| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Graham Bentley[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1976-06-11)11 June 1976 (age 49)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England[2] | ||
| Position | Centre back[2] | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1997 | Manchester City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997–2002 | Telford United | 75 | (14) |
| 2002–2011 | Morecambe | 292 | (29) |
| Total | 367 | (43) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2011–2019 | Morecambe | ||
| 2019–2022 | AFC Fylde | ||
| 2022–2023 | Rochdale | ||
| 2023–2025 | Southport | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
James Graham Bentley (born 11 June 1976) is an English professionalfootball manager and formerplayer who played as acentre back. He was most recently the first team manager atSouthport F.C.
Bentley debuted forTelford United in 1997, playing for the Shropshire club for 5 years.
He signed forMorecambe in 2002, managed at the time byJim Harvey.[3] In 2007, Bentley captained Morecambe to a 2–1 victory overExeter City in the Conference National play off final, taking the club to the Football League for the first time in their history.
In June 2010, Bentley was appointed player-coach, having spent the previous season in a coaching role with the reserve team.
On 13 May 2011, Bentley was appointed the player-manager ofMorecambe on a two-year contract, but since then he has concentrated on the managerial role and did not play a competitive match after taking on the post. He signed a two-year contract extension with the Shrimps on 10 October 2013. A further two-year contract extension was agreed with Morecambe on 29 August 2015.Ken McKenna also agreed the same deal with the League Two club.[4] On 13 October 2017, Bentley and McKenna agreed further contract extensions until the end of the 2019–20 season.[5]
During Morecambe's 1–2 defeat to Cheltenham on 17 December 2016, Bentley was sent off from the dugout, after reacting to Alex Kenyon's dismissal. He received a £750 fine with £250 costs and a two match touchline ban[6] from the FA after a personal hearing. At the following home game, a 4–1 victory over Notts County, Morecambe fans held a 'bucket collection' and raised the £1,000.
After the departure ofPaul Tisdale fromExeter City in June 2018,[7] Bentley became thelongest serving manager in the top four tiers of English football, until his resignation in October 2019[8] to become the new manager ofAFC Fylde.[9] In March 2022, Bentley was sacked by theNational League North club, which was in fourth place, fourteen points off top spot.[10]
On 29 August 2022, Bentley was appointed manager of League Two's bottom clubRochdale on a two-year contract.[11] On 27 March 2023, Rochdale sacked him; under Bentley, the side had won just six out of 32 league games and were still bottom, 10 points from safety with eight games remaining.[12]
On 29 August 2023, exactly a year after his appointment at Rochdale, Bentley was appointed as manager ofNational League North club,Southport. At the time of his appointment Southport were at the foot of the table with only 1 point after 6 games.[13] Having overseen a turnaround in form, he was awarded the Manager of the Month award for November 2023.[14] He was sacked on 12 March 2025, the club sitting seventeenth in the league, eleven points clear from safety.[15]
Source:[16]
| Club | Season | Division | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Telford United | 1999–2000 | Conference | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 4 |
| Telford United | 2000–01 | Conference | 23 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 |
| Telford United | 2001–02 | Conference | 28 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 8 |
| Total | 75 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 14 | ||
| Morecambe | 2002–03 | Conference | 23 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3[a][b] | 0 | 29 | 5 |
| Morecambe | 2003–04 | Conference | 36 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 4 |
| Morecambe | 2004–05 | Conference Premier | 38 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2[c][a] | 0 | 41 | 5 |
| Morecambe | 2005–06 | Conference Premier | 40 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[d][e] | 1 | 45 | 5 |
| Morecambe | 2006–07 | Conference Premier | 31 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5[f][g] | 0 | 38 | 1 |
| Morecambe | 2007–08 | League Two | 43 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2[h] | 0 | 49 | 7 |
| Morecambe | 2008–09 | League Two | 45 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[h] | 0 | 50 | 3 |
| Morecambe | 2009–10 | League Two | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[a][i] | 0 | 31 | 3 |
| Morecambe | 2010–11 | League Two | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[h] | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| Total | 292 | 29 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 329 | 34 | ||
| Career total | 367 | 43 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 405 | 48 | ||
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Morecambe | 13 May 2011 | 28 October 2019 | 434 | 123 | 119 | 192 | 028.3 |
| AFC Fylde | 28 October 2019 | 4 March 2022 | 75 | 35 | 17 | 23 | 046.7 |
| Rochdale | 29 August 2022 | 27 March 2023 | 36 | 7 | 9 | 20 | 019.4 |
| Southport | 29 August 2023 | 12 March 2025 | 85 | 29 | 18 | 38 | 034.1 |
| Total | 627 | 192 | 162 | 273 | 030.6 | ||
Individual
