding Trevor Francis, he was such a wonderful person and fabulous teammate he will be sadly missed, my condolences go to his family and friends RIP.”