IT was one of the greatest days in Colchester United’s history.

The club was playing in the FA Trophy at Wembley in 1992 - and Francis Ponder was at the heart of it.

He was reporting on the match for the Gazette but he was not in the press box or on the terraces - he was sat on the subs’ bench on the edge of the pitch.

Frannie had access all areas thanks to Us’ legendary striker Roy McDonough.

Frannie said: “Roy said to me ‘How are you going to get there?’ I said on the special coach the Gazette was laying on. He said ‘You are not. You are coming with us’.

“I went up on the Gazette coach in the end and walked into the dressing room area.

“One of the stewards said: ‘This way, Mr Lynam.’ I didn’t even show my pass.”

Frannie’s uncanny resemblance to the TV presenter gave the name to his long-awaited book Step This Way... Mr Lynam: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly which has just been published.

Frannie had always planned to write a book about his experiences as a Gazette sports reporter covering Colchester United but life got in the way.

Finally, when he was faced with surgery last year, he thought he ought to start.

The book contains the stories behind the coverage of his beloved Us.

Frannie has always been a Us fan. He went to his first game at the Us' former home ground, Layer Road, in 1951 when he was six-years-old. The Us beat Northampton 2-1.

“I went to Layer Road every week with my dad, Jim,” said Frannie.

“We would see the first team one week and the reserves the next. There would be 3,000 people watching the reserves then.

“We would always walk from Layer Road to Woolworths in Colchester High Street afterwards and my dad would get me a quarter of rum and butter toffees.”

He was, of course, at Layer Road when Colchester, then in Division Four, beat Leeds, then the best team in Europe, 3-2 in the FA Cup in 1971.

Frannie also played for Heybridge Swifts and for his village team in Tolleshunt D’Arcy.

He started work as an engineering apprentice for E H Bentalls in Heybridge before moving to Paxman’s in Colchester when he was 21.

He was made redundant, along with 88 others, in 1980 when he was 37.

But Frannie had been the press officer for the Maldon Sunday Football League so chanced his arm and asked the editor of the Maldon and Burnham Standard Peter Willis if there was a job going.

A couple of months later, Frannie was offered a job on the sports desk of the Evening Gazette under sports editor, Robin Frost.

“The guys were brilliant,” said Frannie. “I didn’t have the skills but I learnt on the job.”

In 1985, he wrote his first Us story and by 1990, Frannie became the dedicated Us reporter.

“It was my dream job,” he said. “I had supported them for 30 years.”

But despite being an avid fan, Frannie knew he had a job to do.

“I told the manager I reserved the right to criticise, that was non-negotiable.

“I started going to away matches on the fans’ coach and the player manager Ian Atkins asked me if I wanted to go on the players’ coach.

“Some people said I was too close to the club but I always took the view I was there to represent the fans, not the club nor the players.”

Frannie’s access to the players was the stuff current sports reporters can only dream of.

It lead to a number of exclusive stories including Trésor Lomana Lua Lua’s move to Newcastle United for £2.25 million.

His exposes sometimes enraged the former club chairman Peter Heard with whom he had what he describes as a “tempestuous relationship”.

“He told me he did not want me calling him every day and to call his assistant Marie Partner, so I did.

Frannie said: “Peter Heard went swimming every morning and did not get back until after the Gazette deadline, which was in the morning then.

“He saw red over lots of stories but I said he should have made himself available.

“He is a smashing bloke though. I have seen him since he was no longer chairman and I was no longer reporting and we get on well.”

Frannie, 72, still goes to just about every Us home match.

“We still can’t defend for toffee,” he declares. “We have conceded more goals than any other club in League Two.”

He retired from the Gazette nine years ago and is still an avid football fan although he laments the changes in the beautiful game.

“I have become disillusioned,” he said.

“The game has become too precious, even at Colchester United.

“The players have become distant from the fans and I think that is sad.

“Colchester United great Vic Keeble used to travel on the corporation bus with the fans. You would not see that now.

“The transfer fees are offensive. Wayne Rooney gets £350,000 a week. He could not lace Stanley Matthews’ boots.

“When I think what doctors and nurses earn and footballers still aren’t satisfied.”

Frannie, who is a grandad, gave a lot to his job.

He admits covering the Us became all-consuming including travelling thousands of miles to away games.

His personal life suffered and he was divorced from his wife, Liz.

But he adds: “I loved my job and I loved working for the Gazette. I have worked with some great people.”

Frannie, who is engaged to Joanna, kept every copy of the Gazette for the 28 years he worked for it.

For the book, he went through each edition, checking the facts, reliving the good times and the bad.

“I had a lot of stories in my head but I wanted to make sure,” he explained.

With his trademark mischievous smile, he said: “When I had to go to the Royal Brompton, I thought I had better write that book now.

Frannie said: “I am not expecting to make a fortune but I am glad I’ve done it. It’s lovely.”

Step This Way...Mr Lynam is published by Apex and is available in hardback through Amazon and other outlets priced at £12.99. It is also available as an eBook priced at £4.99.