Francis Lee

[lancs blue]

Franny was a tough little bugger and a fantastic footballer with a thunderous shot on him,a great penalty taker too.

His fight with Hunter was when he was playing for Derby after Swales sold him,i remember signing a petition organised by Helen Bell to stop him going.

Mike Doyle wasn't dropped to accomodate Marsh it was Tony Towers.

Not in the games I went to and in those days I went to virtually all of them home and away.

My memory was that it was Towers. But I also seem to remember that Allison tinkered about with the team when it became obvious that it wasnt working. So it could be that Doyle made way at some point,

Just checked and Doyle only missed one game after Marsh signed, West Ham at home, we won 3-1. Doyle started in all the other games.

 

[paulchapo]

[/b]

Not in the games I went to and in those days I went to virtually all of them home and away.

My memory was that it was Towers. But I also seem to remember that Allison tinkered about with the team when it became obvious that it wasnt working. So it could be that Doyle made way at some point,

Just checked and Doyle only missed one game after Marsh signed, West Ham at home, we won 3-1. Doyle started in all the other games.

I guessed as much i remember it clearly being discussed in the newspapers[no internet then] about Towers being dropped disrupting the rhythm of the team. Doyle might have been dropped or rested but not to accomodate Marsh as they played in totally different positions.

 

[dennishasdoneit]

A good example of how good a player Lee was, and how good a team City were back in the day can be found on u tube under
"Westham 0 Manchester City 4 1969"
Lee was brilliant and played a part in three out of the four goasl, smashing one in ,out the blue, from 30 yards, a real corker of a goal.

His run down the right wing and pinpoint high cross to Bowyer at the far post to head in City ,s second, was i think a throwback to his Bolton days when i believe he started as a winger.....fantastic cross,

City were rampant that day, against a Westham side made up of two world cup winners Bobby Moore( england captain) Geoff Hurst and a young Trevor Brooking.....Bell, at one stage makes a complete mug out of Bobby Moore, recv . the ball ,checking as Moore approaches, then slipping it past him one way, and darting round to collect it ,leaving Moore kicking at fresh air,facing the wrong way as Bell gallops into the penalty box...it was such a sharp piece of skill that Brian Moore, commentating, and full of himself all match, is stunned into silence- he doesn,t mention it..cant bring himself to say the england captain had been made to look a carthorse by Colin the King...

Harry Redknapp is playing left midfield/wing for Westham..its noticable that a member of the home crowd is giving him stick, shouting " come on the idiot!"as he charges down the wing,and again just as he takes the corner -didn,t sound too popular a player our arry....another unpopular player Bowyer helps himself to two goals for City.

6 mins of vintage City, and in particular , an outstanding Francis Henry Lee.

 

[garymj]

My father had a lot a shares in city, and had seats in the directors box, and when francis lee took over, sumerbee told my old man he couldn't have the seats next season, which pissed the old man off to say the least, so he went to see lee. When he found out how much my old man paid for them, he sold him two more, so we ended up with "4" seats right to the last game at Maine rd. Lee and my old man ended up good pals.

 

[Nixon_The_Bike_Thief]

Was it Roy McFarland who recently said the fokelore about Hunter being scared of Franny was wrong? I think he said that Hunter made a point of going into the players lounge after the match to make sure that he couldnt be accused of being afraid of Round 2.

Could of course be all bravado and bullshit, but this is contradictory to a tale I was told by Franny himself many years ago, that there was a round 2 some time later and it wasnt on the pitch it was in the directors lounge (not box) at another game. Apparently started off as friendly banter reviewing the infamous fight and quickly turned into Franny sticking one on him again and leaving him on his arse very uninterested in getting up for more. Franny said at the time it had come up for the first time as Hunter and he had not really been in the same company since at the time.

(Im no big buddy of Franny, I just happened to know his head stable boy at the time down at Staneylands)

 

[Vienna_70]

[/b]

Not in the games I went to and in those days I went to virtually all of them home and away.

My memory was that it was Towers. But I also seem to remember that Allison tinkered about with the team when it became obvious that it wasnt working. So it could be that Doyle made way at some point,

Just checked and Doyle only missed one game after Marsh signed, West Ham at home, we won 3-1. Doyle started in all the other games.

Big Mal was in such a mess about who to leave out to accommodate Marsh that he even left Alan Oakes out on one occasion.

Alan Oakes, of all people. Crazy team selection. No wonder we blew the league that season.

 

[Vienna_70]

Lee scored 17 or 18 pens in one season. The myth started by that other lot is franny got them by diving. From what i remember and have read lee only won one of those penalties.

According to Wikipedia, Frannie scored 15 penalties in 71-72, though I thought it was 13! I seem to remember hearing somewhere that he won only four of those.

Frannie is my all-time favourite player and I well remember the incident with Hunter, as well as the goal he scored for Derby on his return to Maine Road. The King claimed on the 'Bell, Lee, Summerbee' video that all the City supporters rose and cheered the goal because they could still see the light blue shirt under the white Derby County one!

It was 13 pens in the league, which I think is still an English top division record (Lampard may have equalled it or come close for Chelsea?). From memory he did win a few of those himself, I remember the one against the rags in the classic 3-3 draw at Maine Rd and also against Wolves when he scored one in a hat-trick in a 5-2 win.

I used to love watching Frannie run at defenders, in a way he was similar to Aguero with his strength and low centre of gravity, very difficult to knock him off the ball without fouling him.

Agreed.

Sergio is the player I'd most closely compare Frannie with. As you say, very strong and a low centre of gravity, but also very quick over 5-10 metres and a great eye for goal, though I reckon Kun is even better than F. H. Lee was.

 

[3rdgenerationblue]

the Maine rd derby in 1971 is without doubt my favorite franny moment.
him taking the Mick out of the ref by diving theatrically was fantastic.
and what a game.
my favorite city team ever.

 

[Gary James]

Franny was a tough little bugger and a fantastic footballer with a thunderous shot on him,a great penalty taker too.

His fight with Hunter was when he was playing for Derby after Swales sold him,i remember signing a petition organised by Helen Bell to stop him going.

Mike Doyle wasn't dropped to accomodate Marsh it was Tony Towers.

Not in the games I went to and in those days I went to virtually all of them home and away.

I've not checked who was right, but all lineups can be viewed here for that season - <a class="postlink" href="http://www.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/History/Matches/Season.aspx?id=71" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/History/ ... aspx?id=71</a>

 

[Vienna_70]

Lee scored 17 or 18 pens in one season. The myth started by that other lot is franny got them by diving. From what i remember and have read lee only won one of those penalties.

According to Wikipedia, Frannie scored 15 penalties in 71-72, though I thought it was 13! I seem to remember hearing somewhere that he won only four of those.

Frannie is my all-time favourite player and I well remember the incident with Hunter, as well as the goal he scored for Derby on his return to Maine Road. The King claimed on the 'Bell, Lee, Summerbee' video that all the City supporters rose and cheered the goal because they could still see the light blue shirt under the white Derby County one!

i thought it was 13. maybe that was the league total only?

Just checked in Gary James' Complete Record, and it was 13 in the league, plus one in each of the two domestic cups.