Paul Ian Bence (21 December 1948 – 31 March 2024) was 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 made more than 250 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 ...

playing for

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

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 ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

. He played as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Career

Bence was born in

Littlehampton Littlehampton is a town, seaside resort and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the English Channel on the eastern bank of the mouth of the River Arun. It is south south-west of London, west of Brighton and ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. He began his career as an apprentice with

, turning professional in May 1967. He had previously captained

Schools Under-15 side. His league debut (and only league appearance for Brighton) came as a substitute the following season. In June 1968 he left for

, but was only to make 14 league appearances, scoring twice, in the next two seasons at

Elm Park Elm Park is a suburban planned community in East London and part of the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is identified as a district centre in the London Plan with several streets of shops and a priority f ...

. In July 1970 Reading released the player and he joined

, where he established himself, making 268 appearances, scoring six goals and winning the club's Players' Player of the Year award in the

1972–73 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...

season. In November 1976, having lost his place at Brentford, he played five league games on loan at

. Bence left Brentford in March 1977, subsequently becoming player-coach at

Wokingham Town Wokingham Town Football Club is a association football, football club based in Wokingham, Berkshire, England. Nicknamed "the Satsumas" in reference to their orange shirts, they are currently members of the and play at Lowther Road. History Wo ...

and putting to use the coaching qualifications he had acquired while a professional player. He was later youth coach at

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 ...

and coached at Farnborough Town. In August 1984 he was appointed manager of

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

, and guided them to

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to 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 ...

in his first season in charge, but only because the two teams finishing above them failed the ground grading criteria. Wycombe were relegated the next season, though Bence had already left in January 1986 because of increasing work commitments.

Personal life and death

Bence entered the

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

industry in 1977. As of 2011, he was national sales manager for

Wadworth Brewery Wadworth is a brewery company founded in 1875 in Devizes, Wiltshire, England, best known for their 6X beer brand. History Wadworth & Co. was founded in 1875 when Henry Wadworth purchased the Northgate Brewery in Devizes. It was not long before ...

. On 31 March 2024, it was announced that Bence had died at the age of 75.

Honours

Brentford *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...

: 1971–72 Individual * Brentford Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bence, Paul 1948 births 2024 deaths Sportspeople from Littlehampton English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football fullbacks English Football League players Isthmian League players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Reading F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players English football managers Wycombe Wanderers F.C. managers Wokingham Town F.C. players