Cory Bent (born 14 May 1997) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

Early life

Bent was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and grew up in Preston,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. He began playing football at age six, and spent a year with the academy of

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

giants

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

at the under-8 level. The following year, he switched to the academy of

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

side

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

, where he played until the age of fourteen.

Club career

AFC Fylde

After a year out of the game following his release from

, Bent joined the reserve side of

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

club

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...

, where he eventually signed for the first team. On 2 December 2014, Bent made his senior debut for the club as an 89th-minute substitute against

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

. He made a total of three appearances that season, all as a substitute. In early 2015, Bent went on loan with

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

side

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

. Bent subsequently signed with NPL side

Lancaster City Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Footb ...

in August 2015 after making one appearance for Fylde in the new season. Later that season, he played for West Lancashire Premier League side Longridge Town.

Cape Breton University

In 2016, Bent moved to Canada to attend

Cape Breton University , "Diligence Will Prevail" , mottoeng = Perseverance Will Triumph , established = 1951 as Xavier Junior College 1968 as NSEIT 1974 as College Of Cape Breton 1982 as University College of Cape Breton 2005 as Cape Breton ...

, where he played varsity football for the Capers. In four seasons at CBU, Bent made 46 appearances and scored 24 goals. In 2017, he won the

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

Championship in 2017 and was named finals MVP. He was named to the U Sports All-Canadian first team in 2018 and 2019. In summer 2018, Bent played for

USL PDL USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

side

Victoria Highlanders Victoria Highlanders FC is a Canadian soccer team based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The club was founded in 2008 and currently play in the League1 British Columbia. The team had played in the American USL League Two from 2009 to 201 ...

, scoring two goals in ten appearances. The following summer, he played for defending PDL champions Calgary Foothills, scoring two goals in nine league appearances and making one additional appearance in the playoffs.

HFX Wanderers

On 11 November 2019, Bent was selected first overall by

HFX Wanderers HFX Wanderers Football Club, commonly known as HFX Wanderers, and spoken as Halifax Wanderers, is a Canadian professional soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League at the top of the Canadian soccer le ...

in the

2019 CPL–U Sports Draft The 2019 CPL–U Sports Draft was the second annual CPL–U Sports Draft. It was held on November 11, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec. Seven Canadian Premier League (CPL) teams selected 14 eligible U Sports athletes in total. Format Each CPL team will ...

. On 4 May 2020, he signed his first professional contract with Wanderers. He made his professional debut on August 15 against

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 201 ...

. In January 2022, HFX announced they were exercising Bent's contract option, keeping him at the club through 2022. Upon the expiration of his contract after the 2022 season, Bent left the club.

Personal life

Born in England, Bent is of Jamaican descent. He is the son of former footballer

Junior Bent Junior Antony Bent (born 1 March 1970) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger in the Football League for Huddersfield Town, Burnley, Bristol City, Stoke City, Shrewsbury Town and Blackpool. Bent began his care ...

, as well as a cousin of former footballer

Darren Bent Darren Ashley Bent (born 6 February 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played in the Premier League and Championship for nine clubs, and at senior international level for the England national team. ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bent, Cory 1997 births Living people Association football forwards English footballers English sportspeople of Jamaican descent Footballers from Manchester Footballers from Preston, Lancashire Black British sportspeople English expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in Canada English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Manchester United F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players AFC Fylde players Clitheroe F.C. players Lancaster City F.C. players Longridge Town F.C. players Cape Breton Capers soccer players Victoria Highlanders players Calgary Foothills FC players HFX Wanderers FC draft picks HFX Wanderers FC players National League (English football) players Northern Football League players USL League Two players Canadian Premier League players Canadian Premier League first-overall draft picks