Trevor Francis Tells Tales of Clough at the European Grand Prix

When you spend a weekend covering a Formula One Grand Prix you always bump into the most unexpected people and Valencia was no exception for the European Grand Prix won - of course - by Sebastian Vettel.

I was joined over lunch with the lovely people from Marussia Virgin by Trevor Francis, formerly of Birminghan City, Nottingham Forest, Manchester City, Sampdoria, Atalanta, Rangers and probably others and, just prior to the final qualifying session, he regaled us with stories of his career.

Did you know, for example, that his first ever game in Europe was the 1979 European Cup final against Malmo in which he scored the only goal? Did you also know that, contrary to popular belief, Francis was not the world's first £1 million footballer. "Brian Clough always made out he bought me for £999,999.99," Francis explained. "It was to make sure I didn't get too big for my boots."

Sure enough there were plenty of Brian Clough stories, most of which unprintable, including how he kept Francis waiting 45 minutes in signing the contract confirming his move from Birmingham because the Forest boss was playing squash.

Keeping to a racquets sports theme Clough also ordered Francis to play tennis with him on a hot afternoon the day before the Europepean Super Cup against Valencia. This was the return leg in the Spanish city, which was the last time Francis had been to Valencia before his visit over the weekend to the Grand Prix.

Francis was recovering from an injury and was gobsmacked to be told the next day, tired after his tennis exertions, that he would be starting that night!

Others stories included many with Graeme Souness, who he played with at Sampdoria and then Rangers, and now sits alongside him in the Sky Sports and Al-Jazeera studios. On two occasions the pair of them were told they were one misdeamenour away from being sacked after drinking one beer following a game. "The Italians have always been that much more disciplined than the British," he added.

All in all it was an excellent lunch with a man who in his day was one of the iconic figures of British football and, for Birmingham, Forest and Sampdoria fans at the very least, will be always referred to in glowing terms. Fabio Capello believes he is the best Englishman to have ever played in Serie A and, with 52 caps and 12 goals to his name, Trevor Francis deserves his place in the sun, which is exactly where he was over the weekend.