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James Graham Bentley (born 11 June 1976) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a centre back. He is currently the first team manager at Southport F.C.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Graham Bentley[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 11 June 1976[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre back[2] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Southport (Manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1997 | Manchester City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997–2002 | Telford United | 75 | (14) |
| 2002–2011 | Morecambe | 292 | (29) |
| Total | 367 | (43) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2011–2019 | Morecambe | ||
| 2019–2022 | AFC Fylde | ||
| 2022–2023 | Rochdale | ||
| 2023– | Southport | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Bentley debuted for Telford United in 1997, playing for the Shropshire club for 5 years.
He signed for Morecambe in 2002, managed at the time by Jimmy Harvey.[3] In 2007, Bentley captained Morecambe to a 2-1 victory over Exeter City in the Conference National play off final, taking the club to the Football League for the first time in their history.
In June 2010, Bentley was appointed player-coach, having spent the previous season in a coaching role with the reserve team.
On 13 May 2011, Bentley was appointed the player-manager of Morecambe on a two-year contract, but since then he has concentrated on the managerial role and did not play a competitive match after taking on the post. He signed a two-year contract extension with the Shrimps on 10 October 2013. A further two-year contract extension was agreed with Morecambe on 29 August 2015. Ken McKenna also agreed the same deal with the League Two club.[4] On 13 October 2017, Bentley and McKenna agreed further contract extensions until the end of the 2019–20 season.[5]
During Morecambe's 1–2 defeat to Cheltenham on 17 December 2016, Bentley was sent off from the dugout, after reacting to Alex Kenyon's dismissal. He received a £750 fine with £250 costs and a two match touchline ban[6] from the FA after a personal hearing. At the following home game, a 4–1 victory over Notts County, Morecambe fans held a 'bucket collection' and raised the £1,000.
After the departure of Paul Tisdale from Exeter City in June 2018,[7] Bentley became the longest serving manager in the top four tiers of English football, until his resignation in October 2019[8] to become the new manager of AFC Fylde.[9] In March 2022, Bentley was sacked by the National League North club, which was in fourth place, fourteen points off top spot.[10]
On 29 August 2022, Bentley was appointed manager of League Two's bottom club Rochdale on a two-year contract.[11] On 27 March 2023, Rochdale sacked him; under Bentley, the side had won just six out of 32 league games and were still bottom, 10 points from safety with eight games remaining.[12]
On 29 August 2023, exactly a year after his appointment at Rochdale, Bentley was appointed as manager of National League North club, Southport. At the time of his appointment Southport were at the foot of the table with only 1 point after 6 games.[13] Having overseen a turnaround in form, he was awarded the Manager of the Month award for November 2023.[14]
On 16 November 2023, Bentley extended his contract with the Sandgrounders up to June 2026. He steered the club to safety in the National League North in his first season, guaranteeing a place in the league with a 3–0 win over Rushall Olympic on 13 April 2024.
Source:[15]
| Club | Season | Division | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Telford United | 1999–2000 | Conference | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 4 |
| Telford United | 2000–01 | Conference | 23 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 |
| Telford United | 2001–02 | Conference | 28 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 8 |
| Total | 75 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 14 | ||
| Morecambe | 2002–03 | Conference | 23 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3[a][b] | 0 | 29 | 5 |
| Morecambe | 2003–04 | Conference | 36 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 4 |
| Morecambe | 2004–05 | Conference Premier | 38 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2[c][a] | 0 | 41 | 5 |
| Morecambe | 2005–06 | Conference Premier | 40 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[d][e] | 1 | 45 | 5 |
| Morecambe | 2006–07 | Conference Premier | 31 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5[f][g] | 0 | 38 | 1 |
| Morecambe | 2007–08 | League Two | 43 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2[h] | 0 | 49 | 7 |
| Morecambe | 2008–09 | League Two | 45 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[h] | 0 | 50 | 3 |
| Morecambe | 2009–10 | League Two | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[a][i] | 0 | 31 | 3 |
| Morecambe | 2010–11 | League Two | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[h] | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| Total | 292 | 29 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 329 | 34 | ||
| Career total | 367 | 43 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 405 | 48 | ||
- 1 appearance in Football League Trophy
- 2 appearance(s) in Conference play-offs
- 1 appearance in FA Trophy
- 2 appearances in Football League Trophy
- 2 appearances and 1 goal in Conference play-offs
- 2 appearances in FA Trophy
- 3 appearances in Conference play-offs
- Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
- 1 appearance in League Two play-offs
- As of match played 20 April 2024[16]
Individual
- League Two Manager of the Month: August 2014,[17] August 2016[18]
- National League North Manager of the Month: November 2023[14]
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