Trevor Francis said losing his beloved wife to breast cancer was ‘toughest challenge’ he ever faced: £1m football legend revealed his loneliness when his childhood sweetheart died after 43 years of marriage
- Trevor and Helen married in 1974 before she tragically died from cancer in 2017
Mourned football great Trevor Francis will be remembered by most for his incredible skill on the pitch – but he credited his enormous success to his late wife Helen.
In modern times top players at the pinnacle of their careers are often linked to a different women every week.
But when Trevor and Helen – a hairdresser – got married in 1974 it was for forever and the start of blissful union that would last 43 years.
In the end it was only the tragedy of the breast cancer that took her life in 2017 that saw them parted.
And her death broke the heart of the Nottingham Forest legend, whose unparalleled abilities made him the Premier League’s first £1million player.
Speaking in 2019, he told the Mail: ‘It’s so hard because of the deep love I had for Helen and also because I am useless in the house. She did everything for me. I don’t mind admitting that.
‘All of a sudden I am living by myself and I suppose I never contemplated this would ever happen. It is a tougher challenge than anything I ever faced on a football field.’
‘I didn’t think Helen and I would ever stop. She was my best friend and I couldn’t have done any of what I did without her.
Trevor Francis with his wife Helen and the European Cup at Munich airport the morning after Forest had beaten Malmo 1-0 in the European Cup Final at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, May 31, 1979
TV Pundit Trevor Francis looks on during the Barclays Premier League match between Aston Villa and Sunderland
‘We were married 43 years. You know, every day is difficult. I do get quite lonely. But I am trying to adapt. I have to.’
READ MORE: Trevor Francis dead at 69 – football mourns loss of first British million pound player
It had been love at first sight for Trevor after he met her when he had been just 18 in Marbella.
But the former Birmingham City star lost her number when he returned home to the UK.
He could not get her out of his head and knew she was from Llanelli and a hairdresser so came up with a plan to find her.
Trevor said: ‘I decided to call them all. I presumed there would be four or five in the town.
‘There were more than 30.
‘In pre-season at Birmingham I would go to a phone kiosk and put my 2p in and call them all one by one.
‘It was: “Excuse me do you have a Helen working for you?”.
‘Then: “Sorry we don’t know that name”.
Trevor Francis with his wife Helen in their home at Balsall Common back on April 7 in 1977
Trevor Francis and his wife Helen celebrate holding the European Cup at the party after Forest had beaten Malmo 1-0
‘Move on. Another one. Same answer. Move on. Then, after 15 attempts, I found her.
‘That was the start of our relationship. We were inseparable from that moment on.’
But things became more difficult for her when they went to Forest and Trevor became the million-pound-man.
He recalled people started becoming jealous of her and would write to them asking for money.
Trevor said: ‘People were very envious of her. The way she was dressed. Her looks. The wife of the first million-pound footballer.
Star striker Francis signed for £1million for Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest in February 1979
Francis poses with his wife Helen after moving to Nottingham Forest from Birmingham City
‘Then the begging letters started from all over the country asking for money. Then the fur coat she wore attracted letters from the animal rights people. Then others would say she was spending her husband’s money on clothes. She was young, only 25. It was hard.
‘But as she got further into football she hardened to it. She came to just about every game I played. She used to get requests for interviews from fashion magazines and stuff but she always said no. She just wanted to support me.
‘She had great family values. Family always came first. Our two boys she idolised but there was only one No 1 and that was me. She made sure I knew that.’
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