Trevor Francis - One in a Million: The Trevor Francis Story

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2019

Pitch Publishing

A2 Yeoman Gate

Yeoman Way

Durrington

BN13 3QZ

www.pitchpublishing.co.uk

Trevor Francis and Keith Dixon, 2019

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A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library

Print ISBN 978-1-78531-499-5

eBook ISBN 978-1-78531-576-3

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DEDICATION

To my wife Helen

WRITING this book has been as difficult as it must be when a World Cup manager has to select his starting 11 from his squad of 23 top-quality international players.

My thanks go to my co-author Keith Dixon, who has spent time debating with me whether a story is worthy of inclusion or not. He has spent hours listening to my memories and stories and together we have decided how to present them in the right style for you, the reader. Keith has been the strong author I requested. It would be fair to say that the content is mine, but the structure has been the responsibility of Keith. Together we have produced a book of which I am immensely proud.

Keith Dixon is the author of nine football books including The Blues Great Games Great Teams Great Players, Gil Merrick, Jackie Sewell, Birmingham City 50 Greatest Matches, Birmingham City Modern Day Heroes, Bad Blood, Robbo Unsung Hero, Birmingham City The Leaders and Blues Insider. He was a regular contributor to the Blues magazine and currently contributes to the football magazine, Late Tackle. Keith serves as a committee member for the Birmingham City Former Players Association.

Thanks go to my family, my sons Matthew and James, my grandchildren and my brother and sister, Ian and Carolyn. I cannot thank you enough for your love and support. Roy and Phyllis, my departed parents, what would I have done without you? Thanks also go to Jane and Paul Camillin, Margaret Murray and Duncan Olner, and the team at Pitch Publishing, for turning my life memories into the book you have in your hands.

IT was Tuesday 6 March 2018 when I met Trevor to discuss my ideas for his book. Having spoken to him the previous Wednesday evening, I knew that he would need some convincing that we should write his autobiography. There was only one choice of subject for what would probably be my last book, and that was Trevor. I needed to persuade him that this project was worthwhile.

Trevor arrived dead on time for our meeting, stating that he hated being late. I share Trevors dislike of being late so we were off to a good start.

We had worked together previously when he agreed to write one of the forewords (the other was written by Barry Fry) for my 2017 book, Blues Insider. Therefore, I was aware of his attention to detail and desire to get things absolutely right. During our two-hour meeting Trevor made it clear that he was only prepared to embark on this project if we both agreed that the end product would be top quality in other words, the best book we could write. It was on that basis that we started this adventure.

I say adventure because, as a septuagenarian Bluenose, what greater accolade could I receive in writing terms than to write the life story of one of my Birmingham City heroes? In saying one of my, there are only two, the other being Gil Merrick whose autobiography Gil Merrick I wrote in 2009. In this way my first book and my latest are dedicated to the two most famous footballers to wear the royal blue of the Blues. Well, with Gil it was a green woollen jersey!

After discussion Trevor and I agreed that this new book should be fundamentally a football book, one that was exactly what he wanted, as long as I was happy with the potential content. He wanted me to act as a strong author which meant ensuring the content was appropriate and relevant to the reader. With this in mind Trevor went off to consider what title he would prefer, fully aware that the final decision on the title of any book is the responsibility of the publisher.

He came back to me within a couple of days with the suggestion that the book should be called One in a Million. His thinking was based on the irrefutable fact that he will always be remembered as the first million-pound football player. I passed on the idea to the publishers and they agreed.

Trevor and I decided that the book would be encyclopaedic in terms of his career and that it would follow the traditional chronological approach. Trevor rejected my idea for him to voice his opinion on a whole range of footballing subjects as he felt that this would be inappropriate. After our first two sessions it became clear to me that Trevor had no interest in what other people in football thought of him, whether good, bad or indifferent. This meant that the research I had conducted and the many quotes I had obtained from his team-mates, as preparation for my proposal, were deleted from our initial draft.

What you have in your hands is a book that is full of personal recollections from Trevors career. This is an intimate record of his life and career from his own very special perspective.

It has been a tremendous experience working with Trevor and listening to the stories, memories and anecdotes related to his life. Unlike some footballer biographies, this one does not pull any punches. It is warts and all and names are named!

Enjoy the book.

THERE have been two books written about me to date: Anatomy of a 1 million player which was published in 1980 and The World to Play For which came out in 1982, so my story since then has never been told, until now.

I have an approach to life which I have applied to the writing of this book and it is quite simply, Do it right or dont do it at all! I cannot see the point of taking on any project or task and being happy with second best. Whatever your opinion is, after you have finished reading my book please understand it is my absolute best effort.

Prior to my involvement with Keith on this book, I had been approached, on two previous occasions, about writing my autobiography. I rejected both offers because I wanted to make my book an honest testimony to my career and life. This meant that I had to write it after my involvement in football had ended so that I could tell it like it was.

There are very few statistics in my book. I believe that the detail behind many of the matches that I have been involved in as either a player or a manager is out there on the internet for those readers who want that amount of information.

Everything in this book is the truth from my personal experiences. Theres no hearsay, nothing that was told to me in confidence. Its 100 per cent fact and some of those facts defy belief!

Too often I read autobiographies, sometimes about people that I know well, and I can tell that the person the book is about has not devoted much time to the published outcome. How do I know this? Because the details are not included.