This is if you take the "million pound" thing literally. At least two Italian players had previously been transferred for the equivalent of more than a million pounds: Giuseppe Savoldi, from Bologna to Napoli in 1975 for the equivalent of approximately £1.2 million, and Paolo Rossi from Juventus to Vicenza in the following year, for the equivalent of £1.75 million.
Brian Clough claimed in his autobiography that the fee he paid for Francis was actually £999,999 – because he didn't want the price tag to go to the player's head. Trevor Francis described this as a "tongue–in–cheek" remark by Clough.
Forest would actually have had to pay considerably more than a million pounds, as the Football League would have taken 15% commission.
Prior to this, the British transfer record was a mere £500,000 – half a million – paid by West Bromwich Albion to Middlesbrough for David Mills, also in 1979.
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