As a player, he was a full back who notably spent most of his career in the Premier League with Southampton, during a sixteen-year spell he notched up a total of 373 appearances in all competitions, scoring just once.
Benali was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to cancer patients in the UK.
He was selected to represent Southampton and Hampshire Schools, and progressed to the England schoolboy team, scoring on his debut against Northern Ireland and making nine appearances at this level.
[12] After losing his first-team place to Wayne Bridge, in January 2003, Benali returned to the starting line-up making two league appearances against Sunderland[13] and Manchester United[14] as well as two in the FA Cup against Millwall.
[15] His final appearance in the Southampton first-team came as a substitute in the inaugural Ted Bates trophy match in January 2004 against Bayern Munich.
[17] On the departure of manager Harry Redknapp in December 2005, Benali and Matthew Le Tissier put themselves forward as joint candidates for the vacant position, but were not interviewed by chairman Rupert Lowe.
[19] In August/September 2014, Benali completed a three-week 1,000-mile (1,600 km) challenge running to all 20 Premier League grounds, raising in excess of £100,000 for the charity Cancer Research UK.