Fran Bentley

Francesca Bentley (born 26 June 2001) is an English footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bristol City of the Women's Championship.

Fran Bentley
Bentley with Bristol City in 2022.
Personal information
Full name Francesca Bentley
Date of birth (2001-06-26) 26 June 2001
Place of birth Southampton, Hampshire, England
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Bristol City
Number 1
Youth career
2010–2015 Manchester United
2015–2018 Manchester City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2018 Manchester City 0 (0)
2018–2021 Manchester United 1 (0)
2019 → Sheffield United (loan) 6 (0)
2020 → Blackburn Rovers (loan) 4 (0)
2021-- Bristol City 42 (0)
International career‡
2017–2018 England U17 3 (0)
2018–2019 England U18 3 (0)
2021- England U23 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 July 2022
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 30 November 2021

She has previously played in the youth ranks at Manchester City, Manchester United on loan at Sheffield United, Blackburn Rovers and Bristol City, and has represented England at under-17 and under-23 level.

Club career

Early career

Bentley joined Manchester United aged nine and remained at the club for five years.[1] In 2015, she joined local rivals Manchester City due to the limited first team opportunities available at her former club.[1]

Manchester City

In July 2017, Bentley signed with the Manchester City development squad for the 2017–18 season and became a regular for the club.[2] In April 2018, she helped the club win the FA Development League Cup.[3] Bentley was named as an unused substitute for the first team on two occasions as they finished runners-up in the Women's Super League and the FA WSL Cup.[4][5]

Manchester United

On 1 July 2018, Bentley returned to her former club and joined Manchester United ahead of their inaugural season in the FA Women's Championship, one of seven players to return to the senior side having played for the club at youth level.[6][7] She made her senior debut as a 59th-minute substitute in a Championship game against Millwall with the score at 6–0. The game finished 8–0.[8]

2018–19 season: Loan to Sheffield United
Bentley with Sheffield United

On 8 February 2019, she was loaned to fellow Championship side Sheffield United until the end of the season.[9] She played in six games during the loan, conceded four goals and won every game. She also notably assisted fellow Manchester United loanee Ebony Salmon's goal in a 2–1 win over Tottenham Hotspur.[10]

2019–20 season

Bentley missed the start of the 2019–20 season after suffering a fractured humerus while on international duty with England under-18s.[11] [12]

2020–21 season: Loan to Blackburn Rovers

On 1 September 2020, Bentley signed a season-long loan deal with Blackburn Rovers of the FA Women's Championship.[13] She made her league debut five days later in a 3–0 defeat to Leicester City.[14] She made four appearances before United recalled her in December.[15]

2021–22 season: Loan to Bristol City

On 6 August 2021, Bentley signed a new two-year contract with Manchester United before joining Championship side Bristol City on a season-long loan.[16] She made her debut on 29 August in Bristol City's opening game of the season, a 4–3 defeat to Crystal Palace.[17] She played 22 games in total, keeping ten clean sheets as Bristol finished third and was named Young Player of the Season at the club's end of season awards.[18]

Bristol City

Following a season-long loan, Bentley joined Bristol City permanently on 1 July 2022 on a two-year contract.[19]

International career

On 28 April 2017, Bentley made her debut for England under-17s in a 2–0 defeat to the United States.[20] Six months later, she made her competitive debut and kept her first clean sheet for England in a 10–0 victory against Latvia in UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualification.[21] Bentley made five appearances to help England qualify for the tournament.[22]

Personal life

While playing for Manchester United, she enrolled onto the BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma Business course at Wigan and Leigh College.[23]

Career statistics
As of match played 17 April 2022[22]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester City 2017–18 WSL 1 00000000
Manchester United 2018–19 Championship 10000010
2019–20 FA WSL 00000000
2020–21 00100010
Total 10100020
Sheffield United (loan) 2018–19 Championship 60000060
Blackburn Rovers (loan) 2020–21 40000040
Bristol City 2021–22 1902010220
2022–23 22 0 3 0 0 0 25 0
2023–24 FA WSL 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Career total 5305010600

Honours

Manchester United

Bristol City

  1. Includes the Women's FA Cup
  2. Includes the WSL Cup/Women's League Cup

References
  1. "Fran Bentley". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 1 July 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  2. Bentley, Fran (25 July 2017). "Fran Bentley on Twitter". twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  3. Oatway, Caroline (14 April 2018). "Double delight for Academy aces". Manchester City Football Club. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  4. "Manchester City 4–0 Liverpool". soccerway.com. Soccerway. 11 February 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  5. "Birmingham City 2–0 Manchester City". soccerway.com. Soccerway. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  6. "Manchester United include England stars in unveiled women's squad". 13 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  7. "United Women's Squad: Player By Player". Manchester United Football Club. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  8. "Match report on Manchester United Women 8 Millwall Lionesses 0 Sunday 25 November 2018". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  9. "Sheffield United welcome Fran Bentley". sufc.co.uk. Sheffield United FC. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  10. "Spurs 1-2 United Women - report". sufc.co.uk. Sheffield United FC.
  11. Carney, Sam (17 July 2019). "Fran Bentley suffers fractured humerus". ManUtd.com. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  12. "✍️ Bentley joins Robins". Bristol City.
  13. "Fran Bentley loan confirmed". ManUtd.com. Manchester United.
  14. "Report: Leicester City Women 3-0 Rovers Ladies". Blackburn Rovers FC. 6 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  15. "United recall Bentley from loan". rovers.co.uk.
  16. "Fran Bentley signs new deal and joins Bristol City on loan". ManUtd.com.
  17. "Match report: Crystal Palace Women 4-3 Bristol City Women". Bristol City.
  18. "Harrison, Bentley and Bull collect awards". Bristol City.
  19. "Bentley joins Robins". Bristol City FC.
  20. "United States U17 2–0 England U17". soccerway.com. Soccerway. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  21. "England U17 10–0 Latvia U17". soccerway.com. Soccerway. 14 October 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  22. "Francesca Bentley". soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  23. "Wigan & Leigh College :: Manchester United Women First team players Enrol at Leigh College". Wigan & Leigh College. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  24. "Man Utd Women 7–0 Crystal Palace Ladies: Women's Championship title sealed by win". BBC Sport. 20 April 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
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