Julian Bennett (footballer)

Julian Bennett

Personal information
Full name	Julian Llewelyn Bennett
Date of birth	(1984-12-17) 17 December 1984
Place of birth	Nottingham, England
Height
Position(s)	Left back
Youth career
1993–1996	Nottingham Forest
1998–1999	Scunthorpe United
1999–2004	Walsall
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2004–2006	Walsall	51	(3)
2006–2011	Nottingham Forest	95	(8)
2010–2011	→ Crystal Palace (loan)	13	(1)
2011–2013	Sheffield Wednesday	21	(2)
2012	→ Shrewsbury Town (loan)	4	(0)
2013–2014	Southend United	0	(0)
Total		184	(14)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:15, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

Julian Llewelyn Bennett (born 17 December 1984) is a retired English footballer.

Career

Youth & Wallsall

Bennett was a youth player at Nottingham Forest's Centre of Excellence but left when he was 14 years old to play for local teams in the Nottingham area. However, he soon joined Walsall as a YTS player. He progressed through the youth and reserve sides at Walsall and eventually became a regular first-team player there in the 2004-05 season. He made a total of over 50 appearances for Walsall, playing at centre-back and left-back.

Nottingham Forest

On 10 January 2006, Bennett signed for his home town club of Nottingham Forest in a two-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He said, "Lots of other teams, including ones in the Championship, were showing interest in me, but this is my home-town club and it's a dream come true".

Manager Colin Calderwood did not play Bennett regularly earlier in the 2006–07 season, however he eventually established himself as Forest's first-choice left full-back.

In the 2007–08 season, the signing of the experienced Matt Lockwood put Bennett's chances to maintain his place under pressure. However, injury to Lockwood gave him an opportunity. He scored his first goal of the season in Forest's 2–1 defeat at Luton Town. He received praise from Calderwood after assisting both of Forest's goals in a 2-0 win against Tranmere Rovers, who admitted it would be difficult to take him out of the team despite Lockwood nearing a return. He then had an injury in late November 2007 that kept him sidelined him until the new year.

On 12 January 2008, Bennett signed a new ​2 ¹⁄₂-year contract, committing him to the club until the summer of 2010. On return to fitness, he managed to dislodge Matt Lockwood from the starting line-up and continued in the same vein of form. He made a total of 33 league starts in the 2007-08 season, scoring 4 goals. He netted two goals in two games in February 2008, against Millwall and Leeds, and made a goal-line clearance at Elland Road. He also scored in the final game of the season, the first goal in Forest's 3–2 victory over Yeovil at the City Ground, which saw Forest finish second in League One in a dramatic last day of the season, thereby gaining promotion to the Championship

Bennett was voted Forest's Player of the Year for the promotion 2007-08 season. 'Jules' had helped the team keep 24 clean sheets that season, a league record. His performances were also recognised when he was named in the PFA's League One team of the year along with Forest team mate Kris Commons. However, having established himself as first choice left-back at Forest and become a fan favourite - owing to his consistent form, local credentials and no-nonsense playing style - the rest of his career at the City Ground was ravaged by injury.

The 2008-09 season was one to forget for Bennett. On 21 October 2008 he injured his collarbone which kept him out of action for six weeks. Then, soon after his return, in December 2008 he sustained a serious knee injury (cruciate and cartilage ligaments) in the Boxing Day 4–2 home defeat to Doncaster Rovers. This ruled him out for the rest of the season.

Recovering from a major knee operation, Bennett commenced rehab in summer 2009 and full training in January 2010. After an extensive 14-month injury lay-off, he returned in a behind-closed-doors friendly in March 2010 at Forest's training ground in which he played 45 minutes. Shortly afterwards Bennett signed a contract extension keeping him at Forest until summer 2011. He did not play for the Forest first team for the entirety of the 2009-10 season, but he did make a minor public comeback at the final home match when he warmed up on the pitch with his team mates before the game.

In July 2010 Bennett played in three pre-season friendly fixtures. However, on 5 August Forest signed left-back Ryan Bertrand from Chelsea on loan for six months; the following day Bennett was allowed go on loan to Crystal Palace, thus giving him the chance to demonstrate his match fitness and form through the improved opportunity of regular first team action. He returned to Forest on 5 January 2011 but was not allowed to go out on loan again due to the loss of loanee Ryan Bertrand. Nevertheless, during the rest of the season Bennett failed to achieve a start for Forest: his opportunities being severely reduced partly due to the signing by Forest of the experienced Paul Konchesky on 31 January 2011 in a 93-day emergency loan deal, but also because of manager Billy Davies' preference for other players as cover at left-back. Bennett made three appearances as substitute for Forest in the latter part of the 2010-11 season.

Bennett became a free agent in July 2011. He made a total of over 100 appearances for Forest. His final starting appearance in a competitive match for the club had transpired to be the one in which he had seriously injured his knee on 26 December 2008. Although Forest indicated they were prepared to offer Bennett a one-year contract should he be unable to find another club (in recognition of the community work he had undertaken during his time recovering from injury), he subsequently signed for League One side Sheffield Wednesday.

Crystal Palace (loan)

At the beginning of the 2010-11 season Bennett joined Crystal Palace on loan in a six-month deal. In August The Sun newspaper reported that he and former Dutch international Edgar Davids had had a 'bust-up' in training. He made 14 appearances for Palace, scoring one goal which came in a 2-1 win over Norwich City on 19 October 2010. His loan spell ended in January 2011.

Sheffield Wednesday

On 5 July 2011 Bennett signed a two-year contract with League One club Sheffield Wednesday. This saw him reunited with Wednesday manager Gary Megson who had signed him for Nottingham Forest five years previously. The reunion was short lived however, as Megson was sacked less than 8 months later. Since the departure of former manager Gary Megson, Bennett struggled to make an appearance in the first team. The left-back was out of contract in the summer of 2013 and was not offered a new deal as manager Dave Jones began his clear-out.

Shrewsbury Town (loan)

In October 2012, an out of favour Bennett was loaned out to League One side Shrewsbury Town. He made his Shrews debut against Bournemouth on 6 November. On 29 November, his loan was cut short due to a back injury, and he returned to his parent club.

Southend United

Bennett joined Southend United on 1 August 2013, whilst Southend United were under a transfer embargo due to the unpaid wages of some players and staff at the club.

Honours

Sheffield Wednesday

• League One
  • Runners Up (1): 2011-2012

Nottingham Forest

• League One
  • Runners Up (1): 2007-2008
• Player Of The Year
  • Winner (1): 2007-2008

Individual

• League One
  • Team Of The Year (1): 2007-2008

External links

• Julian Bennett career statistics at Soccerbase