I have known Francis for somewhere of the order of 15 years or so I guess.  We met professionally, but quickly established a friendship based probably on the fact that both of us talk too much.  Beyond the many great qualities that Francis has, that many have mentioned since his passing, not least his sartorial elegance, his impeccable manners, and his "glass is full" demeanor, there were indeed some chinks that I need to talk about here. 

Firstly there was the Arsenal thing.  So we established early on our mutual dislike of each others chosen football team, and already I miss the buzz of my phone, in the mere seconds that have passed after the final whistle, and Spurs have lost to Chelsea, to see a message from Francis abusing me, and likewise sending him a little midweek message highlighting who is where in the league, to see if I can get a rise out of him.  However, it says quite something about the character of the man, than in the interests of client entertaining, Francis once invited me and took me to Directors hospitality at Tottenham, to then sit in the directors box, and watch my team, which says a lot about him.  There is absolutely no way I would have returned that favour!  So there you have it, a first flaw in the Mainoo armoury, his love of Arsenal. 

So that Arsenal v Tottenham thing then led to an annual event, stretching back many years, where once a year either Francis or I would have to buy the other one a day out involving golf, a decent lunch, and some good wine, based on whoever came out on top each year at the end of the season, Arsenal or Spurs.  A full day of gloating for one of us.  Which brings me to his second flaw, his golf.  No doubt an enthusiastic player, with a good sporting pedigree - however, if you have had to watch and wait for Francis to swing a golf club you will know my pain, standing over the ball for an absolute eternity, mumbling to himself, before blasting yet another one into the trees, bushes, water, gardens, out of bounds etc, just awful.  Truly though, one of the highlights of my year that will go with Francis, these annual golf days - his company for the day, just the two of us, talking football, fitness, family, work, careers and gossip, this was a golden day out. Our last time out for this was in July this year, where we laughed as usual and Francis enthused about his new business, which we had been talking about for a couple of years.  When I think of Francis I will always think of these great days.

Love you my friend.