Elliot Paul Benyon (born 29 August 1987) is an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays for Hanwell Town as a striker.

Career

Benyon began his career as a trainee at Bristol City after being spotted playing local football in High Wycombe. Despite making no first team appearances for the club, impressive loan spells to National Conference sides St Albans City and

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

in the 2006–07 season caught the eye of Paul Buckle, who signed Benyon in June 2007 to play for

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

, who had themselves just been relegated from the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

. Despite struggling to gain a regular starting place in his first season with the Gulls, Benyon still managed a total of 22 appearances, scoring five times in the 2007–08 season and also made a second-half substitute appearance at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

in Torquay's 1–0 defeat to Ebbsfleet United in the 2008 FA Trophy final. Benyon found more regular places in the starting line-up for Torquay in the 2008–09 season, making a total of 36 league appearances. The season culminated with a second Wembley appearance in two years for both Benyon and Torquay United when the Gulls beat

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

2–0 in the Conference National Play-off final in May 2009 to regain a place back in the

. Cambridge defender Phil Bolland was sent off for a foul on Benyon. In July 2009, Benyon agreed a fresh one-year contract with the newly promoted Gulls and became an important first team player as his 15 goals in all competitions helped Torquay survive a difficult first season back in League Two. He scored 14 goals by the middle of the 2010–11 season and in January 2011 joined League One

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract after The Robins sold Charlie Austin to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. He scored an injury time equaliser on his debut against

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

. At the end of that season, Swindon were relegated to League Two and on 20 June 2011, Benyon was signed on a season long loan by his home town club Wycombe Wanderers, who had themselves just been promoted to League One. He made his debut as a 66th minute replacement for Gareth Ainsworth in a 1–1 away draw against

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

, and scored his first goal in the League Cup against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

. Benyon signed for League Two club Southend United in January 2012 for an undisclosed fee. He started his first game for Southend on 2 January, against Dagenham & Redbridge, before being substituted late on for Neil Harris. He found first team opportunities limited at Southend and in February 2013 rejoined former club

on a month's loan with an option to extend the deal to the end of the season. He was then released by Southend at the end of the season, before rejoining Torquay permanently in July 2013. In January 2015 Benyon joined Hayes & Yeading United on loan, signing permanently for the

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

side at the end of the season. In the 2015–2016 season, Benyon was leading goalscorer and player of the year, despite his side suffering relegation. In May 2016 he joined Wealdstone, before signing for league rivals Whitehawk in December 2017, following a short loan spell at

Enfield Town Enfield is a large town in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It had a population of 333,587 in 2021. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay Hill, Crews Hill, Enfield Hig ...

. Benyon scored on his debut for The Hawks in a 4–1 victory at Eastbourne Borough on 1 January 2018.

Leatherhead

On Tuesday 23 May 2018, Benyon joined

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon ...

Hayes and Yeading

On 22 December 2018, Benyon re-joined Hayes & Yeading United.

Oxford City

Benyon joined National League South side Oxford City in October 2019,scoring his first goals for the club against

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London in the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a large ancient par ...

in an FA Trophy replay.

Slough Town

In June 2022, Benyon joined Slough Town.

Hanwell Town

In August 2023, Benyon joined Hanwell Town.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benyon, Elliot 1987 births Living people Footballers from High Wycombe English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Bristol City F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Tiverton Town F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Hanwell Town F.C. players Leatherhead F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Hayes & Yeading United F.C. players Wealdstone F.C. players Enfield Town F.C. players Whitehawk F.C. players Oxford City F.C. players Slough Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players 21st-century English sportsmen