'People absolutely loved him': Soccer star Trevor Francis, Detroit Express' biggest draw, dies at 69

How big a deal was Trevor Francis for Metro Detroit's scene?

Let's put it like this.

"We would never have had the World Cup in 1994," Roger Faulkner said of the Pontiac Silverdome serving as one of nine host stadiums in the United States, "if we didn't have Trevor Francis igniting the Express in 1978 and 1979."

Francis, an English soccer star who had a legendary 25-year playing career, including two seasons as the headliner for the upstart Detroit Express of the North American Soccer League, died Monday at his home in Spain. He reportedly died of a heart attack. Francis was 69.

Faulkner was co-owner of the Express when the franchise was founded in 1978.

Francis joined the team about a third of the way through the season, on loan from Birmingham City for $100,000. He led the Express to a division championship and the league semifinals, with 22 goals in 19 appearances.

"He was a remarkable athlete, one of the finest soccer players I've ever seen," said Faulkner, who still lives in Bloomfield Hills. "And one of the nicest people I've ever met. People absolutely loved him.

"He inspired so many people to play soccer in southeast Michigan, and in the United States."

After the first season in Detroit, Francis returned to Birmingham City (their season was in the winter, Detroit's was in the summer), before moving to Nottingham Forest — and becoming the first player ever transferred for a fee of over 1 million pounds.

He returned to Detroit in 1979, on loan from Nottingham Forest, and starred again, with 14 goals in 14 appearances as the Express again made the playoffs.

Attendance in Francis' second year in Detroit topped 14,000, up from just over 12,000 his first year.

"His impact on Detroit was immense, considering the short period of time he played here," said Art Regner, longtime Detroit sports media personality. "I have zero problem calling him a Detroit sports legend.

"He put Detroit soccer on the map."

And for a while, Francis thought Detroit was the place on the map where he should be. While he was playing for the Express, he even purchased a piece of property on Turtle Lake in Bloomfield Hills for $500,000; he didn't end up building, and a $4-million house sits on the property today.

Francis wrote in his autobiography, "One in a Million," that another Express co-owner, English soccer figure Jimmy Hill, promised a 25,000-pound raise for Year 2 in Detroit. Francis wrote that money never materialized, and he only received 25,000 pounds for the season, about a fifth of what he was owed.

Two years in Detroit was it for Francis.

He went back to Nottingham Forest, and also played for Manchester City, Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday in England, Sampdoria and Atalanta in Italy, the Rangers in Scotland, and Wollongong City in Australia.

Francis represented England internationally several times, including at the 1982 World Cup.

"He was a special athlete. People like Joe Falls (of The Detroit News), who wasn't a soccer person by any means, was in awe. So was Jerry Green (also of The News)," Faulkner said. "They could sense they were in the presence of a different kind of athlete altogether, even though they didn't understand the sport.

"Trevor Francis was the Detroit Express. We had some other good players, but Trevor made an amazing impact."

Probably the best show Francis, a forward, put on at the SIlverdome was in an exhibition against the New York Cosmos in March 1979.

The Cosmos were a dynamo, led by the legendary Franz Beckenbauer.

Detroit won, 8-2. Francis scored six goals. By the end, legend has it, even the Cosmos were cheering him on.

"He just played an absolutely inspired game," Faulkner said. "It was inspired performance."

During his time in Detroit, Francis took to the community, and ran several soccer clinics for local youth — fully embracing his role as ambassador for a soccer franchise that would fold in 1981.

After his playing career ended, Francis, born in Plymouth, England, had stints managing four teams, including three he used to play for, the Queens Park Rangers, Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City. He managed Crystal Palace in England from 2001-03, his last managerial stint.

Teammates remember Francis as not just a good soccer player, but a good person, as detailed in this Detroit News look back on the Detroit Express by Larry O'Connor in 2019.

Faulkner remembers Francis the same way. He told a story about calling up Francis a few years after his time in Detroit to see if he could get his father a ticket for an upcoming Sheffield Wednesday match.

"I called after the game to thank Trevor, said my father really appreciated it," Faulkner said Monday afternoon. "He said, 'I was glad to do so. How did he think I played?' Here's an England international (star) who wanted to know what my 80-year-old father thought of the way he played. That's not an ego. There was no ego.

"That's how Trevor was. I'm not sure he ever realized how great he was."

Francis was married to wife Helen from 1974 until her death in 2017. They had two children.

tpaul@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tonypaul1984