I, like many, grew up with stories about him as he was before my time. My Dad, who doesn't really support a team but admires the game, often talked about the brilliance of Lee. He talked about Book and Bell and Summerbee as well, but he seemed to talk about Franny the most. I think it was the fact he had the extra edge to go with his talent. He would give it all and he'd never back out of winding the opposition up and getting stuck in. City were slick, but we had that edge all great sides need.
And as it took me until my early 20s to see City win a trophy, these players were immortal. They were legends. I grew up hoping for an FA Cup run and maybe a league cup. If I ever watched the CL on ITV I did so thinking we'd never play in it.
We've had so much success and a lot of dramatic victories so a lot of the more straightforward ones can be lost as we've been so spoilt in recent years. But that side of the 60s kept City on the map and was a source of joy to all of us, whether we got to see it or we grew up hearing about it. Without them, we may not have found our way through the dark times that followed - although Franny can shoulder some of the blame for that! Now we can look back with a smile though. Our rise from that point is part of the remarkable story of our club and one of the many reasons it's the greatest club in the world.
