[3] After two decades, frustration grew, and Swales was ousted by Francis Lee after a long protest by City supporters, famously known as "Forward with Franny".

He was blamed for the club's failure to keep pace with neighbours Manchester United after City's late 1960s/early 1970s heyday and various acts of mismanagement such as allowing Malcolm Allison's eccentric dismantling of the side in 1979.

Swales was also a prominent figure in The Football Association and some fans believed he stayed on to preserve that status rather than further the fortunes of the club.

[4] Swales was known as a ruthless chairman, even by modern football standards,[5][6] sacking eleven managers in his twenty-year reign at City.

Manchester City reached the nadir of their 132 years' existence in 1998 when they were relegated to the third tier of the Football League for the first time in their history.