MOST FOOTBALL TRIVIA BUFFS AND HISTORIANS you ask will tell you that the transfer of Trevor Francis to Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest in 1979 was the first million pound deal in football.
Trevor Francis, the former footballer who broke Britain's transfer record when he became the first £1 million player in 1979, has died. Francis burst onto the scene as a teenager with Birmingham City, making his first-team debut at 16 in 1970 where he went on to score 119 goals in 280 appearances.
Trevor Francis, Britain's first £1 million player, has died at the age of 69. The Francis family, said that he died of a heart attack at his apartment in Spain on Monday morning. “This has come as a huge shock to everybody,” they said.
John Charles became the first player from Britain to command a fee of £50,000 when he joined Juventus in 1957, and four years later Denis Law joined Torino in the first £100,000 transaction involving a British club. The 1970s saw a rapid increase in transfer fees.
The current transfer record was set by the transfer of Neymar from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for €222 million (£190 million) in August 2017.
Highest value global sports contracts 2022
The biggest sports contract of all time, worth an estimated 674 million U.S. dollars, belonged to soccer star Lionel Messi. However, these large contracts are not limited to just soccer, but are also seen in other sports such as basketball, baseball, and American football.
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to earn over $1 billion, according to Forbes, putting him ahead of rival Lionel Messi.
Pelé was the 1st footballer in history to score 1,000 goals. Brazil's Pelé became the first man to score 1,000 goals in competitive football in November 1969 after converting a penalty for Santos against Vasco da Gama in Rio. The match was stopped for 30 minutes as supporters invaded the pitch.
However, if there was one player to be labelled the same it would be Brazilian legend Pele. With 1,279 goals in 1,363 games, Pele is undoubtedly the king of football.
Johnny Haynes, the England captain, became the first £100 per-week player. However, some clubs such as Liverpool attempted to enforce unofficial wage ceilings. For example, Manchester United paid a maximum wage of £50 a week.
It was only in 1992 that Jean-Pierre Papin became the first player to move for a fee in excess of £10 million. Just two decades later, we are talking about a figure of 10 times that magnitude. Football finances have exploded in the intervening time period.
After Lionel Messi, whose total earnings this year are $126 million, Cristiano Ronaldo ($117 million) comes in second. Following them are Neymar ($96 million) and Kylian Mbappe ($42 million).
The Birth of the Playing Professional. On Nov. 12, 1892, Heffelfinger received $500 in cash for playing in a football game. There may have been others before him, but a document unearthed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame nearly 80 years later provided the first irrefutable evidence of a person being paid to play.
Pele | Brazil
Brazilian legend Pele held the title of being the greatest football player of all time and in the opinion of several people, especially those fans from the older generation, he is still the king.
With over 800 goals at club and international level combined, Cristiano Ronaldo is the top goalscorer of all time.
Lionel Messi has become the first player in football history to register 1,000 goal contributions after netting four in a 5-0 Barcelona rout of Eibar.
Arthur Wharton was born in Ghana in 1865. In 1883, he moved to Darlington, England where he began his amazing sporting career. Arthur became the first black professional footballer, the first official fastest man, a professional cricketer and a rugby player.
Topping the list is Cristiano Ronaldo, who made an estimated $136 million over the last 12 months as he jumped from England's Premier League to Saudi Arabian soccer club Al Nassr.