Trevor Francis holds a winning trophy after a match. File / AP

The forward joined Nottingham Forest from Birmingham in the record move in 1979, scoring the winning goal in the European Cup final just months later.

He won 52 caps for England, scoring 12 goals and later as a manager guided Sheffield on Wednesday and Birmingham to major domestic finals. "He died in Spain this morning from a heart attack," said a spokesman for the family. Francis made his debut for Birmingham in 1970 at the age of 16.

Forest shattered the British transfer record when they paid £1.15 million for him in 1979, although manager Brian Clough famously claimed the fee was £999,999 to take pressure off the player. He headed the winner in the 1-0 victory over Malmo to win the European Cup just a few months later.

Francis missed the European Cup win over Hamburg a year later through injury and joined Manchester City in 1981.

Spells at Sampdoria, where he won the Coppa Italia, Atalanta, Rangers and QPR, where he was player-manager, followed.

He moved to Sheffield Wednesday in 1990 before he replaced Ron Atkinson as manager, taking them to the finals of the FA Cup and League Cup in 1993, losing both times to Arsenal. He subsequently managed at Birmingham and Crystal Palace.

Francis spent half a year in Spain and the rest near Birmingham. He suffered a heart attack 11 years ago and had kept himself fit with daily power walks.

He had an annual health check through the League Managers' Association and, according to his spokesman, was "enjoying life very much having eventually got over the death of his wife." Helen died in 2017 after a battle with cancer.

Former Forest team-mate Peter Shilton was among the first to pay tribute. The former England goalkeeper tweeted: "I'm absolutely devastated to hear about my old team mate Trevor Francis such a wonderful gentleman a friend and a terrible loss." Forest tweeted that Francis was "a true Forest legend who will never be forgotten."

A tweet from Birmingham City read: "Trevor will forever be revered as a giant of the club, the player everyone wanted to see."

Agence France-Presse