Roy Bentley

This article is about the English football player. For the article about the American poet, see Roy G Bentley.

Roy Thomas Frank Bentley (17 May 1924 – 20 April 2018) was an English football player and manager.

Roy Bentley

Personal information
Full name	Roy Thomas Frank Bentley
Date of birth	(1924-05-17)17 May 1924
Place of birth	Shirehampton, England
Date of death	20 April 2018(2018-04-20) (aged 93)
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1939–1946	Bristol City	0	(0)
1946–1948	Newcastle United	48	(22)
1948–1956	Chelsea	324	(130)
1956–1960	Fulham	142	(23)
1960–1962	Queens Park Rangers	45	(0)
Total		559	(175)
International career
1949–1955	England	12	(9)
Managerial career
1963–1968	Reading
1969–1972	Swansea City
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

A former forward, Bentley played 367 games for Chelsea and captained the club to their first League Championship in the 1954–55 season. He also won 12 caps for the England national side.

Personal life

Bentley was born in Shirehampton, Bristol, Gloucestershire and attended Portway Boys Secondary School.

He married Violet M. Upton in 1946.

Club career

Early years

Bentley served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and afterwards played for both Bristol City and Bristol Rovers before signing for Newcastle United in 1946. He was with the club for less than two years, but formed a key part of a forward line which also included Jackie Milburn, Len Shackleton and Charlie Wayman. He reached an FA Cup semi-final with the club in the 1946–47 season, but they were defeated 4–0 by eventual winners Charlton Athletic.

Chelsea

In January 1948 Bentley signed for London side Chelsea for £11,000, partially because he had been advised by his doctor that a move south would be a remedy for the lung problems from which he occasionally suffered. He arrived at Chelsea as a replacement for Tommy Lawton, who had also moved to Chelsea in search of a cure for lung trouble, and was initially compared unfavourably with his predecessor. His Chelsea career took off slowly as he struggled to adapt to an unfamiliar style of play. They lost 2–4 at home to Huddersfield Town on his debut and he scored just three goals in his first four months with the club.

From there, however, Bentley's fortunes changed. He was an early exponent of the deep-lying centre forward position, an unorthodox tactic which often unsettled opposing defenders. This, combined with a strong heading ability and a powerful shot, saw him score 23 goals in his first full season with Chelsea, making him the club's top scorer, for which he also earned his first England call-up. Though Chelsea's league form during his time there was often patchy, he played a key part in their first major FA Cup run for almost two decades in 1950. He scored two goals in a 3–0 fifth round win against Chesterfield while in the quarter-final against Manchester United his thunderous shot from 30 yards clinched a 2–0 win. Chelsea were eventually knocked out in the semi-finals by Arsenal, despite Bentley giving them a 2–0 lead. During his time at Chelsea, he was picked for the London XI in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

After another semi-final loss in 1952, again to Arsenal, Ted Drake arrived as Chelsea's new manager. Within three years, Bentley had captained Chelsea to their first League title, in 1954–55. In addition to being captain, he scored 21 league goals during the season, including a hat-trick against Newcastle and two strikes in a 4–3 win against principal rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers. Bentley remained with Chelsea for only one more season and was one of the first to leave as the ageing championship-winning side was gradually broken up by Drake.

Bentley scored 150 goals in 367 appearances for Chelsea. At the time, this made him the club's leading goalscorer. He is presently joint-fifth in Chelsea's all-time goalscorers list behind Frank Lampard, Bobby Tambling, Kerry Dixon and Didier Drogba, and level with Peter Osgood. He was Chelsea's top scorer in each of his eight full seasons at Stamford Bridge.

Fulham and QPR

Bentley signed for Chelsea's West London neighbours Fulham in 1956. At Fulham Bentley was converted into a centre-half and they reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1958, where he was once again on the losing side. In 1960 he left Fulham but again stayed in West London, this time moving to Queens Park Rangers, where he saw out the remainder of his playing career.

International career

Bentley was an England international for six years. He made his debut against Sweden and played for his country at the 1950 FIFA World Cup, including the 1–0 defeat to the USA. He scored the winning goal against Scotland in qualifying for that tournament. Although both finalists were guaranteed places in the World Cup (the top two finishers in the British Home Championships would qualify for the World Cup), the SFA had said that if they did not win the Home Nations, they would withdraw from the World Cup. As Scotland lost due to Bentley's goal, they withdrew and he was duly christened "the man who robbed Scotland of Rio." In November 1954 he scored a hat-trick against Wales. He earned twelve England caps and scored nine goals. Bentley was the last surviving member of England's 1950 World Cup squad.

International career

Bentley was an England international for six years, playing at the 1950 FIFA World Cup.

Management

Following his retirement from playing, Bentley moved into management. He took over at Reading and later Swansea City, winning promotion to the old Third Division with the latter. He returned to Reading in 1977, this time as club secretary.

Retirement and death

Bentley lived in Chigwell, Essex during the late 1980s before relocating to Reading, Berkshire where he lived in 2014. At his death in April 2018, he was the last surviving player from England's 1950 World Cup squad.

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Club

Source:

Club	Season	Division	League		FA Cup		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bristol City	1945–46	–	0	0	6	1	0	0	6	1
Newcastle United	1946–47	Second Division	36	19	6	3	0	0	42	22
	1947–48	Second Division	12	3	0	0	0	0	12	3
	Total		48	22	6	3	0	0	54	25
Chelsea	1947–48	First Division	14	3	1	0	0	0	15	3
	1948–49	First Division	40	21	3	2	0	0	43	23
	1949–50	First Division	39	17	6	5	0	0	45	22
	1950–51	First Division	38	8	5	3	0	0	43	11
	1951–52	First Division	32	12	9	5	0	0	41	17
	1952–53	First Division	37	12	7	5	0	0	44	17
	1953–54	First Division	41	21	1	0	0	0	42	21
	1954–55	First Division	41	22	3	0	0	0	44	22
	1955–56	First Division	38	14	7	1	1	1	46	16
	1956–57	First Division	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
	Total		324	130	42	21	1	1	367	152
Fulham	1956–57	Second Division	32	14	2	1	0	0	34	15
	1957–58	Second Division	31	7	7	1	0	0	38	8
	1958–59	Second Division	35	0	4	0	0	0	39	0
	1959–60	First Division	29	2	2	0	0	0	31	2
	1960–61	First Division	15	0	0	0	1	0	16	0
	Total		142	23	15	2	1	0	158	25
Queens Park Rangers	1961–62	Third Division	29	0	4	0	1	0	34	0
	1962–63	Third Division	16	0	2	0	0	0	18	0
	Total		45	0	6	0	1	0	52	0
Career total			559	175	75	27	3	1	637	203

International

England national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1949	1	0
1950	5	2
1951	0	0
1952	2	1
1953	0	0
1954	2	4
1955	2	2
Total	12	9

Managerial statistics

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record					Ref
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Reading	1 January 1963	1 February 1969	321	136	79	106	042.4
Swansea City	7 August 1969	16 October 1972	173	66	49	58	038.2
Total			494	202	128	164	040.9

Bibliography

• Cheshire, Scott (1998). Chelsea: An Illustrated History. Breedon Books. ISBN 1-85983-143-5.
• Mears, Brian (2004). Chelsea: A 100-year History. Mainstream Sport. ISBN 1-84018-823-5.