Craig Bentham

Craig Martin Bentham (born 7 March 1985) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder. He started his career at Bradford City, where he had been from 2001 to 2008. He was loaned out to Farsley Celtic of the Conference National in 2008 and he subsequently joined them permanently for a second spell.

Craig Bentham
Personal information
Full name Craig Martin Bentham[1]
Date of birth (1985-03-07) 7 March 1985
Place of birth Bingley, England[1]
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
2001–2004 Bradford City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2008 Bradford City 30 (0)
2008 → Farsley Celtic (loan) 16 (1)
2008–? Farsley Celtic ? (?)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:54, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Playing career

Bentham graduated from the Bradford City youth team in 2004 and regularly captained the reserves side in 2004–05.[2] He made his full debut on 26 February 2005 for Bradford City in a 1–1 draw with Walsall,[2] receiving a yellow card.[3] He made only one more appearance that season and has continued to struggle to hold down a first team place. An injury in pre-season prevented Bentham from playing until an FA Cup game in November of the 2006–07 season,[4] before he became a first team regular during the latter half of the season when City were relegated to League Two, playing in 18 games.[5][6]

With his league appearances limited to just two hundred substitute outings in the first half of the 2007–08 season, he signed a one-month loan deal at Conference National side Farsley Celtic on 3 January 2008.[7] Two days later he made a "very good" debut for Farsley but they lost 3–1 to Histon after taking a first-half lead.[8] The loan was extended beyond its initial one-month period, before Bentham scored his first senior goal in a 3–0 Conference victory over Woking on 16 February 2008.[9] He played 16 league games for Farsley Celtic and was later named the club's most influential player in their end of season player awards,[10][11] but he returned to Bradford City in April 2008.[12] In Bentham's absence, Farsley lost their final six games and were relegated from the Conference National to the Conference North.[13][14] He played once more for Bradford City but was one of 13 players to be released by manager Stuart McCall at the end of the season.[15] He played just 30 league games for Bradford in four years.[10] Six weeks after his release, he rejoined Farsley Celtic, following Tom Penford another midfielder who had been freed by Bradford City.[16]

References
  1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.
  2. "Bentham latest to put pen to paper on new deal". Telegraph & Argus. 12 March 2005. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
  3. "Walsall 1–1 Bradford". BBC Sport. 25 February 2005. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
  4. Parker, Simon (10 January 2007). "Bentham return a big boost for City". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
  5. "Craig Bentham". Soccerbase. Retrieved 17 April 2008.
  6. "Bradford 2006/2007 player appearances". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2008.
  7. "Bentham makes Farsley switch". Sporting Life. 3 January 2008. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
  8. Whiting, Ian (6 January 2008). "Bentham can't quite rescue Celts". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 8 January 2008.
  9. "Farsley Celtic 3–0 Woking". BBC Sport. 16 February 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2008.
  10. "Craig Bentham". Soccerbase. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
  11. Whiting, Ian (6 June 2008). "Double winner Iqbal in demand". Telegraph & Argus. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  12. Walker, Wendy (5 April 2008). "Farsley Celtic boss: I want Craig Bentham back". Farsley Today. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
  13. "Farsley 2007/2008 results and fixtures". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  14. "Farsley Celtic 1–3 Grays". BBC Sport. 26 April 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  15. Parker, Simon (29 April 2008). "Johnson one of 13 axed by City". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 29 April 2008.
  16. Whiting, Ian (17 June 2008). "Bentham joins Penford at Farsley". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 18 June 2008.
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