Ian Robert Bennyworth (born 15 January 1962) is an English former 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 made 173 appearances 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 ...

. A

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, he played league football 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 ...

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

and

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

. He also played

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

for clubs including

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

(in two separate spells),

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Town Football Club is an English football club that was based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. It withdrew from Southern League Premier Division Central on 18 January 2024 due to financial problems and faces liquidation. In 1889, Nuneaton S ...

and

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club is known as 'the ...

, and was a member of the Scarborough team that won the

1986–87 Football Conference The Football Conference season of 1986–87 (known as the GM Vauxhall Conference for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the Football Conference, the first season under this name, this league having earlier been known as the Alliance Pr ...

to become the first club automatically promoted to the Football League.

Football career

Bennyworth began his football career as an apprentice with

. He made his first-team debut as a 17-year-old in the last match of the 1979–80 season, a 1–0 defeat to Bury in the Third Division, and came on as a substitute in an

Anglo-Scottish Cup The Anglo-Scottish Cup was a tournament arranged for teams in the English and Scottish football leagues during the summer for several years during the 1970s. It was created in 1975 as a new incarnation of the Texaco Cup, with a similar format ...

match at the beginning of the following season, but those were his only competitive appearances. Select player via "Players included" dropdown menu. He moved on to

, where he played in the

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 ...

, before moving up a level to

of the

Alliance Premier League The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South. The National League ...

(which became the

Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

). He made 57 appearances at that level for Nuneaton, then, in September 1986, signed for their divisional rivals

for a fee of £1,500. Because the club had little money to spare, the fee was paid in instalments by Bennyworth himself. Playing alongside

Steve Richards Steve Richards (born 6 June 1960) is a British TV presenter and political columnist, who has written columns for the ''Guardian'', ''Independent'' and ''New Statesman'', of which he was political editor for a time. He regularly presents Radio 4 ...

and

Paul Kendall Paul Kendall is a composer, producer and visual artist, primarily known as a sound engineer, mixer, mainly through his extensive career at Mute Records and his collaborations with Alan Wilder of Recoil. Career Kendall was born in 1954. In 197 ...

, Bennyworth was a regular in Scarborough's defence as they won the division, six points clear of favourites

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

, to become the first team to benefit from the introduction of direct

promotion and relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

between Conference and League in place of the longstanding

re-election The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be a ...

system. His second appearance in

was Scarborough's first: a 2–2 draw at home to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

marred by £20,000-worth of damage to the ground, fighting on the terraces, 54 arrests, and a visiting supporter falling through the roof of a stand. The ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

'' correspondent thought him "outstanding" as Scarborough won at

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

in November. In the club's second season in the League, Bennyworth helped them reach the play-off semi-final and eliminate Second Division

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

from the League Cup. He and Scarborough went one better the following season, in what the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' dubbed "one of the most humiliating Cup defeats in helsea'shistory". Scarborough were two goals behind on the night, 3–1 down

on aggregate There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

, to Chelsea, who were then in second place in the First Division, with 24 minutes to go in the second round of the League Cup. They drew level with goals from Tommy Graham and Paul Robinson, then

Martin Russell Martin Russell is an English recording engineer, record producer, composer, and musician. He has been a core member of the music group Afro Celt Sound System since the recording of the first album '' Volume 1: Sound Magic'' in mid-1995, and has t ...

converted a

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

to complete the victory. After 129 appearances in League and Conference for Scarborough,Harman, ''Alliance to Conference'', pp. 569, 575. Bennyworth and teammate Paul Olsson signed for Fourth Division rivals

in December 1989 for £15,000 apiece. Bennyworth scored on debut in a 4–1 defeat of his previous employers. As a regular member of the starting eleven for the next two years, he contributed to Hartlepool's promotion to the Third Division, only the second time the club had been promoted in their 70-year Football League history. He made his last Hartlepool appearance in November 1991, then returned to Gainsborough for a second spell, and was later on the books of

Personal life

Bennyworth was born in

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

, which was then in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

. He began work at a local travel agency as a 19-year-old, and continued that career alongside his footballing one, even when playing in the Football League. He developed his career in the corporate travel sector, working both in England and the United States, and , was director of international sales for a fares management system.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennyworth, Ian 1962 births Living people Footballers from Kingston upon Hull English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Hull City A.F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Nuneaton Town F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players Boston United F.C. players