Jim Bentley

This article is about the footballer & manager. For the rugby league player, see Jim Bentley (rugby league).

Jim Bentley

Personal information
Full name	James Graham Bentley[1]
Date of birth	(1976-06-11) 11 June 1976 (age 48)[2]
Place of birth	Liverpool, England[2]
Position(s)	Centre back[2]
Team information
Current team	Southport (Manager)
Youth career
0000–1997	Manchester City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1997–2002	Telford United	75	(14)
2002–2011	Morecambe	292	(29)
Total		367	(43)
Managerial career
2011–2019	Morecambe
2019–2022	AFC Fylde
2022–2023	Rochdale
2023–	Southport
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

James Graham Bentley (born 11 June 1976) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a centre back. He is currently the first team manager at Southport F.C.

Playing Career

Bentley debuted for Telford United in 1997, playing for the Shropshire club for 5 years.

He signed for Morecambe in 2002, managed at the time by Jimmy Harvey.^[3] In 2007, Bentley captained Morecambe to a 2-1 victory over Exeter City in the Conference National play off final, taking the club to the Football League for the first time in their history.

In June 2010, Bentley was appointed player-coach, having spent the previous season in a coaching role with the reserve team.

Managerial Career

On 13 May 2011, Bentley was appointed the player-manager of Morecambe on a two-year contract, but since then he has concentrated on the managerial role and did not play a competitive match after taking on the post. He signed a two-year contract extension with the Shrimps on 10 October 2013. A further two-year contract extension was agreed with Morecambe on 29 August 2015. Ken McKenna also agreed the same deal with the League Two club.^[4] On 13 October 2017, Bentley and McKenna agreed further contract extensions until the end of the 2019–20 season.^[5]

During Morecambe's 1–2 defeat to Cheltenham on 17 December 2016, Bentley was sent off from the dugout, after reacting to Alex Kenyon's dismissal. He received a £750 fine with £250 costs and a two match touchline ban^[6] from the FA after a personal hearing. At the following home game, a 4–1 victory over Notts County, Morecambe fans held a 'bucket collection' and raised the £1,000.

After the departure of Paul Tisdale from Exeter City in June 2018,^[7] Bentley became the longest serving manager in the top four tiers of English football, until his resignation in October 2019^[8] to become the new manager of AFC Fylde.^[9] In March 2022, Bentley was sacked by the National League North club, which was in fourth place, fourteen points off top spot.^[10]

On 29 August 2022, Bentley was appointed manager of League Two's bottom club Rochdale on a two-year contract.^[11] On 27 March 2023, Rochdale sacked him; under Bentley, the side had won just six out of 32 league games and were still bottom, 10 points from safety with eight games remaining.^[12]

On 29 August 2023, exactly a year after his appointment at Rochdale, Bentley was appointed as manager of National League North club, Southport. At the time of his appointment Southport were at the foot of the table with only 1 point after 6 games.^[13] Having overseen a turnaround in form, he was awarded the Manager of the Month award for November 2023.^[14]

On 16 November 2023, Bentley extended his contract with the Sandgrounders up to June 2026. He steered the club to safety in the National League North in his first season, guaranteeing a place in the league with a 3–0 win over Rushall Olympic on 13 April 2024.

Career statistics

Source:^[15]

Club	Season	Division	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Telford United	1999–2000	Conference	24	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	24	4
Telford United	2000–01	Conference	23	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	24	2
Telford United	2001–02	Conference	28	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	28	8
Total			75	14	1	0	0	0	0	0	76	14
Morecambe	2002–03	Conference	23	3	3	2	0	0	3[a][b]	0	29	5
Morecambe	2003–04	Conference	36	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	37	4
Morecambe	2004–05	Conference Premier	38	4	1	1	0	0	2[c][a]	0	41	5
Morecambe	2005–06	Conference Premier	40	4	1	0	0	0	4[d][e]	1	45	5
Morecambe	2006–07	Conference Premier	31	1	2	0	0	0	5[f][g]	0	38	1
Morecambe	2007–08	League Two	43	6	1	0	3	1	2[h]	0	49	7
Morecambe	2008–09	League Two	45	3	1	0	1	0	3[h]	0	50	3
Morecambe	2009–10	League Two	28	3	1	0	0	0	2[a][i]	0	31	3
Morecambe	2010–11	League Two	8	1	0	0	0	0	1[h]	0	9	1
Total			292	29	11	3	4	1	22	1	329	34
Career total			367	43	12	3	4	1	22	1	405	48

1. 1 appearance in Football League Trophy
2. 2 appearance(s) in Conference play-offs
3. 1 appearance in FA Trophy
4. 2 appearances in Football League Trophy
5. 2 appearances and 1 goal in Conference play-offs
6. 2 appearances in FA Trophy
7. 3 appearances in Conference play-offs
8. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
9. 1 appearance in League Two play-offs

Managerial statistics

As of match played 26 November 2024^[16]

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Morecambe	13 May 2011	28 October 2019	434	123	119	192	028.3
AFC Fylde	28 October 2019	4 March 2022	75	35	17	23	046.7
Rochdale	29 August 2022	27 March 2023	36	7	9	20	019.4
Southport	29 August 2023	Present	62	24	11	27	038.7
Total			604	187	155	262	031.0

Honours

Individual

• League Two Manager of the Month: August 2014,^[17] August 2016^[18]
• National League North Manager of the Month: November 2023^[14]

References

1. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/07/2011 and 31/07/2011" (PDF). The Football Association. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
2. "Jim Bentley". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
3. "Morecambe | Team | First Team | Jim Bentley". Archived from the original on 9 July 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
4. "New Shrimps Deal For Jim Bentley". League Clubs. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
5. "Jim Bentley: Morecambe manager signs new contract until 2020". BBC Sport. 13 October 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
6. Association, The Football. "Bentley charged". www.thefa.com. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
7. "Paul Tisdale leaves Exeter City after 12 years in charge of Devon club". BBC Sport. 1 June 2018.
8. "Jim Bentley: Morecambe manager resigns and is set for AFC Fylde job". BBC Sport. 28 October 2019.
9. "Fylde sack Challinor after postponement". BBC Sport.
10. "Jim Bentley Departs As AFC Fylde Manager". www.afcfylde.co.uk. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
11. "Jim Bentley Appointed As First Team Manager". www.rochdaleafc.co.uk. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
12. "Jim Bentley: Rochdale manager sacked with club bottom of League Two". BBC Sport. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
13. "We Welcome Jim Bentley As Our New Manager". southportfc.net. 29 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
14. "Curzon And Port Cause An Award Storm After Stellar Months". www.thenationalleague.org.uk. 13 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
15. "Jim Bentley | Football Stats | No Club | Age 47 | 1989-2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com.
16. "Managers: Jim Bentley". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
17. "Jim Bentley named Sky Bet League 2 Manager of the Month". EFL. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
18. "Jim Bentley named Sky Bet League Two Manager of the Month". EFL. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2022.

External links

• Jim Bentley at Soccerbase