Francis Lee autobiography | Mike Summerbee, OBE in conversation @ Simply Books, Bramall Saturday 7th Sept, 3pm

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

I would have loved to have been there. I'm ordering aa copy. Glad you got the extra guests as well - great that they turned u.

About 10 years ago, I was on holiday in Tenerife and became pals for the week with Tommy Booth - he's got thousands of stories about that time, and all his words - and Buzzer's - are usually heartfelt, and often hilarious. Never met Stan Horne, but saw him play when i was a nipper.

Just on a kind of similar theme - I've got a book out this week but it's not about City or Football. It's about 9/11, and tells you of an untold Manchester connection. Hope the mod's won't mind - look on Amazon for Parallax 9/11 Part One: The Silent Assassin. I hope there'll be more in it for you to like than dislike.

Support a fellow blue!!
Cheers!

Can you tell us more in here?

Book recommendations

Does anyone have any book recommendations where they thought ‘wow that was really good’ I’m going through an anxiety disorder atm so I’m trying to lay off the phone/internet for a while, so could do with something really good to read. I’m not being lazy - it’s just my brain won’t cope with...

forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk

 

[pride in battle]

Yeah was on a coach organised by my dad from the Windmill pub in Denton On the way back we stopped at a boozer in Leeds, although I was confined to the coach with lemonade and crisps. The adults were sing “Big daft Jack….” to the locals no aggro though
I think James H Reeves claims to be in that picture

He was #JamesH

 

[petrusha]

Let’s hope buzzer doesn’t try to rewrite history about frannys time as chairman

Bernstein saved the club

And will we get the truth on steve coppell ?

Lee did say on Twitter at one point a little while back that he was keen to do a book and get his side of the story out there. At the time, it wasn't public knowledge that he was ill. I'm not sure whether he was aware himself but I suspect he was. I'm glad that the autobiography is now getting out there, albeit posthumously.

Franny certainly had grievances over the way he lost the chairmanship of City, and the OP refers to "dubious tactics among his fellow-directors" during that episode. I happen to have been around at the time working for a Manchester law firm that acted separately for Colin Barlow as an individual and for Stephen Boler and his business interests. We used to get quite a lot of information about the club.

To be honest, I do have a fair bit of sympathy for Lee, as I've expressed on here before. The state of the club when he took over from Swales was appalling, with assuming control of City at that time being the off-the-pitch equivalent of receiving a hospital pass on it. He's right that he did some good things off the field during his tenure but was undermined by the team's on-field failures. However, there are two things to note here.

First, the on-field woes actually owed much to footballing decisions taken by Lee himself. He assumed that his background as a former international player would be a big plus for him in terms of overseeing the football side of the club only for his record in this area to be patchy at best (indeed, this is probably an understatement).

Second, as David Bernstein has recently pointed out in interviews to promote his own book, Lee didn't have the money to implement his plans. That meant we needed further investment. It came not from Lee but from a share issue in which Boler put money into the club, along with the JD Sports pair of John Wardle and David Makin, who were introduced by Bernstein. The total shareholding of Lee and his associates dropped to 19%, with the other shareholders allowing him to remain in the chair, but he was reliant on maintaining their confidence to stay in post.

Unfortunately, it was inevitable that, as we continued to perform disastrously on the pitch, their confidence would collapse - whatever the actual rights and wrongs of the situation. That they chose to remove him when he was hanging on with grim determination really has to be seen in this light. What else did Lee really think would happen?

So, yes, I agere with the post I've quoted above. I intend to buy Franny's autobiography and acknowledge him as one of our club's true legends. But I strongly suspect that his comments about his period in the boardroom will need to be taken with a pinch of salt, with Bernstein's book (which I also haven't read yet but subsequently will) providing a neutral and far more reliable account of the same events. If I prove wrong in this supposition, I'll readily admit it in due course.

Finally, I see that the ghostwriter is Bill Bradshaw, though I'd personally hoped for @Gary James when Lee first voiced his intention to write a book. Anyway, Bradshaw seems to have a decent sportswriting pedigree, while I don't recall having any issues with him back in the day, when he did paper reviews on Sky and occasionally stood in for Brian Woolnough on Sunday Supplement. Just wonder if @tolmie's hairdoo cas say how he's regarded in the trade?

 

[wearethesouthstand]

Lee did say on Twitter at one point a little while back that he was keen to do a book and get his side of the story out there. At the time, it wasn't public knowledge that he was ill. I'm not sure whether he was aware himself but I suspect he was. I'm glad that the autobiography is now getting out there, albeit posthumously.

Franny certainly had grievances over the way he lost the chairmanship of City, and the OP refers to "dubious tactics among his fellow-directors" during that episode. I happen to have been around at the time working for a Manchester law firm that acted separately for Colin Barlow as an individual and for Stephen Boler and his business interests. We used to get quite a lot of information about the club.

To be honest, I do have a fair bit of sympathy for Lee, as I've expressed on here before. The state of the club when he took over from Swales was appalling, with assuming control of City at that time being the off-the-pitch equivalent of receiving a hospital pass on it. He's right that he did some good things off the field during his tenure but was undermined by the team's on-field failures. However, there are two things to note here.

First, the on-field woes actually owed much to footballing decisions taken by Lee himself. He assumed that his background as a former international player would be a big plus for him in terms of overseeing the football side of the club only for his record in this area to be patchy at best (indeed, this is probably an understatement).

Second, as David Bernstein has recently pointed out in interviews to promote his own book, Lee didn't have the money to implement his plans. That meant we needed further investment. It came not from Lee but from a share issue in which Boler put money into the club, along with the JD Sports pair of John Wardle and David Makin, who were introduced by Bernstein. The total shareholding of Lee and his associates dropped to 19%, with the other shareholders allowing him to remain in the chair, but he was reliant on maintaining their confidence to stay in post.

Unfortunately, it was inevitable that, as we continued to perform disastrously on the pitch, their confidence would collapse - whatever the actual rights and wrongs of the situation. That they chose to remove him when he was hanging on with grim determination really has to be seen in this light. What else did Lee really think would happen?

So, yes, I agere with the post I've quoted above. I intend to buy Franny's autobiography and acknowledge him as one of our club's true legends. But I strongly suspect that his comments about his period in the boardroom will need to be taken with a pinch of salt, with Bernstein's book (which I also haven't read yet but subsequently will) providing a neutral and far more reliable account of the same events. If I prove wrong in this supposition, I'll readily admit it in due course.

Finally, I see that the ghostwriter is Bill Bradshaw, though I'd personally hoped for @Gary James when Lee first voiced his intention to write a book. Anyway, Bradshaw seems to have a decent sportswriting pedigree, while I don't recall having any issues with him back in the day, when he did paper reviews on Sky and occasionally stood in for Brian Woolnough on Sunday Supplement. Just wonder if @tolmie's hairdoo cas say how he's regarded in the trade?

Yes his status as a club legend is rightly secured however Makin and Wardle were right to unseat Lee as chairman just as Ian Niven was right to unseat Swales. That’s football and that’s business.

It’s the level of interference in the playing side we would like to know about and ultimately to claim he laid the foundations for future successes is very debatable. The vote on whether we move to the new stadium was done under him but Bernstein negotiated the deal.

 

[petrusha]

Yes his status as a club legend is rightly secured however Makin and Wardle were right to unseat Lee as chairman just as Ian Niven was right to unseat Swales. That’s football and that’s business.

It’s the level of interference in the playing side we would like to know about and ultimately to claim he laid the foundations for future successes is very debatable. The vote on whether we move to the new stadium was done under him but Bernstein negotiated the deal.

Well, Franny and Colin Barlow were negotiating with the Council about the stadium as far back as 1995. Barlow left in early 1997 and Franny bowed to the inevitable pressure, quitting in March 1998 before he was pushed but having continued to work on the matter until then. Bernstein signed the outline agreement for City to make the move in September 1998 and the actual lease itself in August 1999, so they can both make valid claims to have played an important role in the stadium move.

Franny did bring Bernstein to the club in 1994 and fairly quickly appointed him as deputy chairman, so will probably deserves credit for that, as well. I doubt that's an argument Franny will have advanced in his book, but I'll wait and see.

 

[the blue panther]

Can you tell us more in here?

Book recommendations

Does anyone have any book recommendations where they thought ‘wow that was really good’ I’m going through an anxiety disorder atm so I’m trying to lay off the phone/internet for a while, so could do with something really good to read. I’m not being lazy - it’s just my brain won’t cope with...

forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk

Thanks - here's a copy of what I've posted there - much obliged:-
On the suggestion of Mad Eyed Screamer, I have a new book out this week on Amazon called Parallax 9/11 Part One: The Silent Assassin.
It tells the untold story of the first victim of Mohamad Atta - the 9/11 ringleader who flew the 1st plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Centre.
When Atta's mugshot was 1st broadcast to the world, it set off a chain of events among a group of Mancunians who'd been on a golfing vacation in Florida 17 months previously, and they were all convinced that Atta had been involved and at the scene of a fatal road traffic accident in which one of their number had been killed. No action was taken to prosecute; the perpetrators later disappeared.
I was a lawyer back then and it fell to me to pursue a claim for the bereaved family.
In a recent podcast, I was asked to reflect on some of the cases I'd dealt with; this one was always top of my list, but I had no authority to talk about. However, I'm still in touch with the family and when I last spoke to them, they said that they wanted the story to be told - so here it is. I 've set it against the backdrop of the 9/11 disaster, otherwise there's no perspective, and I seek to both inform and ask questions of the authorities.
I tell the family's story; give insight into how the claim was pursued; delve into where Atta was pre 9/11. The authorities only reckoned he was in the USA from June 2000. This fatal event happened in mid May 2000, and I believe we can safely say that he was indeed in the USA at that time.
I ask many questions in the book, and hopefully weave an intriguing story about some great Mancunian people. There's a very human love story in there, and much tragedy. Some names and venues have been changed to protect identities, but it is all based on true events.
Hope you'll look it up and give it a like.
Cheers.

 

[wearethesouthstand]

Well, Franny and Colin Barlow were negotiating with the Council about the stadium as far back as 1995. Barlow left in early 1997 and Franny bowed to the inevitable pressure, quitting in March 1998 before he was pushed but having continued to work on the matter until then. Bernstein signed the outline agreement for City to make the move in September 1998 and the actual lease itself in August 1999, so they can both make valid claims to have played an important role in the stadium move.

Franny did bring Bernstein to the club in 1994 and fairly quickly appointed him as deputy chairman, so will probably deserves credit for that, as well. I doubt that's an argument Franny will have advanced in his book, but I'll wait and see.

Bernstein negotiated the terms of our move including the agreement with the council for any attendance over 34,400 Maine Rd capacity upon leaving.

The Brian Kidd stuff interesting too. Fergie would have put his foot down there but no guarantee he would have been the right man for City at that time, a brilliant no2 but got Blackburn relegated.

 

[Gary James]

Finally, I see that the ghostwriter is Bill Bradshaw, though I'd personally hoped for @Gary James when Lee first voiced his intention to write a book. Anyway, Bradshaw seems to have a decent sportswriting pedigree, while I don't recall having any issues with him back in the day, when he did paper reviews on Sky and occasionally stood in for Brian Woolnough on Sunday Supplement. Just wonder if @tolmie's hairdoo cas say how he's regarded in the trade?

Thanks for the comment. Personally, I'd have loved to write Franny's biography but I would never ghost write an autobiography. My preference is to research a life, interview the person the book is about, interview others and try to present evidence to back up any claims including contradictory views if it adds to an understanding of a situation etc. Franny's life is interesting and I did discuss with him several times over the years (the first being in 1993 when my Mercer book came out and then the most significant occasion in 2008) the idea of writing his biography and even sent him a detailed proposal for what would be included about 15 years ago but ultimately I would have written an authorised biography and not a ghost written autobiography. Franny told me years ago that he was getting his thoughts down and talking to a journalist, and I was perfectly fine with that because I think Francis wanted it to be his voice and I was delighted that he had decided to get his story out there.

Francis had such a strong voice that it makes sense for it to be his words. Often ghost written autobiographies don't get the voice right (I think back to Franny's 1970ish book and the biographies of stars in 1950s & 1960s where it just feels like a journalist and not Trautmann or whoever) and I don't think I'd ever get the voice just right to do a ghost written autobiography anyway.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the launch the other night and, from what I've seen and heard, it will be an excellent read. It's somewhat thicker than the average 60,000 word biography that gets churned out and so that's pleased me too. I often see a biography and think that a publisher has persuaded someone and it's just been rushed, but with this book I know Francis was working on it for years and my gut feel is that it's just timing as to why it has come out now. It would have been wonderful if it could have been on sale while Francis was still around of course.

As with any autobiography it is that person's views, whereas a biography is someone else's assessment, and therefore there will be differences when certain moments are discussed. That's fine. That's what autobiographies should be - an individual's view of the situation. Francis had strong views on a number of matters and he also had a wonderful passion to succeed. It was interesting at the launch to hear the author, Buzzer and Jonny Lee talk about Franny's regrets as well as his successes. All in the book in more detail I'm told and that's refreshing - Regrets and negatives are often left out of football autobiographies.