Francis Lee

Bolton Wanderers

As a 16-year-old amateur footballer, Lee made his debut for Bolton Wanderers in November 1960 against Manchester City at Burnden Park. Playing in attack alongside club legend Nat Lofthouse, then 35-years old, both scored in a 3–1 win. He signed professionally in May 1961 and was Bolton's top scorer in the 1962–63 season in the First Division. The following season, Bolton were relegated to the Second Division and their second tier campaign, in the 1964–65 season, was Lee's most prolific for the club, scoring 23 league goals. He scored in seven consecutive games at the start of the 1967–68 season and in September 1967, he was transferred to Manchester City, having scored 106 goals in 210 appearances for Bolton.

Manchester City

Manchester City manager Joe Mercer signed him for a club record transfer fee of £60,000 in 1967. Mercer described the purchase of Lee for City as "the final piece of the puzzle". He made his Manchester City debut in a 2–0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Maine Road, and scored his first goal for City the following week at Fulham. In his first season at the club, he scored 16 League goals in 31 appearances, playing a crucial role in City's push for the league title; Mercer described him as "the final piece of the jigsaw". The title was decided on the final day of the season, City requiring a win at Newcastle United. City won the match 4–3, with Lee scoring one of the goals, and were crowned champions. The following…

Lee made his debut for England, aged 24 on 11 December 1968 in a friendly game against Bulgaria at Wembley Stadium. His first goal came in his next game, a 5–0 win, again in a friendly, against France on 12 March 1969. The same year, Lee played on a "Rest of the UK" team in a match against Wales to mark the investiture of the Prince of Wales. Lee played the first half of the match and scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the 33rd minute. Lee represented England at the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico and was the first English player ever to receive a card in a World Cup, for kicking Brazil's goalkeeper, Félix. He played in the World Cup games against Romania, Brazil as well as the game in which England were eliminated, a 3–2 defeat by West Germany at the Estadio de Guanajuato in León.

After his playing career, Lee moved into business. His toilet roll manufacturing business FH Lee Ltd once employed Peter Kay, later a famous comedian, who mentions his time there in his autobiography, The Sound of Laughter. In 1994, Lee became chairman of Manchester City, ousting Peter Swales from the position by purchasing £3 million of shares at a price of £13.35 per share. Lee was welcomed as a hero by City's supporters, who had formed a movement named Forward With Franny backing his attempt to gain control of the club. Upon becoming chairman, Lee made a series of extravagant claims about his plans for the club, announcing that "This will be the happiest club in the land. The players will be the best paid and we'll drink plenty of champagne, celebrate and sing until we're hoarse". In 1995, he appointed his friend Alan Ball as manager, but the appointment proved unsuccessful and the club were relegated. Lee stepped down in 1998, with the club on the brink of relegation to the third tier of English football, a fate that Lee had dismissed at the previous annual general meeting by saying that he would "jump off the Kippax" if the club were relegated. He was succeeded by David Bernstein. Lee retained a shareholding after leaving the board of directors but later sold all his shares to Thaksin Shinawatra in 2007. In addition to his business ventures, Lee also had a career as a racehorse trainer. Notable horses trained by Lee include Sir Harry Hardman, Allwight Then and Young…

Before becoming a professional footballer Lee showed promise at cricket, representing the Horwich and Westhoughton Schools FA Team in 1958. When his football career came to an end, he briefly returned to cricket, playing for Westhoughton's first XI in 1977 as a medium-fast bowler and middle to lower order batsman. Lee was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to football and charity. On 2 October 2023, Lee died after a long illness with cancer. He was 79.