Harry Bentley (footballer)

Henry Bentley (13 August 1891 – 1970) was an English professional footballer who played as a full back or half back in the Football League for The Wednesday, Brighton & Hove Albion and Swindon Town.[2]

Harry Bentley
Personal information
Full name Henry Bentley[1]
Date of birth (1891-08-13)13 August 1891[1]
Place of birth Sheffield,[2] England
Date of death 1970 (aged 78)
Place of death Sheffield, England
Position(s) Full back, half back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
19??–1910 Heeley Friends
1910–1920 The Wednesday 50 (3)
1920–1922 Brighton & Hove Albion 64 (0)
1922–1924 Swindon Town 10 (1)
Maltby Main
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Life and career

Bentley was born in Sheffield where he attended Lowfield Council School.[3] He captained the Sheffield Boys football team that faced London Schools in the inaugural English Schools' Football Association (ESFA) championship in 1905,[4] and received a glowing profile the following year in the Yorkshire Telegraph & Star, highlighting his "fine turn of speed" and claiming that "it is not a reckless prophecy to suggest that he will, before many years have elapsed, be appearing in distinguished company, for he has all the attributes of a successful player."[3]

He played for Heeley Friends before joining First Division club The Wednesday in 1910.[5] He eventually made his first appearance for the senior team in April 1914,[6] and took his chance the following season. In November, the Star Green 'Un commented that despite Wednesday's history of sound recruitment, they might not have realised how good Bentley would become. Coming into the side because of injury to the long-serving Tom Brittleton, he retained the right half position even after Brittleton's return to fitness, having "continued to play a very clever, brainy game. He tackles well, and, what's more, makes it his business to place the ball where it will be of advantage to his forwards."[7] He made 34 appearances out of a possible 41 in 1914–15,[8] at the end of which competitive football closed down for the duration of the First World War. Bentley enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery, and was soon promoted to lance corporal.[9] He returned to Wednesday for the first post-war campaign, during which he played in 17 First Division matches.[6]

Bentley then signed for Brighton & Hove Albion, newly admitted to the Football League, and club historian Tim Carder wrote that "his experience was invaluable" to a struggling team.[5] He made 64 appearances over two years, either at full back or wing half, and moved on to another Third Division South club, Swindon Town, for a £350 fee – £100 more than Brighton had paid for his services.[5] He made 11 appearances over the next two seasons,[1] by which time he was well into his thirties. He returned to Yorkshire and played non-league football for Maltby Main.[10]

Bentley died in Sheffield in 1970 at the age of 78.[11]

References
  1. "Player profile: Harry Bentley". Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  2. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  3. "A young Sheffield athlete". Yorkshire Telegraph & Star. 12 May 1906. p. 2.
  4. Kerrigan, Colm (2005). Teachers and Football: Schoolboy Association Football in England, 1885–1915. Abingdon: RoutledgeFalmer. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-7130-0243-0.
  5. Carder, Tim; Harris, Roger (1997). Albion A–Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Hove: Goldstone Books. pp. 26–27. ISBN 978-0-9521337-1-1.
  6. Jackson, Stuart. "H Bentley". The Sheffield Wednesday Archive. Adrian Bullock. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  7. "Wednesday's find". Star Green 'un. Sheffield. 28 November 1914. p. 2.
  8. Jackson, Stuart. "Season 1914–1915". The Sheffield Wednesday Archive. Adrian Bullock. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  9. "Bentley promoted". Star Green 'Un. Sheffield. 28 August 2015. p. 2. Harry Bentley, Wednesday's popular half-back, who recently enlisted in the R.F.A., has attained the rank of Lance-Corporal.
  10. "Player search". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  11. "Index entry". FreeBMD. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
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