Graham Mark Benstead (born 20 August 1963) is an English retired professional

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 made over 110 appearances 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 ...

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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings w ...

. He also played League football for

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 ...

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 tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 2 ...

and was capped by England at

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Y ...

and

semi-pro ''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film. The film was directed by Kent Alterman in his directorial debut, written by Scot Armstrong, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin and Maura Tierne ...

level. Benstead is goalkeeping coach at

Frimley Green Frimley Green is a large village and ward of in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. It is south of the town of Frimley. Lakeside Country Club was the national venue for the BDO in ...

Club career

Queens Park Rangers and Norwich City (1981–1988)

Born in

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alde ...

, Hampshire, Benstead began his career as a part-time player at Wimbledon and then entered the youth system at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus ...

. He signed his first professional contract in 1981. He had to wait until 8 January 1983 to make what would be his only appearance for the club, which came with a start in a 3–2

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

third round defeat to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...

. After a

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

spell with

late in the 1984–85 season, Benstead joined the newly relegated

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club at the end of the campaign for an initial £10,000 fee, with up to £35,000 in add-ons. After promotion straight back to the First Division in 1985–86 and in the face of competition from new £100,000 signing

Bryan Gunn Bryan James Gunn (born 22 December 1963) is a Scottish former professional goalkeeper and football manager. After learning his trade with Aberdeen in the early 1980s, he spent most of his playing career at Norwich City, the club with which he ...

, Benstead began the 1986–87 season as Norwich City's first-choice goalkeeper, but a shoulder injury suffered in November 1986 effectively ended his

Carrow Road Carrow Road is an association football stadium located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship side Norwich City. The stadium is located toward the east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

career. After loan spells with

and

, he joined the latter club on a permanent contract for a £35,000 fee in 1988.

Sheffield United and Brentford (1988–1993)

Benstead was a regular for Sheffield United during the 1988–89 season, at the end of which the club celebrated promotion to the Second Division after a second-place finish. He lost his place to Simon Tracey during the 1989–90 season and made just one further appearance for the club before moving to Third Division

in July 1990 for a £60,000 fee, with a further £10,000 to be paid after 25 appearances. Benstead had a successful first season with Brentford, missing just one match, keeping 23

clean sheets In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

and winning the club's Supporters' and Players'

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

awards. Despite suffering from hamstring and knee injuries, things were even better during the 1991–92 season, when the Bees finished the campaign as champions of the Third Division. Despite missing four months of the

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

First Division season with knee ligament damage and a hamstring injury, Benstead made 32 appearances during the campaign, which ended with relegation straight back to the Second Division. Benstead rejected the new contract offered to him during the 1993 off-season and was made available for loan. He failed to see eye-to-eye with new manager David Webb and made just seven early- 1993–94 season appearances before joining

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main ...

high-flyers

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts ...

on loan in October 1993. The deal was made permanent in December 1993, with Benstead signing on a free transfer. Benstead made 144 appearances during just over three seasons at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

Non-League football and return to Brentford (1993–1997)

Benstead's 18 months with Conference club Kettering ended with second and sixth-place finishes respectively and he dropped down to the Southern League Premier Division to move to

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

rivals

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town. The cl ...

in June 1995. He had an excellent 1995–96 season, helping the club to the Premier Division title and promotion to the Conference. Benstead made just seven appearances during the 1996–97 season and had a non-playing spell with Kingstonian, before making a surprise return to Brentford in July 1997, as player/goalkeeping coach on a week-to-week contract. Minor surgery required by first-choice goalkeeper

Kevin Dearden Kevin Charles Dearden (born 8 March 1970) is an English former professional footballer who made more than 400 appearances in the Football League, playing as a goalkeeper for many clubs. He later became a coach, and is currently goalkeeper coac ...

meant that Benstead made his second debut for the club in a 3–1 defeat to

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

on 11 October 1997. He made one further appearance in an FA Cup first round replay versus former club Colchester United on 25 November, before being released by new manager

Micky Adams Michael Richard Adams (born 8 November 1961) is an English former professional association football, footballer and football manager. As a player, he was a Full-back (football), full back, and made a total of 438 league appearances in a ninete ...

in January 1998.

Return to non-League football (1997–2004)

Benstead joined

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Premier Division club

Basingstoke Town Basingstoke Town Football Club is a football club based in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Winklebury Sports Complex. Their motto, 'Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum', means 'Never a step backward ...

in 1998 and wound down his career with spells at

Chertsey Town Chertsey Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chertsey, Surrey, England. The club currently competes in the Isthmian League South Central Division. The home of Football The club was established as Chertsey Football ...

Farnborough Town Farnborough Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Founded in 1967 as Farnborough Town, they are currently members of the , the sixth tier of English football and play at Cherrywood Road. H ...

and

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English f ...

International career

Benstead was capped by

England youth England national under-18 football team, also known as England under-18s or England U18(s), represents England in association football at under-18 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England ...

and won three caps for England Semi-Pro in 1994.

Coaching career

Benstead has worked as a goalkeeping coach at Brentford, Basingstoke Town, Chertsey Town, Farnborough Town, Stevenage Borough and

. He served as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

of Farnborough Town for one match and in 2004 was assistant to manager

Graham Westley Graham Neil Westley (born 4 March 1968) is an English former professional footballer and manager who was most recently manager of League Two club Stevenage. Westley's playing career, spent mostly as a striker in non-League football, was curta ...

at Stevenage Borough.

Personal life

Benstead works as a

self-employed Self-employment is the state of working for oneself rather than an employer. Tax authorities will generally view a person as self-employed if the person chooses to be recognised as such or if the person is generating income for which a tax return ...

painter and decorator A house painter and decorator is a tradesman responsible for the painting and decorating of buildings, and is also known as a decorator or house painter.''The Modern Painter and Decorator'' volume 1 1921 Caxton The purpose of painting is to imp ...

Career statistics

Honours

Sheffield United *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following th ...

second-place promotion: 1988–89 Brentford * Football League Third Division: 1991–92 Rushden & Diamonds * Southern League Premier Division: 1995–96 Individual * Brentford Supporters' Player of the Year: 1990–91 * Brentford Players' Player of the Year: 1990–91

References

*''Canary Citizens'' by Mark Davage, John Eastwood, Kevin Platt, published by Jarrold Publishing, (2001), *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benstead, Graham 1963 births Living people Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Basingstoke Town F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Footballers from Aldershot England men's semi-pro international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Chertsey Town F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players England men's youth international footballers Farnborough F.C. managers Stevenage F.C. non-playing staff National League (English football) players Isthmian League players National League (English football) managers Southern Football League players English Football League players English football managers Brentford F.C. non-playing staff English men's footballers