No better stage than luvvie-land to spur an old matinee idol

As an eminently watchable footballer, Gerry Francis was always something of a strolling player, a midfield troubadour in boots. So it seems appropriate that the former England captain should end up in show business. Unlike some of his sporting contemporaries, however, it is not the pantomime season which beckons, though as far as a smash-hit West End musical is concerned he's the principal boy.

Or perhaps that should be, if he'll pardon the phrase, the Fairy Godfather. For without him 125th Street would not be doing the business so briskly on the boards of the Shaftesbury Theatre.

Francis is theatreland's newest impresario, main backer of a show which has bucked the present depression in the West End ."Generally, theatres are having a hard time," he says. "It couldn't be a worse environment, with all the terrorist scares, the absence of Americans, the firemen's strikes and problems with the Tube. Several shows have had to close. But what works for us is that this is a very good show. Okay, so I would say that, but we frequently have full houses of 1,400 and invariably it ends with a standing ovation."

The show, which opened in September, has had its run extended until March and there is the likelihood of a UK tour after that, which is when Francis hopes some of his six-figure investment will be recouped. His initial investment was £10,000. "But when I met the cast and went to rehearsals I was so impressed that I got in deeper and it went from there. There's a lot of money involved now, but I appreciate that this is a high-risk business, and you might end up losing some or all of it. But whatever happens I've had a bloody good time and enjoyed every moment.

"I've always had a big interest in the theatre and I love musicals. When I was a manager I used to take my players to see shows like Buddy. In my football career I got to know a lot of showbiz people, in particular the show's musical director Dave Mackay [no, not the old tartan terror], who has been a friend for years."

125th Street has cost £1.4m, relatively cheap for a musical. It is the story of the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York, in the mid-Sixties, with an emphasis on audience participation. "It's got everything for me," says Francis, who has seen it 30 times. "It's a good laugh with great songs and really talented performers. And it's about my era. I'd put it up there alongside Mamma Mia!"

London-born Francis, 50 last week, has spent 35 years in football, more than half of them with Queen's Park Rangers, embracing playing and coaching stints at Crystal Palace, Coventry, Exeter, Cardiff, Wimbledon and Bristol Rovers, plus managing QPR and Spurs. He has always had one of the shrewder business brains in football. His now-sold antiques business made him rich, even by the standards of modern footballers, and he still runs property and promotional companies.

But it is his new role in luvvie-land that consumes him, and he says it has been significantly therapeutic after "the worst year of my life". His father-in-law and grandmother both died after long illnesses spent in intensive care. Then he was rushed to hospital himself with deep-vein thrombosis. "It was a year to remember for all the wrong reasons. We are a close-knit family and the bereavements took a toll. But getting involved in this show has been a breath of fresh air. It has helped take our minds off things."

Francis always believed that there was more to life than football but says: "After 35 years, you can't say you don't miss it. Never having been out of the game you don't know how you'll react. But I've got children of nine, seven and five, which is pretty young for an older dad. They keep me occupied."

Although he hasn't seen a live game for a year, he stays in touch as a Sky TV pundit, and still keeps company with football folk. He has taken a number of them to see the show, including Arsène Wenger and Glenn Hoddle. Afterwards, the Tottenham manager, who has been known to do a bit of warbling himself, wrote in his programme notes: "It is clear Gerry is on to a winner." Francis certainly hopes so, and he'd like to think that Hoddle might be today, too, when Spurs meet Wenger's Arsenal.

Although his main loyalty is with QPR ("I was England captain at 23 but stayed at QPR for most of my life. Can you imagine an agent allowing that now?"), Francis admits a lingering affection for Tottenham who, while he was manager from 1994 to 1997, achieved their highest Premiership finish of seventh. "Funnily enough, Arsenal were my lucky team. I never lost to them at QPR or Tottenham. With the squad Arsenal have it's difficult to see Tottenham winning, but I can see them perhaps getting a point."

Although 125th Street has obviously whetted his appetite for things thespian, Francis still has a football goal – he'd love to own a club (he reckons he could probably pick up a few at the moment). "I've done everything else. Now I'd like to run a club the way it should be run. But football is a difficult market." Well, that's show business. But at least for him it really is the Theatre of Dreams.