Manchester City legend Francis Lee dies aged 79

Tributes have been paid to one of Manchester City’s greatest players after the former striker and chairman Francis Lee died at the age of 79.

Lee became a legend at Maine Road, where he spent eight years as a player, joining City from home town club Bolton Wanderers in 1967 for a club-record £60,000. During his time at City, he won the First Division title in 1968, FA Cup, League Cup, and European Cup Winners’ Cup, scoring 148 goals in 330 appearances.

After leaving City he won another league title with Derby in 1975, a spell which is also remembered for an on-pitch fight with the Leeds hard man Norman Hunter.

The footage, which was filmed by Match of the Day, is shared regularly across social media, with the video receiving hundreds of thousands of views. “It’s a good job I didn’t get in the dressing room afterwards,” said Lee. “I might have just been coming out on parole now. It wasn’t playacting you know. He had tapped me on the shoulder, hit me, and split my lip with a gold ring.”

Lee was a barrel-chested striker known for his ruthless shot and precision from the penalty spot, once scoring 15 spot-kicks in a single season. A Lee penalty sealed City’s 1970 Cup Winners’ Cup triumph over the Polish side Gornik Zabrze.

In addition to club honours, Lee won 27 caps for England, all while a City player, scoring 10 goals in the process and represented his country at the Mexico World Cup in 1970.

Following retirement Lee moved into business, owning a toilet roll manufacturer. His success allowed him to become the majority shareholder at City in 1994, replacing Peter Swales as chairman.

Lee aimed to reinvigorate City and to make them a Premier League force but by the time he left in 1998, the club were on the brink of