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 manager of EFL League Two club Rochdale.
Personal information | |||
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Full name | James Graham Bentley[1] | ||
Date of birth | (1976-06-11) 11 June 1976 (age 46)[2] | ||
Place of birth | Liverpool, England[2] | ||
Position(s) | Centre back[2] | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Rochdale (manager) | ||
Youth career | |||
0000–1997 | Manchester City | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1997–2002 | Telford United | ||
2002–2011 | Morecambe | 298 | (29) |
Total | 298 | (29) | |
Teams managed | |||
2011–2019 | Morecambe | ||
2019–2022 | AFC Fylde | ||
2022– | Rochdale | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Bentley, who debuted for Telford United in 1997, moved to Morecambe in 2002.[3] He played as a defender.
In June 2010, Bentley was appointed player-coach, having spent the previous season in a coaching role with the reserve team.
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 has not played a competitive match since taking on that 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] in order to become the new manager of AFC Fylde.[9] Bentley was sacked by the National League North club sitting in fourth place, fourteen points off of top spot.[10]
On 29 August 2022, Bentley was appointed manager of League Two's bottom club Rochdale on a two-year contract.[11]
Team | From | To | Record | ||||
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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 | Present | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 031.3 |
Total | 525 | 163 | 140 | 222 | 031.0 |
Individual
Rochdale A.F.C. – current squad | |
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Current EFL League Two managers | |
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Managerial positions | |||||||||
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