Having spent 20 years on the books at Southampton Football Club, Francis 'Franny' Benali has rightly earned ‘legend’ status amongst Saints fans.  Since retiring, however, he has gone on to raise over £1.4million for charity by undertaking three ultra endurance challenges that pushed his mind and body beyond breaking point. In our exclusive interview, Franny talks about the mental strength needed to dedicate yourself to football and to take on seemingly impossible challenges.  Convinced that there is something we can all learn by living outside of our comfort zone, his advice could help us all to reconsider what we value and how we view our own mental wellbeing. Show outline: 00:00:00 - 00:03:41 - Welcome and introduction 00:03:46 - 00:12:07 - Becoming a grandad and early childhood 00:12:08 - 00:19:48 - Determination to succeed 00:20:00 - 00:30:14 - Highs and lows 00:30:21 - 00:44:27 - Life after football 00:44:29 - 00:56:12 - The challenge that broke me 00:56:13 - 00:58:46 - Outside your comfort zone Useful links: Francis Benali MBE official website Franny’s Facebook Franny’s Twitter Franny’s Instagram Franny’s LinkedIn Share the show: If you’ve enjoyed this episode of The Brave Front, you can share it through any of the following links: Our Linktree site (for links to all the podcast platforms): linktr.ee/thebravefront  Spotify Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Amazon Music Interact with the show: Answer our episode question on the Spotify episode page Get in touch Send us a voice message Full transcription:Click HERE to read the full show transcript.