Roy Bentley

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Roy Bentley
0Full Name	Roy Thomas Frank Bentley
0Date of Birth	17 May 1924
0Place of Birth	Bristol
0Position	Forward
0Chelsea career	1948-1956
0Debut	17 January 1948
0Games (goals)	367 (150)
0Other clubs	Bristol City Newcastle United Fulham Queens Park Rangers

Roy Thomas Frank Bentley (born 17 May 1924) is a former English international forward who played for Chelsea between 1948 and 1956. Having captained Chelsea to the club's first league title, with 150 goals in his eight and a half years at Stamford Bridge, Bentley is one of Chelsea's greatest players. In the early 1950s Bentley was also one of England's top centre forwards, and was the first Chelsea player to represent England at a World Cup Finals.

Contents 1 Before Chelsea 2 Chelsea career 3 After Chelsea 4 International career 5 Statistics 6 Chelsea honours

Before Chelsea

Bentley served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and afterwards briefly 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 one of the most impressive forward lines of the era, alongside 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 beaten 4-0 by eventual winners Charlton Athletic.

Chelsea career

In January 1948, Bentley signed for Chelsea for £12,500, partially because he had been advised by his doctor that a move south would be a remedy for the lung problems he occasionally suffered from. He arrived at Chelsea as a replacement for Tommy Lawton - who, coincidentally, 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 4-2 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 a semi-final replay by Arsenal, despite Bentley giving them a 2-0 lead in the original tie. During his time at Chelsea, he was picked for the London XI in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

After another semi-final replay loss in 1952, again to Arsenal, Ted Drake arrived as Chelsea's new manager. Within three years, Bentley had achieved one of the highlights of his playing career, captaining 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 crucial 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.

Having scored 150 goals in 367 appearances, Bentley is currently joint fourth in Chelsea's all-time goalscorers list, level with Peter Osgood. He was top scorer at the club in each of his eight full seasons there.

After Chelsea

Bentley signed for Chelsea's west London neighbours Fulham in 1956. At Fulham, Bentley was successfully 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.

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.

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 infamous 1-0 defeat to the USA. He scored the winning goal against Scotland in qualifying for that tournament to deny the Scots a place, for which he was dubbed "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.

Statistics

See also: List of Roy Bentley goals

Season	League		FA Cup		Other		Total
	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1947-48	14	3	1	0	0	0	15	3
1948-49	40	20	3	2	0	0	43	22
1949-50	39	17	6	5	0	0	45	22
1950-51	38	8	5	3	0	0	43	11
1951-52	32	12	9	5	0	0	41	17
1952-53	37	12	7	5	0	0	44	17
1953-54	41	21	1	0	0	0	42	21
1954-55	41	21	3	0	0	0	44	21
1955-56	38	14	7	1	1	1	46	16
1956-57	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Total	324	128	42	21	1	1	367	150

Chelsea honours

• First Division: 1954-55
• Charity Shield: 1955