Legendary striker Trevor Francis wrote his sons out of his will before his death.

Britain’s first £1million footballer, who scored Nottingham Forest’s winner in their 1979 European Cup final triumph, died in July last year at the age of 69. He reportedly left £1.9million but none of it will go to his sons, James and Matthew, who were cut out on his will in 2019.

Francis instead gifted his fortune to brother Ian and sister Carolyn, who both live in Plymouth, reports The Sun. His wife Helen died of breast cancer in 2017.

He wrote in his will: “I wish to make it clear in this my will that I have not included my children as beneficiaries due to the fact that we have become estranged following family differences over the last several months. Neither of my children are financially dependent on me.”

The reason for the family rift have not been disclosed but sons reportedly attended Francis’s funeral, which took place in Marbella, Spain, where their dad spent much of his time in later life. The British estate which will go to his sibling does not reportedly include his apartment near Marbella.

Plymouth-born Francis burst onto the scene as a teenager with Birmingham, making his first-team debut at 16 in 1970. Forest shattered the British transfer record when they paid £1.15million for him in 1979, although manager Brian Clough famously claimed the fee was £999,999 to take pressure off the player.

He headed the only goal in the European Cup final against Malmo in Munich 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.

Under Francis, the Owls finished third in the old First Division in his first season in charge before finishing seventh in the newly created Premier League while also being runners-up in the FA Cup and League Cup.

He left in 1995 and returned to Birmingham the following year, reaching the play-offs three times and also the 2001 League Cup final where they lost to Liverpool. Francis left St Andrew’s in October 2001 and joined Crystal Palace soon after, leaving the Eagles in 2003 in what was his last job.