450: Francis Benali, Southampton, Merlin’s Premier League 95 Sticker Collection

Emlyn Shepherdson-Jones takes on a request post for Mark Smith about a man who impressed on and off the pitch on the South Coast. Today’s subject has been on the blog’s longlist for a while but it’s fitting he gets his moment in the sun in light of his club’s struggles last season. That and Mark deserves a request following his sublime physical comedy exploits on Cardiff’s Queen Street during Emlyn’s stag last year. Over to Emlyn.

Prior to an evening game of cricket at the Oval a few weeks ago, I was sat at a pub table catching up with my good friend Mark. Mark is a massive Southampton fan, so definitely deserves some sympathy for the season just gone by. My team, Reading, have shared a number of players with the Saints over the years, but haven't played each other often of late, so we've been unable to enjoy a matchup between the two sides. Sadly I was yet to meet Mark in 2012, and so Reading's late surge to usurp the Saints from the top of the Championship table was a missed opportunity for bragging rights. Mark mentioned this blog and requested an article on one of the absolute stalwarts of the Southampton team for over a decade, and somebody who for some reason I frequently ended up with large numbers of doubles when buying the stickers – dependable left back, and now completer of multiple iron man challenges, Francis Benali.

Benali had a natural affinity with Southampton, born and raised in the city, and joined the youth team at 16 before progressing to make his first team debut a couple of months before his twentieth birthday. He went on to make over 300 appearances for the Saints, all of them in the top flight, including a run of 113 consecutive Premier League appearances at left back.

Benali's stickers in the Premier League albums often featured him with some kind of striking facial hair, including some absolutely phenomenal moustaches, however it was in the 1997/98 season that I ended up with about 20 copies of his face in my collection. This was also the season in which Franny scored his only career goal, a fantastic header against Leicester City from a free kick flighted in by good friend Matt le Tissier. Benali remained in the side for several seasons further, however, the emergence of Wayne Bridge meant that opportunities were far more limited and aged 32 he chose to drop a division, playing half a season on loan with Nottingham Forest. He then returned to Southampton, picking up a handful of appearances over two further seasons before calling it quits in 2003.

Benali immediately joined the coaching staff, alongside working in an ambassadorial role with the club. When Harry Redknapp left in December 2006, Franny was put forward, alongside Matt le Tissier, as a potential managerial candidate by rugby-hero-inexplicably-turned-'Performance Director' Clive Woodward. However, this wasn't to be, and Benali ended up lacing his boots back up for a couple of seasons with non-league Eastleigh and then coaching locally.

It was in 2014 that the next, even more impressive phase of Benali's life began, when the former defender managed to raise six figures for Cancer Research by running to all 20 Premier League grounds, and being awarded the Just Giving Fundraiser of the Year award. Not satisfied with this, he then went on to improve on this by running and cycling to all 44 grounds in the top two tiers of English football. This effectively required him to run a marathon and cycle 75 miles every day for a fortnight, and he and his blisters raised over £350,000. As just reward, he was given the freedom of the city of Southampton. He then decided to run seven Ironmans in seven days, in an attempt to raise a million pounds for the charity. He was successful in his fundraising, although was hospitalised during his attempt, nonetheless making it to a phenomenal five completed Ironman runs. In light of his amazing work, he was awarded an MBE in the 2020 New Year Honours list.

Benali remains a much loved cult figure for the Saints, with a Twitter account dedicated to stickers being placed all over the globe, from Austria to Miami. He is also in demand as a keynote speaker, presumably dispensing his wisdom before leaving with 'The Best' blaring from a boombox like David Brent. There will doubtless be further charity endeavours in the future too, from the man who has been given the deserved nickname Iron Fran – a worthy sobriquet for the Saints legend.