Jim Bentley

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 FC.

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[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

Career

Bentley, who debuted for Telford United in 1997, moved to Morecambe in 2002.[3] He played as a defender.

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 has not played a competitive match since taking on that 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]

Career statistics

Source:[15]

Club Season Division League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Telford United1999–2000Conference244000000244
Telford United2000–01Conference232100000242
Telford United2001–02Conference288000000288
Total 75141000007614
Morecambe2002–03Conference23332003[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]0295
Morecambe2003–04Conference364100000374
Morecambe2004–05Conference Premier38411002[lower-alpha 3][lower-alpha 1]0415
Morecambe2005–06Conference Premier40410004[lower-alpha 4][lower-alpha 5]1455
Morecambe2006–07Conference Premier31120005[lower-alpha 6][lower-alpha 7]0381
Morecambe2007–08League Two43610312[lower-alpha 8]0497
Morecambe2008–09League Two45310103[lower-alpha 8]0503
Morecambe2009–10League Two28310002[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 9]0313
Morecambe2010–11League Two8100001[lower-alpha 8]091
Total 292291134122132934
Career total 367431234122140548
  1. 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. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
  9. 1 appearance in League Two play-offs

Managerial statistics
As of match played 20 April 2024[16]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
PWDLWin %
Morecambe 13 May 2011 28 October 2019 434123119192028.3
AFC Fylde 28 October 2019 4 March 2022 75351723046.7
Rochdale 29 August 2022 27 March 2023 367920019.4
Southport 29 August 2023 Present 4317719039.5
Total 585180151254030.8

Honours

Individual

References
  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. "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.
  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. "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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