Sir, – News of the death of Trevor Francis (”British football’s first £1m player Trevor Francis dies aged 69″, Sport, July 25th), the first £1 million player, brings me back to a childhood of football cards, the Big Match and Shoot magazine. The fee seemed unimaginable, and in its leap from the sports pages to main news it dragged my attention from the back to the previously unknown front pages of the paper. It wasn’t a bad investment either as he won two European cups with his new club, Nottingham Forrest, scoring the winning goal in the 1979 final.
It’s interesting to consider the historical trajectory of such transfer fees. Alf Common in 1900 moved to Sheffield Wednesday for £350, then a record. In 1938, Bryn Jones joined Arsenal for £14,000, raising the bar to new levels.
This week it’s reported that Kylian Mbappé is considering an offer to move to a Saudi Arabian club for over £250 million.
Viewed at 40-year intervals, these increases are roughly by a factor of 40, 70 and 250, making the issue of what fees will prevail in the 2060s rather daunting.
I doubt if any fee will ever impress me as much as that of Trevor Francis though. Being nine years old gives sports a degree of importance that nothing can match later in life. May he rest in peace. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.