Franny Lee

Yesterday, Derby County beat Leeds United 1 nil at Elland Road, the first time they've won there since 1975 - over 30 years ago - when the goalscorer was Francis Lee. It was the year Derby became League Champions.

Francis Lee was a brilliant goalscorer and perfected the art of diving in the box before the likes of Christiano Ronaldo or Drogba were born. One of my earliest footballing memories was Derby vs Leeds at the Baseball ground when Norman Hunter and Francis Lee were sent off for fighting, when both clubs were bitter rivals at the top of the division. See video below with vintage 'Motty' commentary.

Unlike most footballers of that era, he became a successful businessman running a toilet paper empire, FH Lee, which he then sold. My first full time job was working for the head office of the company that bought FH Lee. I was rubbish at it and didn't last long. One of my jobs was to compile regular sales data from the various operating companies who had to ring me every Friday with their figures.

One day FH Lee called to give their information. When I asked for a contact name, the voice on the line said 'Francis Lee'. Instead of telling him that I thought he was one of best players I'd ever seen, I simply said 'thanks very much' and hung up.


Francis Lee v Norman Hunter