One of that great Manchester City team of the late sixties and early seventies Francis Lee, has died. Along with Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee, Neil Young, Tony Book et al, City legends all, he was part of a formidable force in English football of the time.

He won various trophies with them including the second of City’s top Division titles (the previous one was in 1937 and they would not win another till 2011.)

After moving to Derby County he won another league title. Overall he made 500 league appearances, scoring 228 goals, and played for England 27 times (10 goals.)

Francis Henry (Frannie) Lee: 29/4/1944 – 2/10/2023. So it goes.

Manchester City’s best team may have been the one of the very recent past. Certainly in terms of trophies won it is the most successful. However City’s last great side, the one of the late 60s and early 70s, is worth mentioning in the same breath.

That side’s outstanding performer, one of the greatest players Manchester City ever had, if not the greatest, Colin Bell, has died. The only one of City’s players ever to be dubbed ‘the King’, in his case ‘King of the Kippax’, after the Kippax Street Stand at City’s old Maine Road Ground. He was also nicknamed Nijinsky after a famous race-horse of the time due to the seemingly effortless way he covered the ground. The team was an attacking force to be reckoned with and Bell was its driving creative hub.

His stature at the club was such that one of the stands at City’s new ground, the Manchester City Stadium, aka the Etihad, was named for him.

There was a fine appreciation by Simon Hattenstone of what the man meant to City supporters in yesterday’s Guardian.

By all accounts he was a decent man as well as a great footballer.

Colin Bell: 26/2/1946 – 5/1/2021. So it goes.