 Bent playing forCharlton Athletic in 2006 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Marcus Nathan Bent[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1978-05-19)19 May 1978 (age 47)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Hammersmith, London, England[3] | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[4] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Cornard United | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1995 | Brentford | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–1998 | Brentford | 70 | (8) |
| 1998–1999 | Crystal Palace | 28 | (5) |
| 1999 | Port Vale | 23 | (1) |
| 1999–2000 | Sheffield United | 48 | (20) |
| 2000–2001 | Blackburn Rovers | 37 | (8) |
| 2001–2004 | Ipswich Town | 61 | (21) |
| 2003–2004 | →Leicester City (loan) | 33 | (9) |
| 2004–2006 | Everton | 55 | (7) |
| 2006–2008 | Charlton Athletic | 46 | (4) |
| 2007–2008 | →Wigan Athletic (loan) | 31 | (7) |
| 2008–2011 | Birmingham City | 33 | (3) |
| 2009–2010 | →Middlesbrough (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2010 | →Queens Park Rangers (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | →Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2011 | →Sheffield United (loan) | 11 | (0) |
| 2011–2012 | Mitra Kukar | 11 | (4) |
| 2017–2018 | Wick | 0 | (0) |
| 2020 | Cornard United | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 501 | (97) | |
| International career | |||
| 1998 | England U21 | 2 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Marcus Nathan Bent (born 19 May 1978) is an English retired professionalfootballer. A formerEngland under-21 international, thejourneyman striker played 573 games and scored 113 goals for 14 different clubs. His numerous transfer fees totalled over £10 million.
He began his career atBrentford in 1995 before he signed withCrystal Palace in 1998, where he made hisPremier League debut. The next year, he joinedSheffield United viaPort Vale. In 2000, hetransferred toBlackburn Rovers, before he moved on toIpswich Town in 2001. He spent 2003–04 on loan atLeicester City before he transferred toEverton in 2004.
Two years later, he was sold on toCharlton Athletic. He spent the 2007–08 season on loan atWigan Athletic before he moved on toBirmingham City in 2008. He spent three years with Birmingham, during which he spent time on loan atMiddlesbrough,Queens Park Rangers,Wolverhampton Wanderers, andSheffield United. After leaving the club, he spent six months in Indonesia withMitra Kukar. After five years out of the game, during which time he faced legal issues, he then had brief spells innon-League football withWick andCornard United.
Bent graduated through theBrentfordyouth team ranks, usually playing as a forward. He broke into the first-team atGriffin Park in1995–96 undermanagerDavid Webb, helpingthe Bees to a 15th-place finish in theSecond Division. Bent was almost ever-present in a successful season that saw Brentford reach theplay-offs in1996–97 with a fourth-place finish. He played atWembley in theplay-off final defeat toCrewe Alexandra. He wassubstituted after 70 minutes forScott Canham. Bent then scored five goals in 29 games in1997–98, asthe Bees struggled in vain to avoidrelegation underEddie May and then his replacementMicky Adams.
Though not a prolific striker for Brentford, Bent's potential was spotted byCrystal Palace managerSteve Coppell, who brought Bent toSelhurst Park for £300,000 on 8 January 1998.[3]The Eagles were relegated out of thePremier League in last place in1997–98. However, Bent had shown his ability with five goals in 16 games, including strikes atStamford Bridge andAnfield. However, he remained goalless in 15 appearances in1998–99, as Palace struggled under new bossTerry Venables. With the club heading foradministration,[5] he was sold on toFirst Division rivalsPort Vale for £300,000 on 15 January 1999, as one of long-term managerJohn Rudge's last purchases.[3]
Rudge was unable to make the most of his new player, as chairmanBill Bell controversially sacked Rudge and hiredBrian Horton. Played out of position on the left wing, Bent went 15 games without a goal forthe Valiants in1998–99. He played nine games in1999–2000, scoring once againstGrimsby Town in a 3–1 win atVale Park.[6] In October 1999, he was sold on to league rivalsSheffield United 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?'[7]
Bent becametheBlades top scorer in1999–2000 with 15 league goals in 32 appearances, including ahat-trick pastWest Bromwich Albion in a 6–0 thrashing atBramall Lane on 19 February. The club had struggled underAdrian Heath before finding an upturn in results afterNeil Warnock stepped into the hot seat in December. He began the2000–01 campaign in fine form, hitting a hat-trick pastLincoln City in a 6–1 win in theLeague Cup. Former club Crystal Palace reportedly targeted him for a swap deal ofClinton Morrison and £1.5 million; however, managerAlan Smith denied that he had made any such offer.[8][9] He was instead sold topromotion-chasingBlackburn Rovers for £2 million in November 2000; thetransfer was seen as good business for both clubs.[10]
Bent scored his first goal for Rovers against bitterEast Lancashire rivalsBurnley in a 2–0 win atTurf Moor on 17 December 2000.[11] He went on to hit 11 goals in 34 appearances in2000–01, justifyingGraeme Souness's fee, as theEwood Park club won promotion back to the Premier League. He made ten goalless appearances in2001–02, before he was sold on toIpswich Town for £3 million in November 2001,[12] which wasTown's fourth biggest transfer fee behind teammatesMatteo Sereni,Hermann Hreiðarsson, andFinidi George.
"His goalscoring form has proved the £3m fee for Bent from Blackburn is money very well spent. It's no coincidence that Ipswich's change in form has followed him signing for them. His speed, pace and eye for goal have tormented some of the Premiership's best defences."
— Bent was namedPremier League Player of the Month for January 2002.[13]
Despite Bent scoring nine times in 22 league starts,[14]the Blues were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the2001–02 season. He stayed atPortman Road for the2002–03 campaign, hitting 12 goals in 38 games, asthe 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 asMarcus Stewart,Titus Bramble, andDarren Ambrose; a relegation battle was only avoided after managerGeorge Burley was replaced byJoe Royle. Ipswich then found another striking talent,Darren Bent (no relation). Bent joined newly promoted Premier League sideLeicester City on loan for the2003–04 campaign, in a move that reunited him with manager Micky Adams. Bent scored ten goals in 35 games, though the First Division beckoned forthe Foxes, as theWalkers Stadium club finished six points behind 17th placeEverton.
Unable to afford his £17,000-per-weekcontract, in June 2004, Ipswich sold Bent to Everton for a fee of £450,000;the Toffees managerDavid Moyes said that "he's got athleticism, he's quick, good in the air".[15] He became a regular starter atGoodison Park in the lone centre-forward role (supported byTim Cahill). He only managed seven goals in2004–05, which were key in securing draws away toSouthampton and at home toAston Villa, as well as decisive goals againstMiddlesbrough andManchester City. Despite having helped the club to secure a place in theChampions League, Bent became a more peripheral figure in2005–06, having lost his first-team place toJames Beattie.
In January 2006, it was announced that Bent had signed forCharlton Athletic in a deal worth £2.3 million.[16] He scored on his debut as a substitute against Premier League championsChelsea in a 1–1 draw. Bent hit only two goals in 35 games in2006–07, 13 fewer than strike partnerDarren Bent, who had signed with Charlton from Ipswich. The club had collapsed following the departure of managerAlan Curbishley after his 15-year reign, and First Division football returned toThe Valley despite the best efforts ofIain Dowie,Les Reed andAlan Pardew.
Bent joinedWigan Athletic onTransfer Deadline Day (31 August 2007) on a season-long loan move, one of nine summer signings by bossChris Hutchings.[17] However, after a poor start to the campaign, Hutchings was replaced bySteve Bruce. 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 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 becamethe Latics's top scorer in2007–08. At the end of the season, Wigan managerSteve Bruce chose not to make the deal permanent, feeling Bent was too similar in style toEmile Heskey; Bent subsequently returned to cash-strapped Charlton, where he was placed on the transfer list.[18]
Bent signed a three-year deal forBirmingham City in July 2008 for a fee in excess of £1 million,[19] after rejecting the opportunity to joinCardiff City.[20][21] He scored three goals from 16 starts and 17 substitute appearances asAlex McLeish got the club promoted to the Premier League with a second-place finish in2008–09. He did not feature at the higher level forthe Blues. Instead, he becameGordon Strachan's first signing forMiddlesbrough when he joined on a two-month loan deal on 30 October 2009,[22] later extended to 16 January 2010. He spent the final three months of the 2009–10 season on loan at a secondChampionship club,Queens Park Rangers, whom he joined in February 2010.[23] Both clubs finished in mid-table, and Bent failed to find the net at either theRiverside Stadium orLoftus Road.
He was still out of the first-team plans atSt Andrew's; he again moved on loan in August 2010, as he joinedMick McCarthy's Premier League sideWolverhampton Wanderers until 4 January 2011.[24] He made five appearances without scoring, before joiningSheffield United on loan until the end of the2010–11 season, teaming up with Micky Adams at a third different club.[25] 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.[26] 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.[27]
Bent signed a one-year contract withIndonesia Super League clubMitra Kukar on 3 November 2011.[28] In doing so he rejected interest from clubs in England, choosing theFar East as he "didn't want to be based up north".[29] He was released on 17 April 2012, with the club in mid-table.[30]
On 13 September 2017, now aged 39, Bent signed a one-year contract withSouthern Combination League Premier Division clubWick; club chairman Rodney Lampton said he and Bent had been childhood friends.[31] However, Bent left the club without making an appearance.[32] On 3 January 2020, he joinedEastern Counties League First Division North clubCornard United.[33]
Bent represented his England atunder-21 level in May 1998, in games againstSouth Africa andArgentina.[34]
Bent was born inHammersmith, London,[2] to parents of Jamaican origin.[35] Before signing a scholarship with Brentford in 1994, he was named Marcus Lecky.[36] He has a younger brother, Elliott, who is ten years his junior and is also a footballer. Elliott was a youth team player atFulham, until injury saw him released in 2007.[37] He dropped intonon-League football and has played forDorchester Town,Welling United andHampton & Richmond Borough.
Bent had been engaged to Kelly Clark, with whom he has a daughter, but their relationship ended, and they split up. He has since been involved with modelDanielle Lloyd[38] and actressGemma Atkinson, to whom he was briefly engaged.[39] After his playing career ended, Bent entered theoil business.[40] 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.[41]
He was charged withaffray andpossession of aClass A drug in September 2015 after police used ataser whilst arresting him at his home inEsher,Surrey.[42] He had called 999 after believing intruders were in his house, but was tasered by police responding to the call.[43] 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.[44] Four months later he was fined £385 with £85 costs after being found with cocaine atChessington World of Adventures.[45] He was declaredbankrupt in January 2019.[46]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Brentford | 1995–96[47] | Second Division | 12 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 17 | 4 |
| 1996–97[48] | Second Division | 34 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5[b] | 1 | 45 | 4 | |
| 1997–98[49] | Second Division | 24 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 5 | |
| Total | 70 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 91 | 13 | ||
| Crystal Palace | 1997–98[49] | Premier League | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | 16 | 5 | |
| 1998–99[50] | First Division | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ― | 15 | 0 | ||
| Total | 28 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ― | 31 | 5 | |||
| Port Vale | 1998–99[50] | First Division | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | 15 | 0 | |
| 1999–2000[51] | First Division | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ― | 9 | 1 | ||
| Total | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ― | 24 | 1 | |||
| Sheffield United | 1999–2000[51] | First Division | 32 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ― | 35 | 16 | |
| 2000–01[52] | First Division | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | ― | 21 | 8 | ||
| Total | 48 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 3 | ― | 56 | 24 | |||
| Blackburn Rovers | 2000–01[52] | First Division | 28 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ― | 34 | 11 | |
| 2001–02[53] | Premier League | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ― | 10 | 0 | ||
| Total | 37 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | ― | 44 | 11 | |||
| Ipswich Town | 2001–02[53] | Premier League | 25 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 10 |
| 2002–03[54] | First Division | 32 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[c] | 1 | 38 | 12 | |
| 2003–04[55] | First Division | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | |
| Total | 61 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 70 | 23 | ||
| Leicester City (loan) | 2003–04[55] | Premier League | 33 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 10 |
| Everton | 2004–05[56] | Premier League | 37 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ― | 42 | 7 | |
| 2005–06[57] | Premier League | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[d] | 0 | 24 | 1 | |
| Total | 55 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 66 | 8 | ||
| Charlton Athletic | 2005–06[57] | Premier League | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | 13 | 2 | |
| 2006–07[58] | Premier League | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | ― | 35 | 2 | ||
| 2007–08[59] | Championship | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ― | 4 | 1 | ||
| Total | 46 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | ― | 52 | 5 | |||
| Wigan Athletic (loan) | 2007–08[59] | Premier League | 31 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 7 |
| Birmingham City | 2008–09[60] | Championship | 33 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 3 |
| Middlesbrough (loan) | 2009–10[61] | Championship | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Queens Park Rangers (loan) | 2009–10[61] | Championship | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) | 2010–11[62] | Premier League | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Sheffield United (loan) | 2010–11[62] | Championship | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Mitra Kukar | 2011–12[63] | Indonesia Super League | 11 | 4 | ― | ― | ― | 11 | 4 | |||
| Wick | 2017–18[32] | Southern Combination Premier Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cornard United | 2019–20[64][65] | Eastern Counties League Division One North | 1 | 0 | ― | ― | ― | 1 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 501 | 97 | 32 | 9 | 29 | 6 | 13 | 2 | 575 | 114 | ||
Blackburn Rovers
Birmingham City
Individual
