Ben James Greenhalgh (born 16 April 1992) is an English footballer and golfer who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or striker for

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

where he is also assistant manager. He is noted for winning the football reality show ''

Football's Next Star ''Football's Next Star'' is a British reality competition television series broadcast on Sky1 in early 2010. The show aimed to find a young football player who could be the "next big thing" and reward them with a professional contract at Int ...

'', where he won a contract at Italian giants

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

Career

''Football's Next Star''

Greenhalgh, from

Orpington Orpington is a town and area in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Ma ...

, who played for the

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football. History Welling United Foot ...

youth team, was featured in the

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

show ''

'' and impressed judges in the trial game after laying on a perfect cross for Hicham Abdellah to head home. At the end of the opening episode, the judges presented the

shirt to ten players who would travel to Italy to compete for their dream of a professional contract in later episodes. After 20,000 entries to the show and eight episodes, Greenhalgh was given the shirt and revealed as the winner of ''Football's Next Star'' 2010, receiving a professional six-month contract with Inter Milan.

Back in the United Kingdom

After his six-month professional contract at Inter Milan came to an end, Greenhalgh was offered another year from the Italian giants which included a four-month loan spell to

Calcio Como Como 1907, commonly referred to as Como, is an Italian football club based in Como, Lombardy, Italy. The club currently plays in Serie B, the second tier of Italian football, following promotion from the 2020–21 Serie C season. The club was fo ...

, where he scored eight goals from 12 games. Despite never playing a senior game during his time with Inter Milan, Greenhalgh was presented with a Champions League Winners medal after being part of the travelling squad for the

2010 UEFA Champions League Final The 2010 UEFA Champions League Final was an association football match played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid, on Saturday, 22 May 2010, to determine the winners of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League. It was the first Cha ...

. After his contract was up, he returned to the UK and spent time at

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

, as well as a spell at

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

, where he was advised to play first team football in the Conference to gain experience in the English game. He signed for

non-League Non-League football describes 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 specifically used to de ...

club

in December, before later joining

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1946 from ...

and

Maidstone United Maidstone United Football Club is a professional football club based in Maidstone, Kent, England. The team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league system. The current club filled the void left by the ol ...

. In June 2013 he transferred to Scottish club

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

. This was due to happen in February 2013, however international clearance stopped Greenhalgh from leaving England until the 2013–14 season. Having played only six first-team games for Inverness, Greenhalgh was loaned to

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was e ...

club

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; gd, Featha Thaigh nan Clach) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in ...

for the final six games of the season. In June 2014 it was reported that Inverness had opted not to offer Greenhalgh a further contract, with manager John Hughes stating that he could not guarantee Greenhalgh first-team football. He currently coaches at football training camps, run by Skills Academy Director Mike Delaney It was announced on 22 June 2015, that Greenhalgh had signed for

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side

Concord Rangers Concord Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Canvey Island in Essex, England. The club currently compete in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, and play their home matches at Thames Road ...

, returning to a club where he had made a big impact during the run-in of the 2012–13 season, winning both the

Isthmian League Cup The Alan Turvey Trophy, formerly the Isthmian League Cup is a football knock-out cup competition organised by the Isthmian League in England. History Isthmian League Chairman and President Alan Turvey was among the FA's "150 Grassroots Heroes" ...

, and the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Premier Division play-offs. On 26 May 2016, it was announced that Greenhalgh had signed for

again. He was released by Maidstone a year later in May 2017. He was immediately signed by National League South side Hemel Hempstead Town, who had Greenhalgh on loan towards the back end of the 2016–17 season. On 24 May 2018, it was announced that Greenhalgh had signed for

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

. On 8 November 2019, it was announced that Greenhalgh had signed for

Tonbridge Angels Tonbridge Angels Football Club is a professional football club based in Tonbridge, Kent, England. The club was founded as Tonbridge Football Club in 1947 and became known as "The Angels" in 1949 when they started playing at the Angel Ground. S ...

on an initial month's loan. His loan was then extended until 4 January 2020. On 7 January 2020, it was announced that Greenhalgh had left Dartford by mutual consent. The following day, Greenhalgh signed permanently for Tonbridge Angels. On 6 April 2021, Greenhalgh signed for

for the 2021-22 season. Greenhalgh was appointed captain ahead of the 2022–23 season. In December 2022, the sacking of

Andy Drury Andrew Mark Drury (born 28 November 1983) is an English footballer and football manager, who currently plays for Isthmian League South East Division club Chatham Town. He started his career in non-League football for Sittingbourne in 2001, mo ...

saw Greenhalgh appointed joint-caretaker manager with fellow player Reece Prestedge. On 31 January 2023, Prestedge was appointed manager on a permanent basis with Greenhalgh as his assistant manager.

Personal life

As of October 2020, Greenhalgh is currently academy manager at

. In 2015 he became a professional golfer and joined the

PGA PGA is an acronym or initialism that may stand for: Aviation * IATA code for Page Municipal Airport, Coconino County, Arizona * ICAO designator for Portugália, regional airline based in Lisbon, Portugal * Abbreviation for Prince George Airport ...

circuit, playing in one-day golf tournaments while continuing to play semi-professional football. In 2022 Ben was appointed coach for the year 6 football team at Crofton Junior School which he has taken them to the final of Bromley schools cup 2022

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

;Welling United *

Kent Senior Cup The Kent Senior Cup is an English football competition played between senior clubs in the county of Kent. It is administered by the Kent County Football Association. History The Kent Badge preceded the Kent Senior Cup, and was won in its three- ...

: 2008-09 ;Inter Milan * Champions League: 2009-10 ;Brighton & Hove Albion *

Sussex Senior Cup The Sussex Senior Cup is an annual association football knock-out cup competition for men's football clubs in the English county of Sussex and is the county senior cup of the Sussex FA. Its official name is the Sussex Senior Challenge Cup. ...

: 2011-12 ;Concord Rangers *

: 2012-13 ;Concord Rangers * Isthmian League Play-off Final: 2012-13 ;Maidstone United *

: 2014-15 ;Concord Rangers *

Essex Senior Cup The Essex Senior Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knock-out system football competition that has been running since 1884, and is the most prestigious cup competition in the county of Essex. The competition is run mainly for Non-League foot ...

: 2015-16 ;Concord Rangers *

Team-of-the-Season: 2015-16

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenhalgh, Ben 1992 births Living people Footballers from Orpington English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Welling United F.C. players Inter Milan players Como 1907 players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. players Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. players Stenhousemuir F.C. players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Scottish Professional Football League players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Concord Rangers F.C. players Dartford F.C. players Tonbridge Angels F.C. players Margate F.C. players Margate F.C. managers Isthmian League managers