Geoff Bent

For those of a similar name, see Jeffrey Bent (disambiguation).
Geoff Bent

Bent in March 1957
Personal information
Full name Geoffrey Bent
Date of birth (1932-09-27)27 September 1932
Place of birth Irlams o' th' Height, England
Date of death 6 February 1958(1958-02-06) (aged 25)
Place of death Munich, West Germany
Playing position Full-back
Youth career
1948–1951 Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1951–1958 Manchester United 12 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Geoffrey "Geoff" Bent (27 September 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer who played as a full-back. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who lost their lives in the Munich air disaster.

Career

Bent was born at Irlams o' th' Height in Pendleton, Salford, Lancashire in September 1932. He was the only child of miner Clifford Bent and his wife Clara.

He joined United as an apprentice on leaving school in the summer of 1948. After several seasons playing in the reserve and youth sides, he became a professional in 1951 and over the decade made 12 league appearances as full-back cover for Roger Byrne on the left and Bill Foulkes on the right. He made his first senior appearance in the 1954–55 season.

He did not play any first-team games during the 1957–58 season, having been on the sidelines for several months with a broken foot, and only travelled to Belgrade as cover for Roger Byrne – who had not been expected to play in the match due to injury, but still did.

Headstone in St John's churchyard

He married Marion Mallandaine at Bolton in 1953[1] and their daughter Karen was born in September 1957.[2]

He died in the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958 and was buried in St. John's Churchyard on Bolton Road, Pendlebury (just over the Salford/Swinton & Pendlebury boundary at Irlams o' th' Height).

He was survived by both of his parents as well as his wife and five-month-old daughter.

His widow Marion contributed to a 1998 ITV documentary, Munich: End of a Dream, which marked the 40th anniversary of the tragedy.

Career statistics

Club Season League FA Cup European Cup Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester United[3]
1954–55 2000000020
1955–56 4060000040
1956–57 6000000060
Total 120000000120

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ "Geoff Bent". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Andrew Endlar. Retrieved 28 February 2016.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.