He went from cheering Colchester United on from the Layer Road terraces to reporting from the press box on their Wembley glories.

It’s safe to say that Francis Ponder most definitely lived his dream.

Having supported the U’s since 1951, the good old white and blues have always been a big part of his life.

But as his entertaining and colourful new book reveals, his eventful and successful stint as the Gazette’s Colchester United reporter brought with it countless stories and experiences, as he covered the club up and down the country.

“It was a dream job,” said Francis, who reported on three Wembley finals, two promotions and two relegations during his 15-year spell covering the U’s.

“The thought of coming into the newspaper in the first place having worked in engineering was great and to be involved with sport was fantastic.

“Having left school without any qualifications to my name, I never, ever in my life gave a thought that one day, I would get into journalism or be reporting on my schoolboy idols and I was - how wonderful to have all of that.

“To have the opportunity to cover Colchester United and Essex County Cricket Club was beyond my wildest dreams when I came into the Gazette.

“When they asked me if I would be Colchester United reporter, I didn’t even think twice, although I should have done because of the effect it was going to have on my life.

“It cost me my marriage which was a shame and it has a massive demand on your life but you can’t turn back the clock.

“I wouldn’t change anything though and what a wonderful experience.”

Francis started covering Colchester for the Gazette at the age of 37 in the opening weeks of the 1990-91 season, the club’s first in the Conference following their relegation in the previous campaign.

The following season, he was reporting on a glorious non-league double, masterminded and inspired by the U’s charismatic former player-manager Roy McDonough.

“They were good to watch under Roy McDonough and it was attacking football,” recalls Francis, who says reporting on the U’s non-league double-winning team was his most enjoyable time covering Colchester.

“I enjoyed watching Mike Masters, the big American centre forward, and good solid professionals like Tony English and Richard Wilkins, who weren’t just captains of the club but could play anywhere.

“I’ll be perfectly honest – I think Roy McDonough’s team that won the non-league double would beat today’s Colchester United side.

“That’s how good I think the Conference team was because love or hate McDonough – and there were a lot of his policies I disagreed with – he brought in some experienced players and you need those players in the right places.

“He did that and I think that would work now.”

For much of his time covering Colchester for the Gazette newspaper, Francis travelled to away games on the team bus – and the experiences that brought make for colourful and revealing reading in his book.

“Ian Atkins was the first manager to invite me onto the coach,” he said.

“I didn’t ask him; we used to go down to the ground to get team news and one day he said ‘why don’t you come with us?’ “As the outsider, I knew that I was fair game for being got at.

“They had their way – they sprinkled coffee and sugar in my hair and one day I stupidly wore a £600 leather jacket which they filled one pocket with cod and the other with coffee and sugar grains but you just had to laugh with it.

“Whatever happened stayed on the coach and I think that helped – they knew that they could trust me but I said to the managers and the captains that I reserve the right to say that they’ve played badly when they’ve played badly.

“They appreciated I had a job to do and that went by perfectly OK.

“But they got their own back by tipping toothpaste, shaving cream and bottles of booze over me and it didn’t matter what you wearing.

“I could have been there in my wedding suit but I’d have still copped it!”

Despite having stepped down from his U’s duties at the Gazette in 2005, Frannie is still a regular at the Weston Homes Community Stadium and remains an avid follower of the U’s.

More than 7,000 were at the U's game against Leyton Orient at the weekend and Francis believes there is potential for the club to attract similar attendances on a regular basis in the future – providing they start winning.

He said: “If we were in the Conference again today and winning, people would go and watch.

“You only have to look at Chelmsford – they’ve started winning and their crowds have gone from three to four figures.

“Even though I don’t think Colchester is a football town, the level of support from the town and surrounding districts is here, as we proved when we went to Wembley for the first time and took 24,000 people.

“The fanbase is still out there – you just have to encourage them back in and that’s where I feel the club is missing out today.

“I don’t think they do enough to bring people in.

“It’s a wonderful facility they have there and they have to start building their history there.

“It’s down to them and Robbie Cowling to do that to start winning at home and getting the fans on their side.

“Fans will put up with an awful lot but they just want something to cheer and it will happen.”

‘Step This Way…Mr Lynam’ – so-called in reference to Francis’s doppelganger Des Lynam - is an affectionate, revealing and heartfelt look back on the author’s many years of covering the U’s and the numerous characters he met along the way.

But did he leave anything out?

“I’ve put all of the main things in because they’re embedded in my mind,” added Francis.

“There are other things that I could have put in but nothing as important as that I’ve included.

“I could have doubled the size of the book had I wanted to but I haven’t thought “crikey, I wish I’d put that in”.

“I wanted it to be easy to read; a book to pick up and put down when you want to.

“I don’t have any regrets; I saw enough success and those years from 1991 through to 2005 when I stopped doing it were absolutely spectacular for me.

“With the success, the good football, the good players and the good managers that I saw within those years, I couldn’t have wished for more.

“I’ve had some wonderful occasions, travelling with the team and supporting them.

“Colchester United were always my team and they always will be, until the day I die.”

“Step This Way…Mr Lynam” by Francis Ponder is available at Red Lion Books in Colchester and on Amazon, priced £12.99.