Dan Bentley (footballer)

Dan Bentley

Bentley playing for Brentford in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Daniel Ian Bentley [1]
Date of birth	(1993-07-13) 13 July 1993 (age 31) [2]
Place of birth	Basildon, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) [3]
Position(s)	Goalkeeper [4]
Team information
Current team	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Number	25
Youth career
	Hutton Medway
2001–2008	Arsenal
2008–2009	Southend United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2016	Southend United	141	(0)
2011	→ Braintree Town (loan)	2	(0)
2016–2019	Brentford	123	(0)
2019–2023	Bristol City	137	(0)
2023–	Wolverhampton Wanderers	5	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:20, 4 December 2023 (UTC)

Daniel Ian Bentley (born 13 July 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers. He has played in the English Football League for Southend United, Brentford and Bristol City.

Career

Southend United

Bentley playing for Southend United in 2014

Bentley was born in Basildon, Essex ^[5] and began his career as a centre back with hometown club Hutton Medway. ^[6] A one-off appearance as a goalkeeper was witnessed by an Arsenal scout, ^[6] who brought Bentley to the club's academy at age eight. ^[7] He was released in 2008 and quickly signed for Southend United, ^[7] with whom he started his apprenticeship in March 2009. ^[8] Bentley was sent out on loan to Conference South club Braintree Town initially on cover for one match. ^[8] However, he ended up staying and made two appearances for the club against Welling United and Dover Athletic. He was given his first professional contract in the summer of 2011, on a two-year deal. ^[9] He made his first-team debut for the Shrimpers on 22 October 2011 in a 4–1 win over Torquay United, replacing the injured Glenn Morris in the second half. ^[10]

Following an injury to first choice Southend United goalkeeper Paul Smith, Bentley was called upon to deputise and played in his first run of first-team matches in the 2012–13 season, making his full debut for Southend on 22 September 2012 against Exeter City, a match Southend won 2–1. ^[11] Bentley went on to play further matches against Plymouth, and Burton Albion before Paul Smith returned to full fitness.^{[ citation needed ]}

Bentley continued to play in cup matches, and developed a reputation for being a good penalty saver. As a consequence, with a Football League Trophy southern area semi-final against Oxford United seemingly heading to Penalties, Southend manager Paul Sturrock substituted starting goalkeeper Paul Smith for Bentley in the 90th minute, provoking an angry reaction from Smith. ^[12] Bentley went on to save Alfie Potter's spot kick and Southend won 5–3 on penalties, progressing to the Southern area final. Sturrock justified the decision by stating "Bentley has been fantastic at penalties all his career, and it worked, he saved one". ^[13]

2013–14 season

Bentley kept 19 clean sheets during the 2013–14 season. His impressive performances linked him with a move to Leeds United with Leeds' manager Brian McDermott watching Bentley in Southend's 3–0 win against Rochdale on Good Friday. ^[14] After being linked with a move to Leeds, Bentley proclaimed that he would not let the speculation of a potential move affect his performances. ^[15]

2014–15 season

Over the summer of 2014 Bentley was linked with moves to Premier League clubs, but eventually remained at Southend, and in the early part of the following season he was considered for the England U21s, however he was not selected. ^[16]

In the 2014–15 season, Bentley broke Mervyn Cawston's club record of 10 consecutive home clean sheets with 12 in a row between October and April. ^[17]

Southend made it the play-off final at Wembley Stadium where they played against Wycombe Wanderers. The match was goalless after 90 minutes, however 5 minutes into extra-time Wycombe took the lead through an own goal from Bentley. A free kick from Joe Jacobson hit the crossbar before rebounding off of the diving Bentley's back into the goal. However, with 20 seconds remaining, Southend took the match to a penalty shoot-out, in which Bentley was the hero after saving penalties from Matt Bloomfield and Sam Wood, meaning that Southend won promotion to League One. ^[18]

The season was full of accolades for Bentley, winning all three of the club's end of season awards – supporters' player, players' player and community player of the year. ^[19] He was named the Football League Young Player of the Month for April 2015 ^[20] and made the League Two PFA Team of the Year along with teammate Ben Coker. ^[21]

2015–16 season

In the 2015 summer transfer window Bentley was subject of three bids from Queens Park Rangers, the 3rd and final offer being £1.25m which Southend chairman Ron Martin rejected.^{[ citation needed ]}

On 31 August 2015 Bentley produced a man of the match performance away at Coventry City in a 2–2, the fine display including a penalty save. Bentley remained a Southend United player when the transfer window closed on 1 September.^{[ citation needed ]}

Brentford

On 1 July 2016, Bentley signed for Championship club Brentford on a four-year contract with a compensation fee of £1.1 million. The fee would rise if Bentley reaches a certain number of appearances. ^{[22] [23]}

Bristol City

Bentley signed for Bristol City on 28 June 2019 on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee. ^[24] During his stay at Bristol City he was appointed club captain by manager Nigel Pearson.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Bentley signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers on 25 January 2023 for an undisclosed fee. ^[25] He made his debut on 13 May in a 2–0 defeat away to Manchester United in the 2022–23 Premier League. ^[26] His home debut came the following weekend in a 1–1 draw with Everton. ^[27]

Career statistics

As of match played 2 March 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Southend United	2009–10 [28]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2010–11 [29]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2011–12 [30]	League Two	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2012–13 [31]	League Two	9	0	1	0	0	0	1 [a]	0	11	0
	2013–14 [32]	League Two	46	0	4	0	1	0	2 [b]	0	53	0
	2014–15 [33]	League Two	42	0	1	0	0	0	4 [c]	0	47	0
	2015–16 [34]	League One	43	0	1	0	1	0	3 [a]	0	48	0
	Total		141	0	7	0	2	0	10	0	160	0
Braintree Town (loan)	2010–11 [35]	Conference South	2	0	—		—		—		2	0
Brentford	2016–17 [36]	Championship	45	0	2	0	0	0	—		47	0
	2017–18 [37]	Championship	45	0	0	0	0	0	—		45	0
	2018–19 [38]	Championship	33	0	0	0	0	0	—		33	0
	Total		123	0	2	0	0	0	—		125	0
Bristol City	2019–20 [39]	Championship	43	0	1	0	1	0	—		45	0
	2020–21 [40]	Championship	43	0	1	0	1	0	—		45	0
	2021–22 [41]	Championship	38	0	0	0	0	0	—		38	0
	2022–23 [42]	Championship	13	0	0	0	2	0	—		15	0
	Total		137	0	2	0	4	0	—		143	0
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2022–23 [42]	Premier League	2	0	—		—		—		2	0
	2023–24 [43]	Premier League	3	0	0	0	2	0	—		5	0
	Total		5	0	0	0	2	0	—		7	0
Career total			408	0	11	0	8	0	10	0	437	0

1. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
2. Appearances in League Two play-offs
3. One appearance in Football League Trophy, three in League Two play-offs

Honours

Southend United

• Football League Two play-offs: 2015 ^[18]
• Football League Trophy runner-up: 2012–13 ^[44]

Individual

• Football League Young Player of the Month: February 2015 ^[20]
• Southend United Player of the Year: 2014–15 ^[19]
• Southend United Players' Player of the Year: 2014–15 ^[19]
• Southend United Community Player of the Year: 2014–15 ^[19]
• PFA Team of the Year: 2014–15 League Two ^[21]
• Bristol City Player of the Year: 2020–21 ^[45]

References

1. "EFL: Club retained and released lists published". English Football League. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
2. "Daniel Bentley: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
3. "Dan Bentley". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
4. "Dan Bentley". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
5. "Daniel Bentley". Bristol City F.C. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
6. Moore, Tom. "How a chance holiday changed the life of Dan Bentley". getwestlondon. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
7. "Scout – Daniel Bentley". Sky Sports. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
8. "Daniel Bentley joins Braintree Town on loan but back for Anfield!". 4 February 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
9. "Southend United contract a dream – Bentley". BBC Sport. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
10. Phillips, Chris (23 October 2011). "Southend United goalkeeper Daniel Bentley insists he's ready for chance". The Echo. Basildon. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
11. Phillips, Chris (19 September 2012). "Southend United goalkeeper Daniel Bentley hopes to make full debut against Exeter City". The Echo. Basildon. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
12. "Paul Smith sorry for Southend United 'antics'". 10 January 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
13. "Southend manager Paul Sturrock defends JPT keeper swap". 9 January 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
14. "Leeds United: Mac and squad are waiting for Cellino". Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds. 7 May 2014. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
15. Phillips, Chris (25 April 2014). "Southend United's Daniel Bentley not distracted by Leeds United rumours". The Echo. Basildon. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
16. Phillips, Chris (26 August 2014). "England send scouts to see Southend United goalkeeper Daniel Bentley". The Echo. Basildon. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
17. "Southend United: Record-breaker Daniel Bentley relieved". BBC Sport. 15 April 2015.
18. Shepka, Phil (23 May 2015). "Southend United 1–1 Wycombe Wanderers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
19. "Season awards review from Saturday's game". Southend United F.C. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
20. "Southend United's Daniel Bentley named Football League Young Player of the Month". The Football League. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
21. "League Two Team of the Year: Matt Grimes in after Exeter stint". BBC Sport. 26 April 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
22. Phillips, Chris (17 January 2017). "Blues to receive an initial £1.1million from Brentford for Bentley". The Echo. Basildon. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
23. "Brentford: Daniel Bentley, John Egan & Romaine Sawyers join the Bees". BBC Sport. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
24. Crawley, James (28 June 2019). "Bentley completes Robins move". Bristol City F.C. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
25. "Dan Bentley: Wolves sign Bristol City keeper". BBC Sport. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
26. Rose, Gary (13 May 2023). "Manchester United 2–0 Wolverhampton Wanderers: Hosts strengthen top-four bid with win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
27. McNulty, Phil (20 May 2023). "Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–1 Everton: Yerry Mina's 99th-minute equaliser rescues point for struggling Toffees". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
28. "Games played by Daniel Bentley in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
29. "Games played by Daniel Bentley in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
30. "Games played by Daniel Bentley in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
31. "Games played by Daniel Bentley in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
32. "Games played by Daniel Bentley in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
33. "Games played by Daniel Bentley in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
34. "Games played by Daniel Bentley in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
35. "D. Bentley: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
36. "Games played by Daniel Bentley in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
37. "Games played by Daniel Bentley in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
38. "Games played by Daniel Bentley in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
39. "Games played by Daniel Bentley in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
40. "Games played by Daniel Bentley in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
41. "Games played by Daniel Bentley in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
42. "Games played by Daniel Bentley in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
43. "Games played by Daniel Bentley in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
44. "Starting Lineups - Crewe vs Southend". Sky Sports. 7 April 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
45. "Club Records – Brisol City". Archived from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2023.

External links

• Profile at the Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. website