Graham Mark Benstead (born 20 August 1963) is an English retired 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 ...
who made over 110 appearances as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
in the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
for
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
. He also played League football for
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
,
Colchester United
Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...
,
Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
and was capped by England at
youth
Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...
and
semi-pro
''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film. The film was directed by Kent Alterman in his directorial debut, written by Scot Armstrong, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin and Maura Tier ...
level. Benstead is goalkeeping coach at
Frimley Green
Frimley Green is a large village and ward of in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. It is south of the town of Frimley.
Lakeside Country Club was the national venue for the BDO int ...
.
Club career
Queens Park Rangers and Norwich City (1981–1988)
Born in
Aldershot
Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
, Hampshire, Benstead began his career as a part-time player at
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
and then entered the youth system at
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
. He signed his first professional contract in 1981. He had to wait until 8 January 1983 to make what would be his only appearance for the club, which came with a start in a 3–2
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
third round defeat to
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...
.
After a
loan
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...
spell with
Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
late in the
1984–85 season, Benstead joined the newly relegated
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
club at the end of the campaign for an initial £10,000 fee, with up to £35,000 in add-ons.
After promotion straight back to the
First Division in
1985–86 and in the face of competition from new £100,000 signing
Bryan Gunn
Bryan James Gunn (born 22 December 1963) is a Scottish former professional goalkeeper and football manager. After learning his trade with Aberdeen in the early 1980s, he spent most of his playing career at Norwich City, the club with which h ...
, Benstead began the
1986–87 season as Norwich City's first-choice goalkeeper, but a shoulder injury suffered in November 1986 effectively ended his
Carrow Road
Carrow Road is an association football stadium located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship side Norwich City. The stadium is located toward the east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum.
N ...
career.
After loan spells with
Colchester United
Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...
and
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
, he joined the latter club on a permanent contract for a £35,000 fee in 1988.
Sheffield United and Brentford (1988–1993)
Benstead was a regular for Sheffield United during the
1988–89 season, at the end of which the club celebrated promotion to the Second Division after a second-place finish. He lost his place to
Simon Tracey
Simon Peter Tracey (born 9 December 1967) is an English former professional association football, footballer who made more than 300 appearances in the English Football League, Football League playing as a goalkeeper (association football), goal ...
during the
1989–90 season and made just one further appearance for the club before moving to
Third Division Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
in July 1990 for a £60,000 fee,
with a further £10,000 to be paid after 25 appearances. Benstead had a successful first season with Brentford, missing just one match, keeping 23
clean sheets
In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball.
Shutouts are usuall ...
and winning the club's Supporters' and Players'
Player of the Year
Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award.
Association football
In association football, this award is he ...
awards.
Despite suffering from hamstring and knee injuries, things were even better during the
1991–92 season, when the Bees finished the campaign as champions of the Third Division.
Despite missing four months of the
1992–93 First Division season with knee ligament damage and a hamstring injury, Benstead made 32 appearances during the campaign,
which ended with relegation straight back to the Second Division.
Benstead rejected the new contract offered to him during the 1993 off-season and was made available for loan. He failed to see eye-to-eye with new manager
David Webb and made just seven early-
1993–94 season appearances before joining
Conference
A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic.
Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...
high-flyers
Kettering Town
Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...
on loan in October 1993. The deal was made permanent in December 1993, with Benstead signing on a
free transfer. Benstead made 144 appearances during just over three seasons at
Griffin Park
Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...
.
Non-League football and return to Brentford (1993–1997)
Benstead's 18 months with Conference club Kettering ended with second and sixth-place finishes respectively and he dropped down to the
Southern League Premier Division to move to
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
rivals
Rushden & Diamonds
Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town.
The cl ...
in June 1995.
He had an excellent
1995–96 season, helping the club to the Premier Division title and promotion to the Conference.
Benstead made just seven appearances during the
1996–97 season and had a non-playing spell with Kingstonian, before making a surprise return to Brentford in July 1997, as player/goalkeeping coach on a week-to-week contract.
Minor surgery required by first-choice goalkeeper
Kevin Dearden
Kevin Charles Dearden (born 8 March 1970) is an English former professional footballer who made more than 400 appearances in the Football League, playing as a goalkeeper for many clubs. He later became a coach, and is currently goalkeeper coac ...
meant that Benstead made his second debut for the club in a 3–1 defeat to
York City
York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...
on 11 October 1997.
He made one further appearance in an FA Cup first round replay versus former club Colchester United on 25 November,
before being released by new manager
Micky Adams
Michael Richard Adams (born 8 November 1961) is an English former professional association football, footballer and football manager. As a player, he was a Full-back (football), full back, and made a total of 438 league appearances in a ninete ...
in January 1998.
Return to non-League football (1997–2004)
Benstead joined
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 club
Basingstoke Town
Basingstoke Town Football Club is a football club based in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Winklebury Sports Complex. Their motto, 'Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum', means 'Never a step backward' ...
in 1998 and wound down his career with spells at
Chertsey Town,
Farnborough Town
Farnborough Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Founded in 1967 as Farnborough Town, they are currently members of the , the sixth tier of English football and play at Cherrywood Road.
H ...
and
Stevenage Borough
Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...
.
International career
Benstead was capped by
England youth
England national under-18 football team, also known as England under-18s or England U18(s), represents England in association football at under-18 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in Englan ...
and won three caps for
England Semi-Pro in 1994.
Coaching career
Benstead has worked as a goalkeeping coach at Brentford, Basingstoke Town, Chertsey Town, Farnborough Town, Stevenage Borough and
Frimley Green
Frimley Green is a large village and ward of in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. It is south of the town of Frimley.
Lakeside Country Club was the national venue for the BDO int ...
.
He served as
caretaker manager
In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...
of Farnborough Town for one match and in 2004 was assistant to manager
Graham Westley
Graham Neil Westley (born 4 March 1968) is an English former professional footballer and manager who was most recently manager of League Two club Stevenage.
Westley's playing career, spent mostly as a striker in non-League football, was curta ...
at Stevenage Borough.
Personal life
Benstead works as a
self-employed
Self-employment is the state of working for oneself rather than an employer. Tax authorities will generally view a person as self-employed if the person chooses to be recognised as such or if the person is generating income for which a tax return n ...
painter and decorator
A house painter and decorator is a tradesman responsible for the painting and decorating of buildings, and is also known as a decorator or house painter.''The Modern Painter and Decorator'' volume 1 1921 Caxton The purpose of painting is to imp ...
.
Career statistics
Honours
Sheffield United
*
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...
second-place promotion:
1988–89
Brentford
* Football League Third Division:
1991–92
Rushden & Diamonds
*
Southern League Premier Division:
1995–96
Individual
*
Brentford Supporters' Player of the Year:
1990–91
* Brentford Players' Player of the Year: 1990–91
References
*''Canary Citizens'' by Mark Davage, John Eastwood, Kevin Platt, published by Jarrold Publishing, (2001),
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benstead, Graham
1963 births
Living people
Queens Park Rangers F.C. players
Norwich City F.C. players
Colchester United F.C. players
Sheffield United F.C. players
Brentford F.C. players
Kettering Town F.C. players
Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players
Basingstoke Town F.C. players
Farnborough F.C. players
Footballers from Aldershot
England men's semi-pro international footballers
Men's association football goalkeepers
Chertsey Town F.C. players
Stevenage F.C. players
England men's youth international footballers
Farnborough F.C. managers
Stevenage F.C. non-playing staff
National League (English football) players
Isthmian League players
National League (English football) managers
Southern Football League players
English Football League players
English football managers
Brentford F.C. non-playing staff
English men's footballers