Francis Benali

Francis Benali
Personal information
Full name Francis Vincent Benali
Date of birth (1968-12-30) 30 December 1968
Place of birth Southampton, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position Full back
Youth career
1985–1988 Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–2004 Southampton 311 (1)
2001 → Nottingham Forest (loan) 15 (0)
2006–2008 Eastleigh 22 (0)
Total 348 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Francis Vincent Benali (born 30 December 1968) is an English professional footballer and coach who spent most of his playing career at Southampton.

Schoolboy football

Benali was born in Southampton and attended Bellemoor School.[1] He played for Winsor United in the Southampton Tyro League. At this level he was playing as a forward and was a prolific goal-scorer, being an early developer and quicker and stronger than most footballers of his age. He was selected to represent Southampton and Hampshire Schools, and progressed to the England schoolboy team, scoring on his debut against Northern Ireland and making nine appearances at this level.[2]

Career

His only FA Premier League goal came on 13 December 1997 with a header from a Matthew Le Tissier free-kick against Leicester City at The Dell.[3]

After losing his first-team place, in January 2003, Benali returned to the starting line-up making two league appearances against Sunderland[4] and Manchester United[5] as well as two in the F.A. Cup against Millwall. Although Benali did not appear in the F.A. Cup Final on 17 May 2003, he was awarded a runners-up medal for his two appearances in Round 4. The replay against Millwall turned out to be his final competitive appearance for Southampton.[6]

His final appearance in the Southampton first-team came as a substitute in the inaugural Ted Bates trophy match in January 2004 against Bayern Munich.[7]

Coaching

In July 2003, Benali joined the coaching staff at St. Mary's and took charge of the under-12 side at the Academy.[8]

On the departure of manager Harry Redknapp in December 2005, Benali and Matthew Le Tissier put themselves forward as joint candidates for the vacant position, but were not interviewed by chairman Rupert Lowe.[9]

Business activities

With Matthew Le Tissier, Benali was the founder in October 2003 of the True Greats website.[10]

He was a partner in a property development company – Luken Homes – with his father-in-law.[11] The company was set up in 2002 and was named after Benali's children, Luke and Kenzie.[12] The company was placed into Creditors voluntary liquidation in February 2010.[13]

Charitable activities

He has been a patron of the following charities:

In August/September 2014, Benali completed a three-week 1,000-mile (1,600 km) challenge running to all 20 Premier League grounds, raising in excess of £100,000 for the charity Cancer Research UK.[16] As a result, he became the first recipient to be awarded with the Spirit of the Game award in December 2014.[17]

In October 2016, Benali completed a two-week challenge to run and cycle to all 44 Premier League and Championship stadiums. He ran a marathon and cycled 75 miles each day and in the process raised over £350,000 for Cancer Research UK.[18] Following this, he was awarded the freedom of the city of Southampton.[19]

Honours

Southampton
Individual

Bibliograpy

References

  1. ↑ Kusi-Obodum, Maxwell (17 November 2016). "Saints legend Franny 'honoured' to be given Freedom of the City of Southampton". Daily Echo. Southampton. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  2. ↑ "Francis Benali". The Saints Hub. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  3. ↑ Houston, Bob (13 December 1997). "Benali's goal surprise". London: The Independent. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  4. ↑ Stewart, Rob (28 January 2003). "Beattie stays cool as Sunderland feel heat". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  5. ↑ "Man Utd see off Saints". BBC. 1 February 2003. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  6. ↑ "Saints tame Lions". BBC. 5 February 2003. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  7. ↑ "SAINTS 1 - BAYERN MUNICH 1 (From Daily Echo)". Dailyecho.co.uk. 2006-05-30. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
  8. ↑
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ "truegreats.com". truegreats.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Luke Homes website: People". Luken Homes. Archived from the original on 28 June 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  12. ↑ "Home Advantage". Professional Housebuilder & Property Developer. 3 (4): 32–34. May 2009.
  13. ↑ "Luken Homes Limited – Insolvency". Companies House. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  14. ↑ "Our patrons". Children's Fire & Burn trust. 30 January 2006. Archived from the original on 10 October 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  15. ↑ "Dave Wellman Cancer Trust". Dwct.net. 1 April 2000. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  16. ↑ "Francis Benali's completes 1,000-mile stadium challenge". BBC News. 13 September 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  17. ↑ Gallagher, Sean (19 December 2014). "Southampton legend Francis Benali goes the extra mile for Spirit of the Game Award". Daily Mail. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  18. ↑ "Francis Benali completes stadium running and cycling challenge". BBC News. 16 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  19. 1 2 "Ex-footballer Francis Benali granted freedom of Southampton". BBC News. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  20. ↑ Holley & Chalk 2003, p. 301.
  21. ↑ Chalk & Holley 2013, p. 248.
  22. ↑ Simpson, Gordon (20 December 2014). "Francis Benali awarded Barclays Spirit of the Game award". Daily Echo. Southampton. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  23. ↑ Morris, Felix (7 July 2016). "Saints legends Lawrie McMenemy and Francis Benali to receive honorary degrees from Southampton Solent University". Daily Echo. Southampton. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
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