Geoffrey Bent (27 September 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English

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 ...

who played as a full-back. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who lost their lives in the Munich air disaster.

Personal life

Bent was born at

Irlams o' th' Height Irlams o' th' Height is a suburb of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is located on top of the Irwell Valley, on higher ground than Pendleton, hence the reference to ''The Height''. The first part of the name derives from the Irlam fami ...

in Pendleton,

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

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 Lancash ...

in September 1932. He was the only child of miner Clifford Bent and his wife Clara. He married Marion Mallandaine at

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

in 1953 and their daughter Karen was born in September 1957. He died in the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958 and was buried in St. John's Churchyard in

. He was survived by both of his parents as well as his wife and daughter, who was five months old at the time of his death.

Career

He joined United as an apprentice on leaving school in the summer of 1948. After several seasons playing in the reserve and youth sides, he became a professional in 1951 and made his first team debut in the 1954-55 season, but never held a regular place in the first team. Over a period of three seasons, he made 12 league appearances as full-back cover for

Roger Byrne Roger William Byrne (8 September 1929
England Football Online. Retrieved 6 June 20 ...

on the left and

Bill Foulkes William Anthony Foulkes ( or ; 5 January 1932 – 25 November 2013) was an English footballer who played for Manchester United in the Busby Babes teams of the 1950s, and also in the 1960s. His favoured position was centre-half. For Manchester ...

on the right. He did not play any first-team games during the 1957–58 season, having been on the sidelines for several months with a broken foot, and only travelled to Belgrade as cover for Roger Byrne – who had recently been injured and whose fitness was under doubt. Geoff Bent headstone

Legacy

His widow Marion made a number of television contributions in the years afterwards, including a 1998 ITV documentary, ''The Busby Babes: End of a Dream'', which marked the 40th anniversary of the tragedy, as well as the 1975

John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including '' Nat ...

book ''The Team That Wouldn't Die'', which included chapters documenting the stories of each of the eight players who died and included interviews with their surviving family members.

Career statistics

References

External links