Hamza Bencherif (; born 9 February 1988) is a 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 lea ...

who plays as a defender or

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

club Worksop Town where he is club captain. Born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, he has 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 several clubs and represented Algeria at youth international level.

Club career

Bencherif was born in

and started his career with Guingamp before joining

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 ...

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

in August 2006. He joined League Two club Lincoln City on 2 October 2007 on a one-month

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

, which was extended for a second month. He made 12 appearances and scored 1 goal against Chesterfield. He was released by Forest at the end of the 2008–09 season and signed a one-year contract with League Two club Macclesfield Town on 6 July 2009. He became a first-team regular in the first half of the season at Moss Rose, but a broken ankle he sustained in December 2009 ended his season. Bencherif signed a one-year extension to his contract in May 2010, and scored 11 goals in 46 appearances in 2010–11. He rejected a new contract offer from Macclesfield to sign a two-year contract with League One club

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

on 23 June 2011. He was released when his contract expired in the summer of 2013. Bencherif signed a short-term contract with League Two club Plymouth Argyle in September 2013, and scored on his debut the next day against Cheltenham Town. He was released in January 2014, having made nine appearances for the club, before signing for Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 club

JS Kabylie Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (Kabyle grammar, Kabyle: Ilemẓiyen inaddalen n leqvayel; Berber languages, Tamazight: ⵉⵍⵎⵣⵢⵏ ⵉⵏⴰⴷⴰⵍⵏ ⵏ ⵍⵇⵠⴰⵢⵍ; ), known as JS Kabylie or simply JSK, is an Algerian profession ...

on a one-and-a-half-year contract. Bencherif joined Conference Premier club Lincoln City on 1 August 2014 on a one-year contract. After one season with Lincoln, he turned down a new contract to join

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

club F.C. Halifax Town. He started as F.C. Halifax beat

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

1–0 on 22 May 2016 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

in the 2016 FA Trophy Final. Bencherif signed for National League club

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

on 24 May 2016 on a one-year contract. On 17 January 2017, Bencherif joined Wrexham's National League rivals York City on loan until the end of 2016–17. On 21 May 2017, he started as York beat Macclesfield Town 3–2 at Wembley Stadium in the 2017 FA Trophy Final. Bencherif signed for York permanently on 16 June 2017 on a one-year contract. He was released at the end of the 2018–19 season. Bencherif signed for

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

club

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-west ...

on 24 June 2019. On 9 January 2021 he was appointed Club Captain. On 9 June 2022, Bencherif signed for

club Worksop Town.

International career

Bencherif made seven appearances, scoring one goal, for the Algeria national under-20 team from 2005 to 2006. A call-up to the senior team was talked about in 2009 due to his form at Macclesfield Town before a broken ankle ended his season.

Career statistics

Honours

Halifax Town *

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

: 2015–16 York City *FA Trophy: 2016–17

References

External links

Profile
at the Guiseley A.F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Bencherif, Hamza 1988 births Living people Footballers from Paris Algerian men's footballers Algeria men's youth international footballers French men's footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders En Avant Guingamp players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players JS Kabylie players FC Halifax Town players Wrexham A.F.C. players York City F.C. players Guiseley A.F.C. players English Football League players Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players National League (English football) players Algerian expatriate men's footballers French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Algerian expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in England French sportspeople of Algerian descent 21st-century French sportsmen 21st-century Algerian sportsmen