Britain's first £1m player's mementos fetch £135k

Trevor Francis won the European Cup with Nottingham Forest in 1979 and 1980

A collection of memorabilia from Britain's first £1m footballer - from a European Cup winners medal to a Diego Maradona match-worn shirt - has sold for £135,000.

Trevor Francis died last year after suffering a heart attack in Spain, aged 69.

The ex-Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City forward's medals and mementos went up for auction in Devon on Thursday.

A Napoli shirt, worn by Maradona in 1984-85, which Francis's family believe he swapped while playing in Italy for Sampdoria, had the highest selling price, fetching £20,000.

Auctioneer Piers Motley believes the shirt sale was a world record amount for a club shirt worn by the legendary Argentinian forward.

In addition, a Forest season ticket holder forked out £15,000 for Francis's 1979 European Cup final medal - after Francis scored the only goal in the club's 1-0 victory against Malmo.

Francis's 1979 European Cup medal and a worn Maradona shirt sold at the auction

"It was an amazing day," said Mr Motley, who conducted the sale. "There was real international appeal and we had interest from all over the world.

"Everything that went up for auction was personal to Trevor Francis, with some of the items going for amazing prices.

"The biggest price by far was Maradona's Napoli away shirt, which I believe is a world record for a club shirt from Maradona."

Football fans from across the world, including Australia and Hong Kong, bid on a total of 113 items, including medals, caps, shields, shirts and more.

Francis's 1980 European Cup winners medal from Forest's triumph over Hamburg sold for more than £8,000.

Other items that went under the hammer included shirts thought to have been worn by footballing legends including Marco van Basten, Zinedine Zidane and Rivaldo.

Mr Motley said prior to the sale, the collection was expected to go under the hammer for between £60,000 and £85,000.

England shirts sported by Francis went on sale, including one (right) which could have been worn on his debut

He said the total raised was inclusive of a 30% buyer's premium – some of which will be donated to the British Heart Foundation.

Mr Motley added: "Overall [Francis] had an amazing collection and if you think about the world of football, there's a huge amount of money in there.

"For a fan to [purchase the Forest medal], it's obviously someone with some serious money; will appreciate having that as a memento.

"It's great that it's gone to someone who really appreciates it."

Francis made footballing history when he moved to Forest from Birmingham City for a record £1m fee just months before he lifted the club's first European Cup.

He also played for the likes of Manchester City, Rangers, Queen's Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday, and earned more than 50 caps for England.

Francis retired as a player in 1994 having made 632 appearances and scoring 235 goals.