Benjamin James Petty (born 22 March 1977) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player. He played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

. He was appointed assistant manager of

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

in 2024.

Career

Petty was born in

Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...

and started his career off in the youth ranks at

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. He failed to make the grade at Villa and move on to

Brian Little Brian Little (born 25 November 1953) is an English football manager and former player. As a player, Little was a striker who spent his entire career for Aston Villa in a career that spanned from 1971 to 1980. He made 247 league appearances, ...

in November 1998. He provided useful back-up in Stoke defence in 1998–99, making 13 appearances as Stoke missed out on the play-offs. Little left Stoke at the end of the season and in came

Gary Megson Gary John Megson (born 2 May 1959) is an English former football player and manager. He has previously managed Norwich City, Blackpool, Stockport County, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers and ...

who brought in his own players meaning that Petty was overlooked. After making just three appearances under Megson Petty forced his way back into the side once

Guðjón Þórðarson Guðjón Þórðarson (; born 14 September 1955), known in the United Kingdom as Gudjon Thordarson, is an Icelandic football manager and former player. He has previously been manager of Iceland, Icelandic clubs ÍA, KA, KR, Keflavík, BÍ/Bo ...

took over in November 1999 and ended the 1999–2000 season with 19 appearances. He did play in five matches of Stoke's

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

winning run put failed to make the match day 16 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

however Stoke lost in the play-offs to Gillingham. In 2000–01 Petty played in 34 matches for Stoke and scored his only senior goal in a 4–0 win over

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

in the League Trophy. Stoke again reached the end-of-season play-offs where they faced Walsall. In the first leg both sides were cancelling each other out with Petty being brought on as a substitute. With the match into added time Walsall broke clear of City's defence and Petty 'sacrificed' himself bringing down the Walsall striker and was sent-off and the match ended 0–0. It was all in vain however as Stoke lost the second leg 4–2. It proved to the last act in a Stoke shirt as he left for

in July 2001. After a decent start with Hull, making 34 appearances in 2001–02 he fell out with manager

Jan Mølby Jan Mølby (; born 4 July 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer and manager. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1982 to 1998. After starting his career with Kolding, he moved on to Ajax before spending twelve years playing in Engl ...

and Petty drifted into non-league football. He played for

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Division One West. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include ...

Moor Green Moor Green is a historic home located near Brentsville, Prince William County, Virginia. It dates to the early-19th century, and is a two-story, five-bay, Federal style brick residence, with a one-room, two-story ell. It has a standing seam m ...

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

and

Redditch United Redditch United Football Club is an English football club based in Redditch, Worcestershire. The club participates in the and play their home games at the Valley Stadium. They are managed by Matt Clarke. History They were originally called Re ...

before deciding to take up coaching. He worked as a coach for the Aston Villa Academy team until 2016, when he joined

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

's under 23s. He was appointed as

's assistant manager in June 2024.

Career statistics

Source:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petty, Ben 1977 births Living people Footballers from Solihull English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Aston Villa F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Moor Green F.C. players Redditch United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff Leicester City F.C. non-playing staff Birmingham City F.C. non-playing staff