Francis Henry Lee (29 April 1944 – 2 October 2023), also known as Franny Lee, was an English professional footballer and businessman. He was also later the chairman and main shareholder of Manchester City, as well as briefly a racehorse trainer and amateur cricket player.
A striker, he played for Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City, Derby County and the England national team. Noted for his speed and determination, he scored more than 200 goals in his career, in which he won League Championship medals with Manchester City and Derby. In 2010, he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame.
Lee holds the English record for the greatest number of penalties scored in a season, a feat that earned him the nickname Lee 1 (Pen) because that was the way his name often seemed to appear on the list of goal scorers for City in the match results listings in the Sunday papers. This led to accusations of diving. One such accusation, by Leeds United's Norman Hunter, led to an on-pitch fight.
In 1966, Lee founded F. H. Lee Ltd, a firm that recycled paper to manufacture products such as kitchen roll and toilet paper. It operated until 2003 and made him a millionaire. In 1994, Lee became the major shareholder and chairman of Manchester City, but stepped down four years later.
Club career
Bolton Wanderers
As a 16-year-old amateur footballer, Lee made debut for Bolton 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 Manchester City goal 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 1967–68 League Championship; 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, Lee scoring one of the goals, and were crowned champions. The following season Lee was part of the Manchester City team that won the 1969 FA Cup.
In the 1969–70 season, Lee was Manchester City's top scorer, an achievement he would subsequently match in each of the next four seasons. His tally that season included one of the most important goals of his career, a penalty in the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup.
In the 1971–72 season, Lee set a British record for the number of penalties scored in a season, with 15 of his 35 goals scored from the penalty spot – many of the penalties resulted from fouls on Lee, earning him the nickname Lee One Pen. Some journalists, holding the opinion that Lee gained a number of penalties by diving, used the name Lee Won Pen instead. Lee's name is often cited in debates about diving in football; referees' chief Keith Hackett described him as a player who "had a reputation of falling down easily".
Lee also held the record for the most goals in Manchester derbies, scoring ten goals in all against Manchester United, a tally that equalled Joe Hayes' record. This record was later beaten by Wayne Rooney who scored his 11th goal in the fixture on 22 September 2013.