Richard Thomas Bennett (born 23 March 1991) 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 Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for club Scarborough Athletic. Having left the

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

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

at the age of 15, he began his career in

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 ...

with Springhead,

Curzon Ashton Curzon Ashton Football Club is an association football club based in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1963 and nicknamed "The Nash", the club is affiliated to the Manchester Football Association and currently compete ...

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, south-east of Oldham and east of Manchester. The town grew ...

Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...

and Barrow. His 22 goals in 53 appearances for Barrow during the 2016–17 season earned him a move to

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

in July 2017, meaning he first entered the

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 ...

at the age of 26. He was

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 ...

ed out to

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

in January 2019 and left Carlisle for Port Vale in June 2019. He was sold to Stockport County in March 2020. He briefly joined

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 ...

on loan in April 2021 and signed with Football League newcomers Sutton United three months later. He played for Sutton on the losing side in the

2022 EFL Trophy final The 2022 EFL Trophy Final (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2022 Papa Johns Trophy) was a football match played at Wembley Stadium, London, on 3 April 2022. It decided the winners of the 2021–22 EFL Trophy, the 38th edition of the compe ...

and was sold on to Barrow in June 2022. From Barrow, he was loaned out to

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 March 2023 before joining on a permanent deal six months later. From Scunthorpe, he was loaned out to

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

in November 2023. He signed with Scarborough Athletic in June 2024.

Career

Early career

Bennett joined the

at the age of ten and left

Boundary Park Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Its name originates from the fact that it lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively. Bound ...

five years later. He went on to make his debut in the Manchester League for Springhead at the age of 16. He moved on to

the next year, before being signed to

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 ...

Division One North side

in November 2013. He scored eight goals in 22 games during the second half of the 2013–14 season. He signed with

, where he was christened "Richie" by

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Jim Gannon James Paul Gannon (born 7 September 1968) is a professional football manager and former player who most recently was manager of Hyde United. He started and finished his career as a player in Ireland but made most of his professional appearanc ...

, having previously only been known as Richard or Rich. He scored 44 goals in two seasons with the "Vics" and helped them to win the 2014

Cheshire Senior Cup The Cheshire County Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Cheshire Senior Cup, is a football knockout tournament founded in the 1879–80 season and involves teams from Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, England. I ...

. During his time playing as an amateur and semi-professional he worked in customer sales for

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

, in a call centre and also a spell as a care assistant working with

dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...

sufferers. He also became a father at the age of 17.

Barrow

On 17 May 2016, Bennett signed a two-year

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

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 Barrow. It was reported that he opted to go to

Holker Street Holker Street is a sports stadium in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. As well as being a football ground, it has also been used for motorcycle speedway.Paul Cox's "Bluebirds" finished the 2016–17 season in seventh-position, just missing out on the play-offs.

Carlisle United

On 25 July 2017, 26-year-old Bennett signed for

side

for an undisclosed fee (later reported to be £50,000) on a two-year contract. Bennett stated that "I think I'm ready for the step up... I've still got a lot to prove, a lot to learn but I'm more than willing to get my head down and do it." On 30 September, he was one of three players

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in a 1–0 defeat at

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 ...

; he was shown a straight

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...

for elbowing defender Josh Yorwerth. It took him 15 games before he scored for the "Cumbrians", but credited the support of his teammates and manager

Keith Curle Keith Curle (born 14 November 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player, who was most recently the manager of National League side Hartlepool United. He played as a centre back from 1981 to 2005, notably in the Prem ...

in helping him to break his scoring duck. His first goal for the club came on 28 October, in a 2–2 draw at Chesterfield. On 4 November, he scored a brace in a 3–2 FA Cup victory over former club Oldham. He ended the 2017–18 season with eight goals in 47 appearances. Having been limited to 13 league starts by new manager John Sheridan, Bennett signed for

for the rest of the 2018–19 season on 17 January 2019; "Shrimps" boss

Jim Bentley James Graham Bentley (born 11 June 1976) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a centre back. He was most recently the first team manager at Southport F.C. Playing career Bentley debuted for Telford Unite ...

admitted he had been monitoring the player for some years.

David Holdsworth David Gary Holdsworth (born 8 November 1968) is an English former professional footballer turned manager. As a player, he was a defender who played between 1986 and 2005 for Watford, Sheffield United, Birmingham City, Walsall, Bolton Wanderers ...

, director of football at the "Blues", said that Carlisle would monitor his progress and still retained the option of extending his contract at

Brunton Park Brunton Park is a football stadium and the home of Carlisle United. It is situated in the city of Carlisle and has a certified capacity of 17,949. The ground opened in 1909. Brunton Park's grandstand burned down in 1953 and the stadium floode ...

in the summer. He scored five goals in 16 games at the

Globe Arena Avicii Arena, originally known as the Stockholm Globe Arena and previously as the Ericsson Globe, but commonly referred to in Swedish simply as Globen (; ), is an indoor arena located in Stockholm Globe City, Johanneshov district of Stockholm ...

, however, was not retained at the end of the season by new Carlisle manager

Steven Pressley Steven John Pressley (born 11 October 1973) is a Scottish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who played as a centre back. He is currently the head coach of club Dundee F.C., Dun ...

Port Vale

On 21 June 2019, Bennett signed a two-year contract with League Two side

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

. Manager

John Askey John Colin Askey (born 4 November 1964) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Truro City. Able to play as a winger or as a striker, Askey had pace and intelligence. A former youth team play ...

said that he hoped having Bennett available to him would take pressure off star striker

Tom Pope Thomas John Pope (born 27 August 1985) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a centre forward for club Kidsgrove Athletic where he holds the role of joint player-manager. A Crewe Alexandra Academy graduate, he turned profes ...

. He scored his first goal for the "Valiants" on 17 August, three minutes after coming on for Pope in a 1–1 draw at Salford City. Three days later he was given his first start for the club and this time scored after four minutes in what ended as a 2–1 victory over

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

. He lost his first-team spot in late-November to Pope and then Mark Cullen, before scoring a brace in a 3–1 home win over

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

on 28 January in what was his second league start in two months; despite this achievement Bennett admitted that "it probably wasn't my best performance. I have a lot to improve, I know that myself". He left the club mid-way through the 2019–20 season after scoring seven goals from 30 games.

Stockport County

On 12 March 2020, Bennett signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

after being sold for an undisclosed fee, who were just outside the National League play-offs under former Northwich manager Jim Gannon. He found himself out of the team after

Simon Rusk Simon Edward Rusk (born 17 December 1981) is a professional football manager and former professional player who was recently interim head coach at Southampton. He holds a UEFA pro licence. Previously manager of Brighton & Hove Albion Under 23s ...

replaced Gannon as the manager in January 2021. On 1 April 2021, Bennett signed on loan for National League rivals

until the end of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season. Bennett made his debut the following day as a substitute in a 2–1 win against

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

. Bennett scored his first goal for Hartlepool in the following match as a substitute in a 2–2 draw at Boreham Wood. Bennett earned a start for the next match against

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 ...

and scored his second goal for Hartlepool in a 2–0 win. The following week, Bennett scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 7–2 victory at

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow, London, Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont, Harrow, Belmont and Kenton, London, Kenton, ...

. He was recalled to Stockport on 28 April. He played for Stockport against Hartlepool in the play-off semi-finals and had a late header saved in a 1–0 defeat at

Edgeley Park Edgeley Park is a association football, football stadium in Edgeley, Stockport, England. Built for Stockport RFC, a rugby league club, in 1891, by 1903 the rugby club was defunct and Stockport County F.C., Stockport County Football Club moved i ...

. Hartlepool went on to win the play-off final and Bennett had his contract with Stockport cancelled in June.

Sutton United

On 9 July 2021, Bennett signed a contract of undisclosed length with newly- promoted League Two club

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

. He scored both the "U's" goals in a 2–1 win over

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

Gander Green Lane Gander Green Lane, currently known as the VBS Community Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Sutton, South London, and is the home ground of Sutton United Football Club and Crystal Palace Women. The record attendance for ...

on 11 September, which was Sutton's first victory in the

English 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 ...

. On 23 October, he was sent off for a stamp on

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

Jake Beesley Jake Elliott Beesley (born 2 December 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Blackpool. He began his career at Chesterfield, progressing through the youth ranks and making his first-team debut in 2014. Aft ...

in a 3–2 away defeat. Matt Gray's "U's" finished the League Two campaign one place outside the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, with Bennett scoring six league goals from 22 starts and 16 substitute appearances. He also played in all eight games of Sutton's run to the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

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 ...

, and scored 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 ...

in the

shoot-out A shootout, also called a firefight, gunfight, or gun battle, is a confrontation in which parties armed with firearms exchange gunfire. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used in a non-military context or to ...

victory over

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

in the semi-finals. He played in the final, coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute for

Omar Bugiel Omar Chaaban Khaled Bugiel (, ; born 3 January 1994), known as Omar Bugiel, is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club AFC Wimbledon and the Lebanon national football team ...

with Sutton leading 2–1; however,

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

equalised deep into stoppage time and won the match 4–2 in

extra-time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

Return to Barrow

On 27 June 2022, Bennett returned to Barrow – now in League Two and managed by Pete Wild – on a two-year contract after being signed for an undisclosed fee. However, he picked up an injury during pre-season. He was sidelined until November. Bennett left Barrow by mutual consent on 31 July 2023.

Scunthorpe United

On 2 March 2023, Bennett joined National League club

on loan until the end of the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season. Scunthorpe had recently underwent a takeover and signed eleven new players. He scored one goal in nine games, his sole goal coming in a 2–0 win over

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

Glanford Park Glanford Park, currently known as The Attis Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, and is the home of team Scunthorpe United F.C., Scunthorpe United. Opened in 1988 at ...

, as Scunthorpe were relegated to the

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 ...

. On 4 September 2023, Bennett signed a contract with Scunthorpe to run until the end of the 2023–24 season. He said that he had a point to prove at the club and felt that there was different vibe to the club. He made three appearances without scoring, though did score a goal in a further appearance against

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...

which was expunged following the game's abandonment. On 7 November 2023, he joined National League North rivals

on a three-month loan deal. He scored eight goals in 28 league games for Southport in the 2023–24 campaign. Scunthorpe released him at the end of the 2023–24 season.

Scarborough Athletic

On 25 June 2024, Bennett joined National League North side Scarborough Athletic. He scored 10 goals in 45 appearances across the 2024–25 campaign.

Style of play

Standing at , Bennett is a hard-working

who is good in the air. Describing his own game, he said that "I would like to say I'm aggressive, quick - one of them annoying strikers that doesn't really give you time to think about what you are doing on the ball".

Career statistics

Honours

Northwich Victoria *

: 2013–14 Sutton United *

runner-up: 2021–22

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Richie 1991 births Living people Footballers from Oldham English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Curzon Ashton F.C. players Mossley A.F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Sutton United F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Southport F.C. players Scarborough Athletic F.C. players Manchester Football League players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players English Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen