Roy Thomas Frank Bentley (17 May 1924 – 20 April 2018) was an English football player and manager. A former forward, Bentley played 367 games for Chelsea and captained the club to their first League Championship in the 1954–55 season. He also won 12 caps for the England national side.

Personal life

Bentley was born in Shirehampton, Bristol, Gloucestershire and attended Portway Boys Secondary School. He married Violet M. Upton in 1946.

Club career

Early years

Bentley served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

during the Second World War and afterwards played for both Bristol City and Bristol Rovers before signing for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional Association football, football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football league system, English football. The club was ...

in 1946. He was with the club for less than two years, but formed a key part of a forward line which also included Jackie Milburn, Len Shackleton and Charlie Wayman. He reached an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

semi-final with the club in the 1946–47 season, but they were defeated 4–0 by eventual winners Charlton Athletic.

Chelsea

In January 1948 Bentley signed for London side Chelsea for £11,000, He captained Chelsea to their first League title, in 1954–55. Having scored 150 goals in 367 appearances, Bentley was Chelsea's top goalscorer and, at the time of his death in 2018, was fifth in Chelsea's all-time goalscorers list behind Bobby Tambling,

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfiel ...

Kerry Dixon Kerry Michael Dixon (born 24 July 1961) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a forward. His club career was spent most notably at Chelsea, where he won the Second Division twice. His 193 goals for the club across all ...

and

Didier Drogba Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. He is best known for his career at ...

International career

Bentley was an

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

international for six years, playing at the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. The planned 1942 and 1946 World Cups were ...

Management

Following his retirement from playing, Bentley moved into management. He took over at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and later

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

, winning promotion to the old

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

with the latter. He returned to Reading in 1977, this time as club secretary.

Retirement and death

Bentley lived in

Chigwell Chigwell is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It is part of the urban and metropolitan area of London, and is adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London. It is on the Central line of the Londo ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

during the late 1980s before relocating to

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers Thames and Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway serve the town. Reading is east o ...

where he lived in 2014. At his death in April 2018, he was the last surviving player from England's

1950 World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. The planned 1942 and 1946 World Cups were ...

squad.

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Club

Source:

International

Managerial statistics

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Roy 1924 births 2018 deaths Footballers from Bristol English footballers England international footballers Association football forwards Bristol City F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players London XI players 1950 FIFA World Cup players English football managers Reading F.C. managers Swansea City A.F.C. managers English Football League managers Royal Navy personnel of World War II