Francesca Bentley (born 26 June 2001) 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 as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

of the

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

. She has previously played in the youth ranks at

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

on loan at

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and

, and has represented England from under-15 to under-23 youth level.

Club career

Early career

Bentley joined

aged nine and remained at the club for five years. In 2015, she joined local rivals

due to the limited first team opportunities available at her former club.

Manchester City

In July 2017, Bentley signed with the

development squad for the 2017–18 season and became a regular for the club. In April 2018, she helped the club win the FA Development League Cup. Bentley was named as an unused substitute for the first team on two occasions as they finished runners-up in the

and the

FA WSL Cup The Women's League Cup, also known as the Subway Women's League Cup due to sponsorship reasons, is a league cup competition in English women's association football. The competition was originally open to the eight teams in the FA WSL, but since t ...

Manchester United

On 1 July 2018, Bentley returned to her former club and joined

ahead of their inaugural season in the

FA Women's Championship The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...

, one of seven players to return to the senior side having played for the club at youth level. She made her senior debut as a 59th-minute substitute in a Championship game against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

with the score at 6–0. The game finished 8–0.

2018–19 season: Loan to Sheffield United

On 8 February 2019, she was loaned to fellow Championship side

until the end of the season. She played in six games during the loan, conceded four goals and won every game. She also notably assisted fellow Manchester United loanee

Ebony Salmon Ebony Salmon (born 27 January 2001) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Women's Super League club Aston Villa W.F.C., Aston Villa, the England women's national fo ...

's goal in a 2–1 win over

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

2019–20 season

Bentley missed the start of the 2019–20 season after suffering a fractured humerus while on international duty with England under-18s.

2020–21 season: Loan to Blackburn Rovers

On 1 September 2020, Bentley signed a season-long loan deal with

of the

. She made her league debut five days later in a 3–0 defeat to

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 ...

. She made four appearances before United recalled her in December.

2021–22 season: Loan to Bristol City

On 6 August 2021, Bentley signed a new two-year contract with Manchester United before joining

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side

on a season-long loan. She made her debut on 29 August in Bristol City's opening game of the season, a 4–3 defeat to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. She played 22 games in total, keeping ten clean sheets as Bristol finished third and was named Young Player of the Season at the club's end of season awards.

Bristol City

Following a season-long loan, Bentley joined

permanently on 1 July 2022 on a two-year contract.

International career

Having played for the England under-15s, on 28 April 2017, Bentley made her debut for under-17s in a 2–0 defeat to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Six months later, she made her competitive debut and kept her first clean sheet for England in a 10–0 victory against

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, is an annual European championship football tournament, organized by UEFA, for national teams of women under age seventeen. The tournament was first play ...

qualification. Bentley made five appearances to help England qualify for the tournament.

Personal life

While playing for Manchester United, she enrolled onto the BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma Business course at Wigan and Leigh College. Bentley is in a relationship with fellow women's footballer and England youth teammate Katie Robinson.

Career statistics

Honours

Manchester United *

: 2018–19 Bristol City *

: 2022-23 Individual *

: Golden Glove Winner (Best Goalkeeper) 2022-23 * Bristol City Womens Young Player Of The Year Award - 2021/22 * Bristol City Womens Players Player Of The Year Award - 2022/23

References

External links

Fran Bentley
at Bristol City F.C. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Fran 2001 births Living people English women's footballers Women's association football goalkeepers Women's Super League players Manchester City W.F.C. players Manchester United W.F.C. players English LGBTQ footballers English lesbian sportswomen Sheffield United F.C. Women players Blackburn Rovers W.F.C. players Bristol City W.F.C. players Women's Super League 2 players England women's youth international footballers Footballers from Southampton 21st-century English sportswomen 21st-century English LGBTQ people