Francis Lee was a former player and chairman of Manchester City, an England international, highly-successful businessman and racehorse trainer.
Lee, a striker, also played for hometown Bolton and Derby in his distinguished football career.
Lee will primarily be remembered as one of City’s greatest players, regardless of his dismal spell as chairman in the 1990s which did, at the time, tarnish his reputation.
The stocky forward was a huge fans’ favourite and an integral member of the City side which won the First Division title in 1968, the FA Cup 12 months later and the League Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup double the year after that.
Critics claimed he went to ground too easily, but his uncanny knack of winning and converting penalties – reflected in a nickname ‘Lee Won Pen’ – merely enhanced his status among City fans.
After leaving City he won another league title with Derby in a spell otherwise recalled for an on-pitch fight with renowned Leeds hard man Norman Hunter.
Following retirement, the success of his toilet paper business made him a multi-millionaire.
Lee first came to public attention when he broke into the Bolton side at the age of 16.
He had joined the club’s ground staff the previous year and was initially listed on the team sheet as ‘Mr FH Lee’ because he was an amateur.
He was paid by Bolton only for his work on the ground, which included tasks such as painting and sweeping, and for nothing he did on the field.
That was destined to change after he made a goal-scoring debut against City.
He successfully switched from winger to striker and went on to score 106 goals in 210 appearances for the club.
However, it came in a period of decline for Bolton, who were relegated from the top flight in 1964. He moved to City for a then club record £60,000 in 1967.
He made an immediate impression at City, where he was hailed by manager Joe Mercer as “the final piece in the jigsaw” and starred alongside the likes of Mike Summerbee, Colin Bell and Neil Young in the club’s first era of greatness.
Among his playing highlights were the decisive goal in the 4-3 last-day win over Newcastle that secured the title in his first season at Maine Road, the winning penalty in the European Cup Winners’ Cup final victory over Gornik Zabrze and a ‘perfect’ hat-trick against Manchester United in 1970.
In 1971-72 he became the first City player to score more than 30 league goals in a season for 35 years by netting 35. A British record 15 of them were penalties.
He was the club’s leading marksman four times and, in all, he scored 148 goals in 330 appearances.
By this time he was also an established England international. He won 27 caps, scoring 10 times, after making his debut in 1968 and featured in the side that reached the 1970 World Cup quarter-finals.
He was sold to Derby for £110,000 in 1974 and immediately made City realise what they were missing, not only by scoring against them but helping the Rams claim the title in 1975.
The following season came his moment of infamy as fists flew in a clash with Hunter.
The incident was filmed for Match of the Day and is these days a YouTube cult classic. Both players were sent off and escorted from the field.
“It’s a good job I didn’t get in the dressing room afterwards,” Lee later recalled. “As I might have just been coming out on parole now.
“It wasn’t play-acting you know. He had tapped me on the shoulder, hit me and split my lip with a gold ring.”
After scoring 30 goals in two seasons for Derby, he retired in 1976 to focus on his business commitments.
Lee’s entrepreneurial spirit first manifested itself as a teenager when he used an old brewery lorry to collect waste paper.
It was this market he exploited, ploughing his football earnings into setting up FH Lee Ltd, a company which specialised in waste paper recycling and haulage before expanding into toilet roll, kitchen roll, foil and cling film.
He eventually sold the company for £8.35million in 1984, making £6m.
He later bought stables and had some success training racehorses before buying City from the unpopular Peter Swales in 1994.
He was hailed as a returning hero by City fans, but his early ambitious promises proved way off the mark.
“If cups were awarded for cock-ups, you would not be able to move in City’s boardroom,” Lee later admitted after a series of poor managerial appointments – Alan Ball, Steve Coppell, Frank Clark – set the club on a downward spiral.
City were relegated to the second tier and were on their way down to the third when Lee resigned in 1998.
Despite his departure, he retained shares until selling to Thaksin Shinawatra in 2007 and continued to attend City games regularly.
He was made CBE for services to sport and charity in 2016.
Lee, who has died aged 79 after a long battle with cancer, is survived by his wife Gill and children Charlotte, Jonny and Nik.
Lorenzo eases James injury fears after Colombia seal Copa America progress
Nestor Lorenzo allayed any concerns over James Rodriguez's fitness after Colombia's 3-0 victory over Costa Rica at the Copa America.
Colombia made light work of Costa Rica at State Farm Stadium on Friday, securing their progression from Group D in the process.
A point in Colombia's final group match, against Brazil, will ensure they finish ahead of the Selecao, who are all but through after hammering Paraguay 4-1.
James was hugely influential for Lorenzo's team, creating a game-leading five chances and providing an exquisite assist for Jhon Cordoba to slot in and make it 3-0 in the 62nd minute following earlier goals from Luis Diaz and Davinson Sanchez.
The former Real Madrid playmaker was taken off in the 72nd minute, but coach Lorenzo said it was a precaution.
"James is fine," Lorenzo told the media. "He wanted to continue, but thinking of what is coming, it seemed prudent to change him."
James, who was left out of Colombia's squad in 2021, has already registered three assists across his two matches at this edition of the Copa America.
Since such data has been recorded (from 2011), only Lionel Messi has set up more goals in a single edition of the tournament (five in 2021, four in 2016).
Colombia have now gone 25 matches without defeat (20 wins, five draws), marking the second-longest unbeaten streak in their history, behind a 27-match run (13 wins, 14 draws) between 1992 and 1994.
"I think we have played good games against great rivals," Lorenzo added, after seeing Colombia record their 11th win over Costa Rica from what was a 14th meeting.
"There was a more pronounced and continued dominance. The boys played a great game."
Should they seal top spot in Group D, Colombia are likely to avoid going up against Marcelo Bielsa's in-form Uruguay in the last eight.
'I knew it could be good' - Sabitzer proud after earning Austria top spot
Marcel Sabitzer is proud of not only his winning goal, but also the strength Austria showed in their 3-2 victory over the Netherlands on Tuesday.
Ralf Rangnick's side were drawn into a group including pre-tournament favourites France, the Netherlands and Poland, and few expected them to come out on top.
However, after narrowly losing their opening to Les Bleus, Austria beat Poland 3-1 before Sabitzer struck the winner – his first goal at the European Championships – against the Netherlands to see them finish first in Group D.
With a last-16 tie against one of the best third-place teams still to come, Sabitzer is confident in Austria's togetherness.
"I got the ball deep, I looked up to see if someone was free in the middle, but I got the impression that [the Netherlands] had more men there. In the past, the left foot has often helped me, so I thought that was the moment I could give it a try," Sabitzer told reporters.
"As soon as the ball left my foot, I knew it could be good.
"We are all footballers who want to win games, and that is our objective in every game. And if you have moments where things are a bit more difficult, and it goes back and forth, then the question is how does the team react to that.
"You can be proud of the unity we have, the mentality we have on the pitch ... we used our strengths, the goal was very nicely worked. So many Austrians who watch us in the stadium trust us, and we want to give them something back."
Chile 0-1 Argentina: Super sub Martinez sends Albiceleste to Copa America quarter-finals
Lautaro Martinez struck a late winner as Argentina beat Chile 1-0 to secure their place in the Copa America knockout stages with a game to spare.
The reigning champions looked like they would have to settle for a point on a frustrating night at the MetLife Stadium, having failed to turn their superiority into the game's opening goal.
But substitute Martinez, who also netted from the bench in his nation's opener against Canada, finally broke Chile's resolve when he lashed home two minutes from time.
It moved Lionel Scaloni's side onto six points at the Group A summit, three points ahead of Canada, who beat Peru 1-0 earlier in the day. A draw against Peru in their final game will now be enough to secure top spot.
Argentina dominated the first half with 13 unanswered shots, yet just three of those were on target. One of them saw Julian Alvarez fire straight at Claudio Bravo from close range in the 22nd minute.
Lionel Messi also went close to scoring in the 36th minute. La Albiceleste's skipper let fly with a fizzing 25-yard attempt that clipped the outside of Bravo's left post, while Erick Pulgar almost turned Nahuel Molina's cross beyond the Chile goalkeeper two minutes later.
La Roja had Bravo to thank for keeping Argentina at bay, as the reigning champions continued to carry the greater attacking threat after the break.
The veteran stopper beat away Molina's fierce strike within five minutes of the restart, and just after the hour mark, he produced a superb reflex save to tip Nicolas Gonzalez's drive onto the crossbar.
With the breakthrough still eluding the world champions, Scaloni bolstered his attack by introducing Angel Di Maria and Martinez for the final 17 minutes.
Chile had increased their own attacking threat by registering their first attempts on goal in the contest, with Rodrigo Echeverria calling Emiliano Martinez into action on both occasions.
Yet, there was to be a late twist in Argentina's favour when an 88th-minute corner broke kindly for Martinez, who reacted quickest to fire into the roof of the net and send La Albiceleste through to the quarter-finals.
Persistence pays dividends for Argentina
The history books would have suggested Argentina should have fancied their chances against Chile.
This is epitomised by the fact they are now unbeaten after 90 minutes in the last 13 meetings, winning eight of those, but that does not tell the full story.
Seven of those eight victories have only been by a single-goal margin and, of course, they lost on penalties in the Copa America final showdowns of 2015 and 2016.
Though they dominated most of this contest and registered 22 shots to their opponents' three, just the one goal was enough once more, with both of Martinez's strikes from the bench in this competition coming in the 88th minute.
Argentina progress to the Copa America knockout stages for a 14th consecutive time, excluding when they withdrew from the 2001 tournament.
Toothless Roja see resistance broken
Chile looked set to frustrate Argentina once again at the Copa America and hold out for a second successive clean sheet.
Their defensive resolve - along with an inspired performance by Bravo between the sticks - looked like it would remain firm and keep the reigning champions at bay, until Martinez's late intervention.
What will be more concerning for La Roja is the fact they have now gone four successive Copa America matches without scoring, while having to wait until the 72nd minute for their first attempt on goal.
That is something they need to address quickly ahead of their crucial final Group A clash with Canada, in which a victory could still see them snatch second place and a quarter-final spot.
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