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 ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring 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 intercepting ...

for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

of the Women's Championship. She has previously played in the youth ranks at

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

on loan at

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games a ...

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

and

, and has represented England at under-17 and under-23 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

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

and the

FA WSL Cup The FA Women's League Cup 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 the WSL's restructuring to two divisions, it has featured 23 teams. ...

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 Championship (formerly The FA Women's Championship) is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The division was established in 2014 as the FA Women's Super League 2 (WSL 2). WSL 2 replaced the previous level 2 d ...

, 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 Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, ea ...

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's goal in a 2–1 win over

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

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, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

. 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 system ...

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

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

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

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

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

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

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 Wigan & Leigh College is a state General Further and Higher Education College based at five locations in the towns of Wigan and Leigh in Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Currently, there are 500 staff members employed, and more than 8 ...

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile
at ManUtd.com * * {{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 Sheffield United W.F.C. players Blackburn Rovers L.F.C. players Bristol City W.F.C. players Women's Championship (England) players England women's youth international footballers