'S***t team' - Franny Lee's brilliant reaction to seeing his Man City record matched

Franny Lee was fiercely proud of his achievements as a footballer for clubs and country, yet Manchester City was his greatest love.

Told by manager Joe Mercer that he was the missing piece of the jigsaw when he signed from Bolton, Lee helped the Blues to win the league and then achieve European success with his goal against Gornik Zabrze ending up being the one that decided the 1970 European Cup Winners' Cup. With a spell as club chairman after his retirement, Lee's connection with City carried on through his life.

The forward was delighted to be able to watch Pep Guardiola's City in his later years as they produced beautiful football to bring about a second Golden Age at the club. The champagne flowed to toast the Champions League win in 2023 that marked City's first European triumph for 53 years.

READ MORE: I hired Manchester United great to manage Man City - his rejection ruined me

READ MORE: Grealish demand, Gordon admission - Pep Guardiola handed ideal solution to nagging Man City problem

As much as Lee loved watching City tear teams apart - and in particular local rivals United - he felt the need to correct his son Jonny when Erling Haaland and Phil Foden became the first City footballers since Lee to score a hat-trick in the Manchester derby. That conversation is recalled in a new book out on Monday telling the story of Lee's life in his own words.

"Exactly a year before he died, he saw both Erling Haaland and Phil Foden score a hat-trick in the Manchester derby against United at the Etihad," Jonny wrote. "City won 6-3.

"No City player had scored a hat-trick against United since Dad did it, back in 1970. In one game, Haaland and Foden did just that! Dad loved that City players had scored hat-tricks