An Evening with Francis Benali MBE

Francis Benali was
born and raised in Southampton, England and is a former Professional Footballer
who played in nearly 400 games for his hometown club Southampton FC.

In recent years he
has completed a number of ultra endurance challenges, which culminated in 2019
and has raised £1.4 Million for Cancer Research UK. As a result of his fundraising
efforts he was the first recipient of the Barclays Spirit of the Game award, a
Cancer Research UK Flame of Hope Award Winner and the JustGiving Celebrity
Fundraiser of the Year. He was also recognised by Southampton City Council
making him a Freemen of the City. In 2019 he became an official Club Ambassador
for Southampton FC and Saints Foundation and was awarded an MBE in the New Year
2020 Honours List.

Franny currently
works in the media as a football pundit working with companies such as Sky
Sports and the BBC. He’s also a public speaker delivering inspirational talks to various
audiences including corporate, educational and sporting clients.

He has been married
to Karen for 34 years and they have a son Luke (33) and daughter Kenzie (31), as well as four young Grandchildren.