Chris Bennion (born 30 August 1980, in Edinburgh) is a Scottish former football player. He is currently 1st team Goalkeeping coach with Bohemian Football Club.

Football career

Chris Bennion is a former professional goalkeeper, currently head goal keeping coach at league of ireland club Bohemian. He began his career with Edinburgh Celtic as a youth and later joined the youth set up at Heart of Midlothian. In 1997, he joined English side Middlesbrough but made just one first team appearance and was loaned out to Scunthorpe United during his time at the

Riverside Stadium The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place t ...

. In 2002, he signed for

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

side Shelbourne but was second choice keeper at

Tolka Park Tolka Park ( ga, Páirc na Tulchann) is an Irish football ground located in the north Dublin suburb of Drumcondra, on the northern banks of the River Tolka. It is currently the home ground of League of Ireland club Shelbourne. The stadium fo ...

. In 2004, he signed for Dundalk. He is a Scottish former schoolboys' international.

Middlesbrough

Bennion signed for Middlesbrough in 1997 and signed professional contract in 1999. However, he made just one first team appearance in September 2000 against

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

in the first leg of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

Second Round. Middlesbrough won the game 2–1 thanks to two late goals from Noel Whelan and

Mark Summerbell Mark Summerbell (born 30 October 1976) is an English football midfielder. He has played for Middlesbrough, Cork City, Bristol City, Portsmouth and Carlisle United. Summerbell was born in Durham and played county football for Chester-le-Street a ...

at the Riverside Stadium. He was fourth choice keeper at the club behind

Mark Schwarzer Mark Schwarzer (; born 6 October 1972) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He represented Australia at international level from 1993 to 2013, and was selected for both the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups ...

Mark Crossley Mark Geoffrey Crossley (born 16 June 1969) is a football coach and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a goalkeeper from 1988 until 2011 and he has previously played for numerous clubs in England's top flight, notably for Notti ...

and

Marlon Beresford Marlon Beresford (born 2 September 1969) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He formerly also worked as an accountancy tutor and sports commentator after retiring from football. He is currently working for Woking FC as a ...

. He was then loaned out to Scunthorpe United due to his lack of first team action.

Scunthorpe United

In September 2001, Bennion was loaned out to Scunthorpe United as cover for Tommy Evans. He did not make one single appearance for the Third Division side, however in March 2002 his loan deal from Middlesbrough was made permanent as he signed on a free transfer. Just one month later in April 2002, he left

Glanford Park Glanford Park is a football stadium in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, and is the current home of team Scunthorpe United. Opened in 1988 at a construction cost of £2.5 million, it was the first new purpose-built Football League st ...

for League of Ireland side Shelbourne on a free transfer.

Shelbourne

In April 2002, Bennion joined Shelbourne in seek of more first team chances. For the remainder of the 2001–02 season, Bennion was deputy to Welsh keeper Steve Williams. He made just 10 league appearances for

Pat Fenlon Patrick Fenlon (born 15 March 1969) is an Irish football coach and former player. Fenlon played as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. As a manager he won five League of Ireland titles ...

's side and won a

medal in 2003. He was second choice keeper at Tolka Park and moved to Dundalk in 2004 as a result of little first team action.

Dundalk

Bennion signed for

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. Th ...

side Dundalk in March 2004. He chose the Lillywhites ahead of Premier Division side

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

because he wanted regular first team action. He made his debut against

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

in March 2004 at

Oriel Park Oriel Park is a UEFA Category 2 football stadium located on the Carrickmacross Road in Dundalk, Ireland. The stadium is the home ground of Dundalk Football Club and is owned and operated by the club on land that has been leased from the Casey F ...

. Dundalk won the match 1–0 thanks to a Stephen Geoghegan goal. He played nearly every game during the 2004 season which was a poor season for the club. He was a key member of the Dundalk side who won the League of Ireland First Division in 2008. After spending six seasons with Dundalk and making over 170 appearances for the club Chris left Dundalk after being dislodged as first team keeper by his fellow country man

Peter Cherrie Peter Cherrie (born 1 October 1983) is a Scottish football goalkeeper who plays for Irish side Dundalk . Career Cherrie started his career with Airdrie United. He played one game for them before moving to Ayr United. Cherrie signed for Cly ...

Athlone Town

On 7 December he joined

side Athlone Town as captain in the pursuit of first team football.

St Patrick's Athletic

On 13 July 2010 Bennion signed for

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland f ...

side St. Patrick's Athletic. His contract with

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club () is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they pl ...

was cancelled by mutual consent after he informed the club that terms were agreed between himself and Pete Mahon of St Patricks Athletic. Bennion made his St.Pat's début in a 1–0 loss to Dublin rivals Bohemians at Richmond Park, this turned out to be his only appearance of the 2010 season.

Monaghan United

On 20 December 2011 Bennion signed for

Monaghan United Monaghan United F.C. ( ga, Cumann Peile Mhuineacháin Aontaithe) is an Irish association football club based in Monaghan currently playing in the Ulster Senior League. The club joined the League of Ireland in 1983 and subsequently went on to pl ...

as a replacement for Gabriel Sava. On 2 March he played his first competitive game in a nil all draw against his former club Dundalk. On 18 June 2012, the club announced their withdrawal from the

and all of their playing staff were released by the club.

Return to Shelbourne

On 6 July Bennion rejoined Dublin club Shelbourne.Bennion signs for Shelbourne
/ref>

Longford Town

In December 2012 he joined

side

. Bennion's competitive league debut came in a 5–0 win against Salthill Devon at the Drom in County Galway. The Scot conceded his first competitive goal a week later at home to Waterford United but his side recovered to a 2–1 win after Paudie Quinn's stunning opener for the visitors who were Waterford United. He was a member of the Longford squad which lifted the

2014 League of Ireland First Division The 2014 League of Ireland First Division season was the 30th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by eight teams and Longford Town won the title. Galway were also promoted. Teams Stadia and location ...

title. Bennion decided to retire at the end off the season and take up a role in coaching . His final appearance saw him save a penalty in Longford's 2-0 victory away to

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was te ...

on 12 October 2014.

Honours

Shelbourne *

(1):

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Dundalk *

(1):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Longford Town *

(1):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

St Patrick's Athletic * Leinster Senior Cup (1):

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennion, Chris Scottish footballers 1980 births Living people Association football goalkeepers Middlesbrough F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Athlone Town A.F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Monaghan United F.C. players Longford Town F.C. players League of Ireland players Footballers from Edinburgh Expatriate association footballers in the Republic of Ireland