Francis Benali looks over the Solent from the sixth floor of the swish Harbour Hotel, his book in his hands as he scans the coast from the cruise liners to the Itchen Bridge obscuring St Mary’s Stadium.
In 48 hours, he has a date with the Princess Royal to receive an MBE and still has to collect his tailcoat suit but is rewinding his mind back 30 years to his playing days and the curious case of the kidnapped Christmas tree.
‘An element of the Southampton supporters weren’t happy with me at the time,’ recalls Benali. ‘They wanted me out of the team or sold. It did take me a while to win them over.
Southampton legend Francis Benali decided to retire at 34 rather than play for another club
‘Anyway, one day, somebody burst into the reception area at the Dell, picked up the tree and ran off. A day later, so the story goes, a letter arrived at the club. It was like a ransom note saying, “Drop Franny or you’ll never see the tree again”.’
It is a classic Benali tale: self-deprecating and understated, delivered without fuss in his soft Hampshire burr, and he points out that he is not sure if it is true because he never saw the note.
Not that this matters because it is ensconced in Saints folklore and Benali became not only a club legend but a darling of the city in which he was born, adopted at birth and raised in a broken home.
His difficult upbringing goes some way to explaining the ferocious competitive spirit, loyalty and dedication that defined his football career. There were 11 red cards in Southampton colours and plenty more scrapes, including some among team-mates in training.
Benali is sad to see Harry Kane agitating a way out of Spurs and Jack Grealish joining Man City
Gordon Strachan said that until he became Southampton boss he used to think there was ‘something wrong’ with him. ‘He never smiled, he just stared at you,’ said Strachan, who arrived at Saints in 2001 and addressed the first team with a speech detailing a Benali clash which bruised him from the base of his spine to his shoulder blades.
Benali sinks deeper into his seat, aware of the tackle in question. ‘I didn’t go in for pleasantries,’ he admits. ‘It all fitted the style of football I played in an era when you could play like that.
‘I was ultra-competitive because I was always fighting in some sense. If I wasn’t fighting against an opponent I was fighting to remain in the team or get back in the team, or to impress the manager or the supporters. I was fighting for the right reasons, to win and do well for my family.’
He still admires defenders who play on the edge and he admits to a pang of admiration for the cynical way Giorgio Chiellini yanked back Bukayo Saka by his collar at the expense of a yellow card in the Euro 2020 final. ‘There’s a time and a place, and that was probably it,’ says Benali. ‘You do what’s required.
‘An element of controlled
