Marcus Nathan Bent (born 19 May 1978) is a retired 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 ...
. A former
England under-21 international, the
journeyman
A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...
striker played 573 games and scored 113 goals for fourteen different clubs. His numerous transfer fees totalled over £10 million.
He began his career at
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 1995, before he signed with
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
in 1998, where he made his
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 ...
debut. The next year he joined
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 ...
via
Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
. In 2000, he transferred to
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
, before he moved on to
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
in 2001. He spent 2003–04 on loan at
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
, before he transferred to
Everton in 2004.
Two years later he was sold on to
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
. He spent the 2007–08 season on loan at
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
, before he moved on to
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 ...
in 2008. He spent three years with Birmingham, during which he spent time on loan at
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
,
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 ...
,
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
, 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 ...
. After leaving the club he spent six months in Indonesia with
Mitra Kukar. After five years out of the game, during which time he faced legal issues, he then had brief spells in non-league football with
Wick
Wick most often refers to:
* Capillary action ("wicking")
** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp
** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts
Wick or WICK may also refer to:
Places and placenames ...
and
Cornard United.
Club career
Brentford
Bent graduated through the
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 ...
youth ranks, usually playing as a forward. He broke into the first team at
Griffin Park in
1995–96 under manager
David Webb, helping ''the Bees'' to a 15th-place finish in the
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 ...
. Bent was almost ever-present in a successful season that saw Brentford reach the play-offs in
1996–97 with a fourth-place finish. He played at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
in the
play-off Final defeat to
Crewe Alexandra
Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...
, and was substituted after 70 minutes for
Scott Canham
Scott Walter Canham (born 11 November 1974) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League as a midfielder for Torquay United, Brentford and Leyton Orient. He went on to play for several years in non-League foot ...
. Bent then scored five goals in 29 games in
1997–98, as ''the Bees'' struggled in vain to avoid relegation under
Eddie May
Edwin Charles May (19 May 1943 – 14 April 2012) was an English football player and manager. May was born in Epping, and played for Dagenham, Southend United, Wrexham and Swansea City.
The burly, affable May loomed large in the modern hist ...
and then his replacement
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 ...
.
Crystal Palace
Though not a prolific striker for Brentford, Bent's potential was spotted by
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
manager
Steve Coppell, who brought Bent to
Selhurst Park
Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international footba ...
for £300,000 on 8 January 1998.
''The Eagles'' were relegated out of the
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 ...
in last place in
1997–98, though Bent had shown his ability with five goals in 16 games, including strikes at
Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to:
* Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England
** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066
* Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge
* Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...
and
Anfield
Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...
. However, he remained goalless in 15 appearances in
1998–99, as Palace struggled under new boss
Terry Venables
Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queen ...
. With the club heading for
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
, he was sold on to
First Division rivals
Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
for £300,000 on 15 January 1999, as one of long-term manager
John Rudge
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
's last purchases.
Port Vale
Rudge was unable to make the most of his new player, as chairman
Bill Bell controversially sacked Rudge and hired
Brian Horton
Brian "Nobby" Horton (born 4 February 1949) is an English former footballer and manager. He spent 16 years as a professional player and 22 years as a manager, making 689 appearances and managing 1,098 matches. In addition to this he spent four ...
. Played out of position on the left-wing, Bent went 15 games without a goal for ''the Valiants'' in
1998–99. He played nine games in
1999–2000, scoring once against
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...
in a 3–1 win at
Vale Park
Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950.
The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...
. In October 1999, he was sold on to league rivals
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 ...
for £375,000, with Bell eager to cash in on the £75,000 profit. He later described moving from Crystal Palace to Port Vale as "my dream blown up in my face" as he struggled to adapt to life outside London, referring to the culture shock he said "Someone said 'All right, Duck', which put me on my toes. I thought, 'Why are you calling me Duck?'
Sheffield United
Bent became
the ''Blades'' top scorer in
1999–2000 with 15 league goals in 32 appearances, including a hat-trick past
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 ...
in a 6–0 thrashing at
Bramall Lane
Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United.
The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...
on 19 February. The club had struggled under
Adrian Heath
Adrian Paul Heath (born 11 January 1961) is an English football manager and former player. He currently serves as head coach of Major League Soccer club Minnesota United FC. As a player, he is best known for his six seasons at Everton, where h ...
, before finding an upturn in results after
Neil Warnock
Neil Warnock (born 1 December 1948) is an English former football manager and player. He is also a television and radio pundit. In a managerial career spanning five decades, Warnock has managed sixteen different clubs from the Premier League to ...
stepped into the hot-seat in December. He began the
2000–01 campaign in fine form, hitting a hat-trick past
Lincoln City in a 6–1 win in 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 ...
. He was reportedly targeted by former club Crystal Palace for a swap deal of
Clinton Morrison
Clinton Hubert Morrison (''né'' Chambers; born 14 May 1979) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Since his retirement from playing he works as a pundit.
Morrison began his career at local side Crystal Palace in 1998, f ...
and £1.5 million; however manager
Alan Smith denied that he had made any such offer. He was instead sold to promotion chasing
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
for £2 million in November 2000; the transfer was seen as good business for both clubs.
Blackburn Rovers
Bent scored his first goal for Rovers against bitter
East Lancashire rivals Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
in a 2–0 win at
Turf Moor
Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional football ...
on 17 December 2000. He went on to hit 11 goals in 34 appearances in
2000–01, justifying
Graeme Souness
Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, and current TV pundit.
A midfielder, Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, player-manager of Ranger ...
's fee, as the
Ewood Park
Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...
club won promotion back to the Premier League. He made ten goalless appearances in
2001–02, before he was sold on to
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
for £3 million in November 2001, which was
Town's fourth biggest transfer fee behind teammates
Matteo Sereni
Matteo Sereni (born 11 February 1975) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Career
Born in Parma, Sereni started his career at UC Sampdoria, and was loaned out to A.C. Crevalcore in 1994. He returned to Sampdoria and only m ...
,
Hermann Hreiðarsson
Hermann Hreiðarsson (born 11 July 1974) is an Icelandic former professional football player and coach. He played as a defender and spent 15 seasons in England, gaining a total of 315 appearances in the Premier League.
Hermann was relegated fr ...
, and
Finidi George
George Finidi (born 15 April 1971), known as Finidi George, is a Nigerian professional football coach and former player who is currently the head coach of Nigeria Professional Football League club Enyimba F.C. As a player, he played as a right ...
.
Ipswich Town
Despite Bent scoring nine times in 22 league starts, ''the Blues'' were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the
2001–02 season. He stayed at
Portman Road
Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly internatio ...
for the
2002–03 campaign, hitting 12 goals in 38 games, as ''the Tractor Boys'' missed out on the play-offs by one place and four points. However Ipswich entered administration, and were forced to sell talent such as
Marcus Stewart
William Marcus Paul Stewart (''né'' Tubbs; born 8 November 1972) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward from 1991 until 2011. He is currently Head of Player Development at Yeovil Town.
Stewart played over 500 gam ...
,
Titus Bramble, and
Darren Ambrose
Darren Paul Francis Ambrose (born 29 February 1984) is an English retired association football, footballer who played as a midfielder.
Ambrose began his career with Ipswich Town F.C., Ipswich Town when he joined the club's Academy at the age of ...
; a relegation battle was only avoided after manager
George Burley
George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...
was replaced by
Joe Royle
Joseph Royle (born 8 April 1949) is an English football manager and former footballer. In his playing career as a striker, he debuted for Everton at the age of 16 and went on to play for Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the ...
. Ipswich then found another striking talent,
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.
...
(no relation), and Bent joined newly promoted Premier League side
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
on loan for the
2003–04 campaign, in a move that reunited him with manager Micky Adams. Bent scored ten goals in 35 games, though the First Division beckoned for ''the Foxes'', as the
Walkers Stadium
King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations and formerly known as the Walkers Stadium) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It has been the home of Premier League club Leicester City ...
outfit finished six points behind 17th place
Everton.
Everton
Unable to afford his £17,000-per-week contract, in June 2004, Ipswich sold Bent to Everton for a fee of £450,000; ''the Toffees'' manager
David Moyes
David William Moyes ( ; born 25 April 1963) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of Premier League club West Ham United. He was previously the manager of Preston North End, Everton, Manches ...
said that "he's got athleticism, he's quick, good in the air". He became a regular starter at
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...
in the lone centre forward role (supported by
Tim Cahill
Timothy Filiga Cahill (; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "his ag ...
), but only managed seven goals in
2004–05, which were key in securing draws away to
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
and at home to
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
, as well as decisive goals against
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
and
Manchester City
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 tw ...
. Despite having helped the club to secure a place in the
Champions League, Bent became a more peripheral figure in
2005–06, having lost his first team place to
James Beattie.
Charlton Athletic
In January 2006, it was announced that Bent had signed for
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
in a deal worth £2.3 million. He scored on his debut as a substitute against Premier League champions
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
in a 1–1 draw. Bent hit only two goals in 35 games in
2006–07, 13 fewer than strike partner
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.
...
, who had signed with Charlton from Ipswich. The club had collapsed following the departure of manager
Alan Curbishley
Llewellyn Charles "Alan" Curbishley (born 8 November 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a midfielder for West Ham United, Birmingham City, Aston Villa, Charlton Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion and has worke ...
after his fifteen-year reign, and First Division football returned to
The Valley despite the best efforts of
Iain Dowie
Iain Dowie (born 9 January 1965) is a football manager, former professional footballer and sports television pundit.
He played as a striker from 1983 until 2001, notably in the Premier League for Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Ham Unit ...
,
Les Reed and
Alan Pardew.
Loan to Wigan Athletic
Bent joined
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
on ''
Transfer Deadline Day
A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer w ...
'' (31 August 2007) on a season-long loan move, one of nine summer signings by boss
Chris Hutchings
Christopher Hutchings (born 5 July 1957) is an English former footballer and manager. He played for a number of clubs including Chelsea and played more than 100 games for Brighton & Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town. He has managed in the Premie ...
. However, after a poor start to the campaign, Hutchings was replaced by
Steve Bruce
Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Br ...
. Bent scored a hat-trick, his first in the Premier League, against former club Blackburn Rovers in a 5–3 win, on 15 December;
Roque Santa Cruz
Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero (; born 16 August 1981) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Paraguayan club Club Libertad. He is the record goal scorer and has earned over 100 caps for the Paraguay national team, ...
also scored a hat-trick in the game, the first time in the Premier League that two opposing players scored hat-tricks in the same match. Despite only hitting seven goals in 32 games, he still became
''the Latics's'' top scorer in
2007–08. At the end of the season, Wigan manager
Steve Bruce
Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Br ...
chose not to make the deal permanent, feeling Bent was too similar in style to
Emile Heskey
Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey (born 11 January 1978) is an English former professional footballer who currently serves as head of football development of Leicester City Women. Playing as a striker, he made more than 500 appearances in the Foo ...
; Bent subsequently returned to cash-strapped Charlton, where he was placed on the transfer list.
Birmingham City
Bent signed a three-year deal for
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 ...
in July 2008 for a fee in excess of £1 million, after rejecting the opportunity to join
Cardiff City. He scored three goals from 16 starts and 17 substitute appearances as
Alex McLeish
Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for ...
got the club promoted to the Premier League with a second-place finish in
2008–09. He did not feature at the higher level for ''the Blues''. Instead, he became
Gordon Strachan
Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...
's first signing for
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
when he joined on a two-month loan deal on 30 October 2009, later extended to 16 January 2010. He spent the final three months of the 2009–10 season on loan at a second
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
club,
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 ...
, whom he joined in February 2010. Both clubs finished in mid-table, and Bent failed to find the net at either 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 ...
or
Loftus Road
Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers.
In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...
.
Still out of the first team plans at
St Andrew's, he again moved on loan in August 2010, as he joined
Mick McCarthy
Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional football manager, pundit, and former player. He was last in charge of EFL Championship club Cardiff City.
McCarthy began his playing career at Barnsley in 1977, and he later had ...
's Premier League side
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
until 4 January 2011. He made five appearances without scoring, before joining
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 ...
on loan until the end of the
2010–11 season, teaming up with Micky Adams at a third different club.
With the Blades in free-fall Bent made ten appearances, mainly from the bench, before returning early to Birmingham in mid-April having failed to score a goal.
Birmingham decided against taking up the option of another season, and Bent was released when his contract expired at the end of the 2010–11 season.
Mitra Kukar
Bent signed a one-year contract with
Indonesia Super League
Liga 1 ( en, League 1), also known as BRI Liga 1 for sponsorship reasons with Bank Rakyat Indonesia, is the men's top professional football division of the Indonesian football league system. Administered by the PT Liga Indonesia Baru (), Liga 1 i ...
club
Mitra Kukar on 3 November 2011. In doing so he rejected interest from clubs in England, choosing the
Far East
The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.
The ter ...
as he "didn't want to be based up north". He was released on 17 April 2012, with the club in mid-table.
Non-league football
On 13 September 2017, now aged 39, Bent signed a one-year contract with
Southern Combination League Premier Division club
Wick
Wick most often refers to:
* Capillary action ("wicking")
** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp
** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts
Wick or WICK may also refer to:
Places and placenames ...
; club chairman Rodney Lampton said he and Bent had been childhood friends. However, Bent left the club without making an appearance.
On 3 January 2020, he joined
Eastern Counties League
The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suff ...
First Division North club
Cornard United.
International career
Bent represented his England at
under-21 level in May 1998, in games against
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
and
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.
Personal life
Bent was born in
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
...
, London,
[ to parents of Jamaican origin.] Prior to signing a scholarship with Brentford in 1994, he was named Marcus Lecky. He has a younger brother, Elliott, who is ten years his junior and is also a footballer. Elliott was a youth team player at Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
, until injury saw him released in 2007. He dropped into non-league football
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 ...
and has played for Dorchester Town
Dorchester Town Football Club are a semi-professional football club, based in Dorchester, Dorset, England. They currently play in the .
The club is affiliated to the Dorset County Football Association and is a FA chartered Standard club. They ...
, 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 ...
and Hampton & Richmond Borough.
Bent had been engaged to Kelly Clark, with whom he has a daughter, but their relationship broke down and they split up. He has since been involved with model Danielle Lloyd
Danielle Lloyd (formerly O'Hara; born 16 December 1983) is an English model and television personality. A former Miss England (2004) and Miss Great Britain (2006), Lloyd first rose to prominence when she was stripped of her Miss Great Britain tit ...
and actress Gemma Atkinson
Gemma Louise Atkinson (born 16 November 1984) is an English influencer, actress, radio presenter and former glamour model. She played Lisa Hunter in ''Hollyoaks'' (2001–2005, 2022) and in three spin-off series, '' Hollyoaks: After Hours'' (20 ...
, to whom he was briefly engaged. After his playing career ended, Bent entered the oil business
The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest ...
. However he left the industry and his life went into a steep decline as he struggled with mental health problems, using drugs to self medicate.
He was charged with affray
In many legal jurisdictions related to English common law, affray is a public order offence consisting of the fighting of one or more persons in a public place to the terror (in french: à l'effroi) of ordinary people. Depending on their act ...
and possession
Possession may refer to:
Law
* Dependent territory, an area of land over which another country exercises sovereignty, but which does not have the full right of participation in that country's governance
* Drug possession, a crime
* Ownership
* ...
of a Class A drug in September 2015 after police used a taser
A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...
whilst arresting him at his home in Esher
Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole.
Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up Ar ...
, Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
. He had called 999 after believing intruders were in his house, but was tasered by police responding to the call. In February 2016 he admitted to one charge of affray and possession of cocaine; he was given a suspended 12-month prison sentence, a two-month curfew and 200 hours of compulsory unpaid work. Four months later he was fined £385 with £85 costs after being found with cocaine at Chessington World of Adventures
Chessington World of Adventures Resort is a theme park, zoo and hotel complex in Chessington, Greater London, England, around southwest of Central London. The complex opened as Chessington Zoo in 1931, with the theme park being developed along ...
. He was declared bankrupt
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...
in January 2019.
Career statistics
Honours
Blackburn Rovers
*Football League First Division
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
second-place promotion: 2000–01
Birmingham City
*Football League 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 En ...
second-place promotion: 2008–09
Individual
*Premier League Player of the Month
The Premier League Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League player each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to 10 ...
: January 2002
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bent, Marcus
1978 births
Living people
English people of Jamaican descent
Footballers from Hammersmith
Black British sportspeople
English footballers
Association football forwards
Brentford F.C. players
Crystal Palace F.C. players
Port Vale F.C. players
Sheffield United F.C. players
Blackburn Rovers F.C. players
Ipswich Town F.C. players
Leicester City F.C. players
Everton F.C. players
Charlton Athletic F.C. players
Wigan Athletic F.C. players
Birmingham City F.C. players
Middlesbrough F.C. players
Queens Park Rangers F.C. players
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players
Mitra Kukar players
Wick F.C. players
Cornard United F.C. players
English Football League players
Premier League players
Liga 1 (Indonesia) players
Eastern Counties Football League players
England under-21 international footballers
English expatriate footballers
English expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia
Expatriate footballers in Indonesia