Mason Bennett
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Mason Kane Bennett (born 15 July 1996) is an English 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 forward for club Burton Albion. He has also represented England Youth at U-16 and U-17 Level. He holds the record as Derby County's youngest-ever player, when he made his full debut with a start in a defeat at
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
on 22 October 2011 at the age of 15 years and 99 days old. He beat the previous record, set by Lee Holmes 9 years earlier, by 169 days. Bennett also holds the record of Derby County's youngest goal scorer with a goal against Tranmere Rovers in the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
on 5 January 2013 at the age of 16 years and 174 days old.


Career

Born in
Langwith, Derbyshire Langwith is a close group of six villages crossing the Derbyshire-Nottinghamshire border, on the River Poulter about from Warsop, and about from Bolsover on the A632 road, south of Whaley Thorns. The population is listed under the Derbyshire ...
and attending Shirebrook Academy, Bennett came through the Derby County Academy at Moor Farm and showed "huge potential" at an early age, playing for the club's Under-16's side at just 14 years old and was tied to the club on a five-year contract. When discussing the club's youth policy in September 2011, Derby academy manager Darren Wassall said of Bennett: "He has a great attitude, lots of promise and lots of ability. He is a centre forward who scores goals but he has other parts to his game as well. He works very hard, he lives for football and he is from a lovely family. We have high hopes for him, as we have for many other players." Such was Bennett's ability that he was moved to the U-18 side in the 2011–12 season, and garnered much attention for his performance in a 6–1 win away to Middlesbrough U-18s, where he scored twice and set-up two goals. He also made sparing appearances at reserve level, making his debut for the reserve team aged 14 against
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...
reserves on 26 October 2010. and making a substitute appearance for the reserve side in a victory at Burton Albion. Bennett's progress was such that he was named in the first team squad for the first time in the League Cup game against Shrewsbury Town on 9 August 2011, under a month after his 15th birthday. However, he remained an unused substitute as Derby lost 3–2. He was considered for a role in a mid-week match away to
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
but, as Derby boss Nigel Clough later revealed "We would only get back from Reading at about 2am on Wednesday and he (had) school that morning!" His potential and reputation at this point was already at a level where scouts from
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 ...
,
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 ...
and
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
were watching his progress. He eventually made his full debut in a 2–0 defeat at
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
to become Derby's youngest ever first team player. In the event of the match, Bennett played for 78 minutes and hit the bar in the second half. If the ball had gone in he would have set the record as the youngest scorer in
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
history. Clough described the performance as "a very mature debut." Bennett played nine times during the season and won the Academy Player of the Year award. Bennett mainly featured for the under-21 side at the start of the 2012–13 season sporadic substitute appearances, it was in one these appearances where Bennett scored his first goal for the first team, in a 5–0 win at home to Tranmere Rovers in the first half of the FA Cup on 5 January 2013, Bennett scored the fifth goal on 87 minutes, 3 minutes after he was introduced into the action. This goal also set the record for the youngest goal scorer in Derby County's history at the age of 16 years and 174 days, beating a record set by Lee Holmes in 2003. Bennett turned 17 in pre-season ahead of the 2013–14 season, where he is expected to continue to feature for the under-21 side as well as substitute appearances for the first team, with a potential loan move being considered. Bennett however remained at the club and he scored his first league goal in Derby's 5–1 win at
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 ...
on 14 September. He has since made sporadic appearances under new Rams boss
Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English football coach and former player who is currently the manager of the Jamaica national team. McClaren began his coaching career with Oxford United, before joining Derby County in 1995. In 1999 ...
including an appearance in the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
Third Round on 5 January 2014 tie against Chelsea at iPro Stadium, in which Bennett impressed many fans with his pace and willingness to run at experienced full-back and England centurion Ashley Cole. On 13 March 2014, Bennett joined League Two side Chesterfield on a month's loan. On 9 April 2014 he was recalled back to Derby. After returning to Derby County on 9 April, Bennett was left out of the squad that faced
Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...
in the
2014 Football League Championship play-off final The 2014 Football League Championship play-off final was an association football match which was played on 24 May 2014 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Derby County F.C., Derby County and Queens Park Rangers F.C., Queens Park Rangers. The m ...
but later signed a new four-year deal on 29 July to secure his future at the club. On 12 August 2014 Bennett joined Bradford City on loan until January. Bennett scored his first goal for the club seven days later, in a 3–1 win away to
Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...
. Bennett joined Burton Albion on loan in January 2016. On 28 August 2020, Bennett completed a permanent deal to
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 ...
, signing for an undisclosed fee having spent part of the previous season on loan at the London club. He subsequently joined Burton Albion. On 13 May 2025 Burton said the player would leave in June when his contract expired.


Personal life

Bennett was arrested alongside Derby teammate Tom Lawrence in September 2019 on suspicion of drink-driving. Club captain Richard Keogh was injured in the crash, and ruled out for the rest of the 2019–20 season. Derby manager Phillip Cocu said that Keogh felt responsible for the situation, and after Lawrence and Bennett both returned to Derby's team, Cocu said they were "not off the hook". Lawrence and Bennett were then both fined 6 weeks' wages by Derby, and ordered to serve 80 hours of community service and rehabilitation. On 15 October 2019 Lawrence and Bennett pleaded guilty to drink driving at Derby Magistrates Court.


International career

Bennett represented England at U-16 and U-17 level whilst still only 15, and scored on his debut for the England U-17 side in the Nordic Under-17 Tournament in Iceland in 2011 in a 1–1 draw against Norway U17 in the Group Stages. He grabbed the headlines with his performance in England U-16's 3–1 victory over Northern Ireland U-16's
Victory Shield The Victory Shield is an annual football (soccer), football tournament competed for by the under-16 teams of Scotland national under-16 football team, Scotland, Republic of Ireland national under-16 football team, Republic of Ireland, Northern Irel ...
, in which he set up England's opener and then scored two goals in a three-minute second-half spell. He scored another goal in a 4–2 win against Scotland U-16's as England won the Victory Shield. On 17 January 2012, Bennett was called up to the England U-17 squad for the Algarve Tournament in February 2012, joined by his teammate Will Hughes. Bennett appeared in all 3 games, as England won the 3 game tournament with 7 points. Bennett was also called up the 2012 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship elite round in March 2012, however England failed to qualify for the main tournament, finishing 3rd in their group on 4 points, with their exit confirmed in a 4–0 loss to Spain U17. In August 2012, Bennett was called up to the England U-17 squad for the St George's Park International Tournament, which was played from August–September 2012. Bennett scored the opening goal in Englands 3–2 loss against Italy U-17's as England finished the tournament in third place out of four teams.


Career statistics


Honours

Chesterfield *
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
runner-up: 2013–14 England U16 *
Victory Shield The Victory Shield is an annual football (soccer), football tournament competed for by the under-16 teams of Scotland national under-16 football team, Scotland, Republic of Ireland national under-16 football team, Republic of Ireland, Northern Irel ...
: 2011 Individual * Derby County Academy Player of the Year: 2010, 2012


References


External links

*
Mason Bennett profile
at dcfc.co.uk
Mason Bennett profile
at TheFA.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Mason 1996 births Living people Footballers from Shirebrook English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Derby County F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Notts County F.C. players English Football League players England men's youth international footballers British sportspeople convicted of crimes 21st-century English sportsmen