Francis is one of the greatest ever sports stars to come from the city, with his career highlights including twice winning the European Cup with Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest in 1978/79 and 1979/80, although he never played for Argyle.
He made 52 appearances for England, scored 12 goals for his country and netted twice at the 1982 World Cup in group games against Czechoslovakia and Kuwait.
His brother Ian and sister Carolyn both live in the Pennycross area of Plymouth and Francis used to visit them regularly.
A statement released on behalf of his family said: "This has come as a huge shock to everybody. We are all very upset. He was a legendary footballer but he was also an extremely nice person."
Francis began his career as a schoolboy at Birmingham City and he was a teenage phenomenon as he made his first team debut at the age of 16 and immediately started scoring goals regularly.
An article by Daniel Taylor for The Guardian in 2013 about six sporting prodigies gave a good glimpse into the rise of Francis from his Plymouth roots.
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