Francis Lee of Manchester City Dead

weststandwally said:
Remember him diving and scoring a penalty against us to grab a late equaliser at Maine Road in the FA Cup third round in the early seventies before we beat then at Ayresome in the replay, he was fine player in a highly talented and entertaining team.
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Yes was looking for this memory.

This game took place at Maine Road on Jan 15 1972 with Boro in Div 2 against City in Div 1 leading 1-0 going into injury time courtesy of a David Mills goal. We had looked comfortable and the massive away following were roaring the boys to a win. Then Lee got the ball on the right deep in injury time knocked it past Gordon jones and fell dramatically. We were astonished to see the ref point to the spot. A clear con job by Franny for which he was renowned. Lee took the reluctant kick 1-1. Fortunately we beat them 1-0 thanks to Big John in the replay.
 
weststandwally said:
Remember him diving and scoring a penalty against us to grab a late equaliser at Maine Road in the FA Cup third round in the early seventies before we beat then at Ayresome in the replay, he was fine player in a highly talented and entertaining team.
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Nightmare of a day that. Minibus broke down at Thirsk. Waited hours for the bus company to send replacement. Cutting it fine as it was then the driver got lost (first trip to Maine Road) in Manchester and ended up near old Trafford!! Eventually arrived at 4.25 - only 20 minutes to go! Had to persuade gatekeeper to let us in - he told us - your lads are winning 1-0 (think Millsy scored). Good day after all. All the misery, the freezing hands and feet, the growing disappointment of a young fan all gone in that one sentence- your lads are winning 1-0
Got in just in time to see Lee take a dive and buy a penalty. At that time and for 50- odd years since I detested the cheating get. Obviously prepared to forgive and forget now but hell I’ve carried the hatred for too long now.
RIP Franny
 
steve0 said:
Nightmare of a day that. Minibus broke down at Thirsk. Waited hours for the bus company to send replacement. Cutting it fine as it was then the driver got lost (first trip to Maine Road) in Manchester and ended up near old Trafford!! Eventually arrived at 4.25 - only 20 minutes to go! Had to persuade gatekeeper to let us in - he told us - your lads are winning 1-0 (think Millsy scored). Good day after all. All the misery, the freezing hands and feet, the growing disappointment of a young fan all gone in that one sentence- your lads are winning 1-0
Got in just in time to see Lee take a dive and buy a penalty. At that time and for 50- odd years since I detested the cheating get. Obviously prepared to forgive and forget now but hell I’ve carried the hatred for too long now.
RIP Franny
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Yes as Zoo said above Millsy did score our goal that day. Likewise that last minute dive was burnt into my memory. It was as blatant a cheat as I’ve ever seen and how the ref couldn’t see that I don’t know. It was Lee’s dive against Norman Hunter that riled Norm up and he famously took retribution A few minutes later.
 
There was a superb photograph of Lee during his playing career in one of the tabloids, which I haven't been able to find, unfortunately. It shows him apparently flying, parallel with the ground, arms outstretched like Superman. The caption said that Lee was not diving, but trying to demonstrate to the ref that an opponent had just dived. Priceless.
 
Anton_Berg said:
There was a superb photograph of Lee during his playing career in one of the tabloids, which I haven't been able to find, unfortunately. It shows him apparently flying, parallel with the ground, arms outstretched like Superman. The caption said that Lee was not diving, but trying to demonstrate to the ref that an opponent had just dived. Priceless.
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This, presumably:

 
I think Lee was the forerunner in the Alan Foggon shaped footballers. ;)

That City team mentioned above was excellent. I remember queuing up for tickets for the replay. We then drew with Millwall in the next round bringing them back to Ayersome before facing Man United at Old Trafford and having to queue up again for tickets for the replay. The replay being played on an afternoon due to the miner's strikes.
 
for a small guy he certainly pack a punch both with his feet, fists and not forgetting his mouth. RIP Franny, definitely underrated.
 
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