He was irrepressible. A sad day - it feels like the club has lost an ally

'Mr Personality' FRANCIS LEE - a great talent and man

- SIMON BAJKOWSKI

SOME of the most eye-catching moments of Francis Lee's football career didn't happen in a City shirt.

There was the goal against the Blues for Derby in 1974, when he felt like he had a point to prove after being sold and promptly thwacked one past Joe Corrigan from outside the box before running away in gleeful celebration behind the Platt Lane End past the supporters who still idolised him while Barry Davies provided famous commentary.

There was that almighty scrap with Norman Hunter when Derby clashed with Leeds and Lee went back for more after being left with a bloodied face from a punch - Lee later told friends he had offered Hunter a month's wages to resume the fight in the tunnel but the Leeds man barricaded himself in the away dressing room.

There were nearly 200 appearances for Bolton, and nearly 30 caps for England that included 10 goals and games at the 1970 World Cup.

Lee's death on Monday morning at the age of 79 after a long battle with cancer will resonate with many around football such was his impact, yet City fans unmistakably feel he was part of their family.

Every week, when Blues are unoriginally asked by supporters of other clubs where they were when they were s***, the attendance records show nearly 30,000 of them were still watching City.

However, if the team in front of them were struggling in the third tier of English football the team in their dreams were still champions of England.

Until the arrival of Sheikh Mansour and his billions in 2008, the 'Holy Trinity' of Lee, Mike Summerbee and Colin Bell were the gold standard for the fanbase of a grand, historic team for giving them English and European silverware 40 years earlier.

Declared the final piece of the jigsaw' by the great Joe Mercer when arriving from Bolton for a club record fee, Lee proved exactly that.