Francis Lee – GAME OF THE PEOPLE

THE Passing of Terry Venables has reminded the football world that he was arguably the most charismatic manager England have ever had. Many people consider the England side of 1996 was the best since the World Cup victory of 1966. They were probably the best team in the competition, beaten on penalties by Germany in a heartbreaking semi-final. Players like Gary Lineker and Gary Neville have praised his coaching abilities, with Lineker claiming he was the best and most innovative coach the country has produced. Venables also included elements of some of his biggest influences, including Tommy Docherty and Malcolm Allison.

Manchester City have unveiled a statue of the trio of players that inspired the club to a golden period of success in the 1960s – Colin Bell, Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee. The triumvirate were part of the team that won the Football League in 1968, the FA Cup in 1969 and the Football League Cup and European Cup-Winners’ Cup in 1970. Bell and Lee have both passed away, but Summerbee was present at the unveiling: “This is a special moment for me and my family,” he said. The statue, which mirrors the “trinity” statue at Old Trafford of Best, Charlton and Law, was created by David Williams-Ellis. The City lads won more trophies than their revered United counterparts by four pots to three!

The German football league has rekindled its interest in getting into bed with private equity, hoping that its members will eventually come round to agreeing a deal. According to media reports, the league has contacted five P/E firms: Advent, Blackstone, Bridgepoint, CVC and EQT. The 36 member clubs have already rejected two attempts to sell part of the competition’s media rights, but the aim of the league is to make the Bundesliga more competitive on the international stage. Despite being the best supported league, the Bundesliga has fallen behind the Premier League in recent years.

VAR continues to be a controversial tool that divides the football community. Now it is Wolverhampton Wanderers turn to claim injustice after their 3-2 defeat at Fulham, a game decided by an added time penalty by the home side’s Willian. Wolves manager Gary O’Neil claims his team have been victims of a string of poor decisions and that it has cost them seven points this season. Increasingly, and dependent on the final result of a VAR-affected game, managers believe VAR is no longer fit for purpose. Interestingly, the victors rarely complain about VAR!

Everton and their followers are clearly upset by the 10-point penalty they received due to their spending habits. However, there is a very obvious refusal to acknowledge the situation is not just about a £ 19.5 million breach. It is about excessive losses over a period of time. Fans held up banners calling the Premier League corrupt and a plane flew over Goodison Park bearing the same message, but the bear-pit that was promised was soon put down by a 3-0 victory for Manchester United. Is the 10-point penalty fair? It does seem harsh but there is a possibility this will be reduced. Much also depends on how Manchester City and Chelsea fare with their problems. Everton have to realise they have been badly run for a while and they have made some very poor decisions around expenditure and recruitment. It also does them no credit to merely blame the ownership and try and distance themselves from the people in the boardroom. Everton is an asset owned by Farhad Moshiri; the club does not belong to the fans in real terms. The heart and soul of a club may be created by the fans, but Moshiri bought the club and therefore, it was his. If this type of scenario is to change, then the status of football clubs has to be something other than a free market business. Maybe clubs should become charities, but then they won’t be able to run with the hounds. If the game wants to be all about “big business” and benefit from financial markets, then it also has to accept the downside of being a transferable asset class. Everton will get over this setback, but who’s next?

WHEN Manchester City enjoyed a golden age in the late 1960s and into 1970, they had a group of players that were envied by most of their opponents: Mike Doyle, Alan Oakes, Mike Summerbee, Colin Bell, Joe Corrigan, Tommy Booth and Francis Lee. All of them would have walked into any first division side of the era. City had an air of flamboyant carelessness about them that should have won far more than the four trophies they picked up between 1968 and 1970.

Lee’s death at the age of 79 will be deeply mourned across football. As a player, he was a pivotal figure in City’s flourish under Mercer and Malcolm Allison. He was a pocket battleship of a player, slightly rotund, strong, determined and very focused. He was difficult to shrug off the ball and when he had sight of goal, impossible to distract. He had a venomous shot that few could match. In his Manchester City career, he scored 148 goals in 328 appearances.

The triumvirant of Lee, Bell and Summerbee were every bit as important as the Manchester United trio of Best, Charlton and Law. In fact, in terms of domestic trophies, Manchester City’s holy trinity won four pieces of silverware to United’s three. At the heart of City’s success was Francis Lee, who joined the club in October 1967 from Bolton Wanderers and was quickly dubbed, “the final piece of the jigsaw” by the venerable Joe Mercer, who was trying to strengthen his team after three successive defeats. The £ 60,000 they paid Bolton was money well spent.

The first of his City goals came in his second league game, a 4-2 victory at Fulham. He was ever present in the remaining months of the season, scoring 16 goals in 31 games, including one of the vital strikes in a final title-deciding clash at Newcastle United. City ousted their neighbours, United, as champions and signalled the start of a period where they were more successful than their rivals across the city of Manchester.

City followed that success with the FA Cup in 1968-69 and Lee was now part of Sir Alf Ramsey’s plans in his bid to retain the World Cup. Lee and his team-mate Bell were part of the new wave of players that was being added to the core of the 1966 team. He made his debut for England in December 1968 against Bulgaria and scored his first England goal in March 1969 in a 5-0 win against France. Lee went to South America in the summer of 1969 as Ramsey formulated his squad for 1970. By the time 1969-70 came around, Lee had moved into the “first choice” category. City won two more trophies in 1970, the Football League Cup (against West Bromwich Albion) and beat crack Polish outfit Gornik in the European Cup-Winners’ Cup final in a soggy Vienna. But for all their flair and ability to excite, they were too inconsistent to make a challenge for the league title.

In Mexico, Lee appeared to struggle in the heat a little and only completed one game, the ill-fated quarter-final against West Germany. In the two group games, he was withdrawn on both occasions and replaced by Peter Osgood and Jeff Astle. He was also booked in two of his three appearances. Nevertheless, Lee remained part of the England scene right up until April 29 1972, when, on his 28^th birthday, he scored in a 3-1 home defeat against the Germans in the last eight of the European Championship. This loss was a red flag for Ramsey’s side and Lee and his strike partner Geoff Hurst were never seen again in the white shirt of England. Ironically, the 1971-72 season was a landmark campaign for Lee, as he scored 31 goals of which 15 were penalties. He attained a reputation for theatrically seeking penalty kicks, so much so that he became known as “Lee won pen”. City could have won the league title, but their team was disrupted out of consistency by the arrival of Rodney Marsh from Queens Park Rangers.

Lee was released by City in 1974 and joined a very useful Derby County team managed by Dave Mackay. Lee enjoyed a two-season swansong at Derby and in 1974-75, won another league title medal and scored a dozen league goals to repay the club’s faith in him. He retired a year later.

Lee was no stereotype. He was already building a successful business career while playing at Manchester City, notably in the toilet paper industry. He also became a racehorse breeder. There was a sense of inevitably about his return to City in some shape or form and he became chairman in 1994. It was not a particularly enjoyable experience and the club suffered relegation in 1995. He departed in 1998 with City staring at relegation to the third tier of the English game.

Fortunately, Francis Lee will be remembered for his playing career and the joy he brought Manchester City fans in the 1968-1972 period when he was at his peak. He was a fine footballer, one who was worth watching whether you were a City fan or a follower of any of the club’s opponents.