Michael Richard Bennett (born 27 August 1969) 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 played as a winger. During his career, he made over 150 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 ...

. Since his retirement from playing, Bennett has become involved with helping footballers dealing with depression and is currently the head of player welfare at the

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sports trade union, with approximately 5,000 current members each seaso ...

Career

Bennett had represented England at youth level, including being included in an England under-20 tour of Brazil, but his career was disrupted by a serious knee injury sustained in a match against

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 1989 while playing for

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

. He was originally told that he would be out for six weeks but was kept out of the game for nine months when it was revealed he had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and crushed the cartilage in his knee. Bennett has admitted that, although he returned to league football, he never recovered from the injury, largely due to the mental stress it caused and retired from football at the age of 29. Bennett set up an organization called Unique Sports Counselling to help footballers deal with

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

issues.

Honours

Canvey Island *

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 ...

: 2000–01

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Mickey 1969 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Southwark People from Camberwell English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Charlton Athletic F.C. players Wimbledon F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Cambridge City F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Canvey Island F.C. players English Football League players