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Jim Bentley

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This article is about the footballer & manager. For the rugby league player, see Jim Bentley (rugby league).

Jim Bentley
Personal information
Full name James Graham Bentley[1]
Date of birth (1976-06-11) 11 June 1976 (age 48)[2]
Place of birth Liverpool, England[2]
Position(s) Centre back[2]
Team information
Current team
 Southport (Manager)
Youth career
0000–1997 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

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.

Playing Career

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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.

Managerial Career

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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.

Career statistics

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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. ^ a b c 1 appearance in Football League Trophy
  2. ^ 2 appearance(s) in Conference play-offs
  3. ^ 1 appearance in FA Trophy
  4. ^ 2 appearances in Football League Trophy
  5. ^ 2 appearances and 1 goal in Conference play-offs
  6. ^ 2 appearances in FA Trophy
  7. ^ 3 appearances in Conference play-offs
  8. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
  9. ^ 1 appearance in League Two play-offs

Managerial statistics

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As of match played 26 November 2024[16]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
P W D L Win %
Morecambe 13 May 2011 28 October 2019 434 123 119 192 028.3
AFC Fylde 28 October 2019 4 March 2022 75 35 17 23 046.7
Rochdale 29 August 2022 27 March 2023 36 7 9 20 019.4
Southport 29 August 2023 Present 62 24 11 27 038.7
Total 604 187 155 262 031.0

Honours

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Individual

References

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  1. ^ "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/07/2011 and 31/07/2011" (PDF). The Football Association. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "Jim Bentley". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Morecambe | Team | First Team | Jim Bentley". Archived from the original on 9 July 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
  4. ^ "New Shrimps Deal For Jim Bentley". League Clubs. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  5. ^ "Jim Bentley: Morecambe manager signs new contract until 2020". BBC Sport. 13 October 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  6. ^ Association, The Football. "Bentley charged". www.thefa.com. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  7. ^ "Paul Tisdale leaves Exeter City after 12 years in charge of Devon club". BBC Sport. 1 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Jim Bentley: Morecambe manager resigns and is set for AFC Fylde job". BBC Sport. 28 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Fylde sack Challinor after postponement". BBC Sport.
  10. ^ "Jim Bentley Departs As AFC Fylde Manager". www.afcfylde.co.uk. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Jim Bentley Appointed As First Team Manager". www.rochdaleafc.co.uk. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.[permanent dead link‍]
  12. ^ "Jim Bentley: Rochdale manager sacked with club bottom of League Two". BBC Sport. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  13. ^ "We Welcome Jim Bentley As Our New Manager". southportfc.net. 29 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  14. ^ a b "Curzon And Port Cause An Award Storm After Stellar Months". www.thenationalleague.org.uk. 13 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  15. ^ "Jim Bentley | Football Stats | No Club | Age 47 | 1989-2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com.
  16. ^ "Managers: Jim Bentley". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  17. ^ "Jim Bentley named Sky Bet League 2 Manager of the Month". EFL. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Jim Bentley named Sky Bet League Two Manager of the Month". EFL. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
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