{{short description|English footballer and coach}} {{use British English|date=July 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Junior Bent | image = | caption = | fullname = Junior Antony Bent<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/> | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1970|3|1|df=y}}<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/> | birth_place = Huddersfield, England<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/> | height = {{height|ft=5|in=5}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=Rothmans Football Yearbook: 1995–96 |publisher=Headline Publishing Group |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-7472-7823-8 |editor-last=Rollin |editor-first=Glenda |location=London |pages=414 |editor-last2=Rollin |editor-first2=Jack}}</ref> | position = Winger | currentclub = Preston North End (Academy coach) | clubnumber = | youthyears1 = –| youthclubs1 = Huddersfield Town | years1 = 1987–1990 | clubs1 = Huddersfield Town | caps1 = 36 | goals1 = 6 | years2 = 1989–1990 | clubs2 = → Burnley (loan) | caps2 = 9 | goals2 = 3 | years3 = 1990–1997 | clubs3 = Bristol City | caps3 = 183 | goals3 = 20 | years4 = 1992 | clubs4 = → Stoke City (loan) | caps4 = 1 | goals4 = 0 | years5 = 1996 | clubs5 = → Shrewsbury Town (loan) | caps5 = 6 | goals5 = 0 | years6 = 1997–2001 | clubs6 = Blackpool | caps6 = 103 | goals6 = 5 | years7 = 2001 | clubs7 = Kettering Town | caps7 = | goals7 = | years8 = 2002–2003 | clubs8 = Lancaster City | caps8 = | goals8 = | totalcaps = 338 | totalgoals = 34 }}
'''Junior Antony Bent''' (born 1 March 1970) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger in the Football League for Huddersfield Town, Burnley, Bristol City, Stoke City, Shrewsbury Town and Blackpool.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player4/juniorbent.html |title=Junior Bent |work=UK A–Z Transfers |publisher=Neil Brown |accessdate=13 November 2009}}</ref>
Bent began his career with his hometown club Huddersfield Town playing in 44 matches and spending time on loan at Burnley before joining Bristol City in 1990. He became a regular at Ashton Gate and went on to stay for seven years making 221 appearances including short loan spells with Stoke City and Shrewsbury Town. He left Bristol City in 1997 and joined Blackpool where he stayed for three seasons before entering non-league football with Kettering Town and Lancaster City.
==Career== Bent began his career as a trainee at Huddersfield Town, his hometown club, making his debut in 1987. He made 36 league appearances and scored six goals for the Terriers. During the 1989–90 season, he had a loan spell at Fourth Division side Burnley, with striker Brendan O'Connell moving in the opposite direction on a similar deal. Bent made his first appearance for Burnley on 2 December 1989 in the 1–1 draw with Grimsby Town. He went on to score three times in nine matches for the Lancashire club, including two goals in the 3–0 home win over Scarborough on 9 January 1990.<ref>{{cite book|last=Simpson|first=Ray|title=The Clarets Collection 1946–1996|year=1996|publisher=Burnley F.C.|isbn=0-9521799-0-3|page=22}}</ref>
In March 1990, Bent transferred to Bristol City for a £30,000 fee. He spent seven years at Ashton Gate, making more than 200 appearances in all competitions and scoring 20 league goals, and 24 in all competitions, including a brace in a 4–1 win over Hull City in October 1995, and a last-minute winner in a League Cup tie at Bristol Rovers in his final match for the club.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/bristol-city-flashback-junior-bent-6332007?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button|website=Bristol Post|accessdate=22 April 2025|title= Bristol City flashback: Junior Bent finds his range in rout as Hull City lose their heads|first=Richard|last=Latham|date=10 December 2021|language=en}}</ref> After loan spells at Stoke City, where he played just once, away at Torquay United he went on loan again to Shrewsbury Town, in 1992 and 1996 respectively, Bent signed for Blackpool in 1997 for a nominal fee.<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City">{{cite book|last=Matthews|first=Tony|title=The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City|year=1994|publisher=Lion Press|isbn=0952415100}}</ref> In four years at Bloomfield Road he made just over 100 appearances and found the net on five occasions.<ref name=SB>{{cite web |url=https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=618 |title=Junior Bent |work=Soccerbase |publisher=Centurycomm |access-date=9 November 2009}}</ref> He was released in 2001,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.blackpoolfc.co.uk/news.htm |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20010608212904/http://www.blackpoolfc.co.uk/news.htm |archivedate=8 June 2001 |title=Steve McMahon announces retained list |website=BlackpoolFC.co.uk |publisher=Blackpool Football Club |date=4 June 2001 |accessdate=11 May 2020}}</ref> and finished his career with brief spells at non-league clubs Kettering Town and, after a year out of the game, Lancaster City.
==Post-retirement== Bent now coaches at Preston North End. He is the Under 15s Coach.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.lancashireeveningtelegraph.co.uk/2002/12/12/579851.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120720195627/http://archive.lancashireeveningtelegraph.co.uk/2002/12/12/579851.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 July 2012 |title=Hesketh adds winger |newspaper=Lancashire Evening Telegraph |date=12 December 2002 |accessdate=13 November 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.lancashireeveningtelegraph.co.uk/2002/12/20/576934.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708110349/http://archive.lancashireeveningtelegraph.co.uk/2002/12/20/576934.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 July 2012 |title=Last gasp goal leaves City pointless |newspaper=Lancashire Evening Telegraph |date=20 December 2002 |accessdate=13 November 2009 }}</ref>
==Personal life== Born in England, Bent is of Jamaican descent.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Stuart |last=Roach |title=Bent targets revival at Wigan |url=https://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7009676.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=24 September 2007 |access-date=11 July 2011}}</ref> He is a relative of the footballer Darren Bent. Bent's son Cory is also a professional footballer and played in Canada for HFX Wanderers.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Joshua Rendle |title=Familial Ties Inspire Bent Further in the Game |url=http://www.highlandersfc.ca/news/familial-ties-inspire-bent-further-in-the-game |publisher=Victoria Highlanders |accessdate=16 August 2020 |date=21 June 2018}}</ref>
==Career statistics== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition<ref>{{ENFA}}</ref> |- !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|FA Cup !colspan="2"|League Cup !colspan="2"|Other{{ref label|Other|A|}} !colspan="2"|Total |- !Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="4"|Huddersfield Town |1987–88 |Second Division |7||0||1||0||0||0||0||0||8||0 |- |1988–89 |Third Division |22||5||3||1||0||0||2||0||27||6 |- |1989–90 |Third Division |7||1||0||0||1||0||1||0||9||1 |- !colspan=2|Total !36!!6!!4!!1!!1!!0!!3!!0!!44!!7 |- |Burnley (loan) |1989–90 |Fourth Division |9||3||0||0||0||0||0||0||9||3 |- |rowspan="10"|Bristol City |1989–90 |Third Division |1||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||1||0 |- |1990–91 |Second Division |20||2||1||0||3||0||1||0||25||2 |- |1991–92 |Second Division |17||2||4||1||1||0||0||0||22||3 |- |1992–93 |First Division |20||3||0||0||0||0||3||0||23||3 |- |1993–94 |First Division |20||2||4||0||0||0||0||0||24||2 |- |1994–95 |First Division |41||6||3||1||2||0||0||0||46||7 |- |1995–96 |Second Division |40||2||2||0||4||0||3||0||49||2 |- |1996–97 |Second Division |22||3||1||0||1||0||3||0||27||3 |- |1997–98 |Second Division |2||0||0||0||2||1||0||0||4||1 |- !colspan=2|Total !183!!20!!15!!2!!13!!1!!10!!0!!221!!23 |- |Stoke City (loan) |1991–92 |Third Division |1||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||1||0 |- |Shrewsbury Town (loan) |1996–97 |Second Division |6||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||6||0 |- |rowspan="4"|Blackpool |1997–98 |Second Division |36||3||2||0||0||0||3||0||41||3 |- |1998–99 |Second Division |39||1||1||0||2||1||1||0||43||2 |- |1999–2000 |Second Division |28||1||2||0||2||0||3||0||35||1 |- !colspan=2|Total !103!!5!!5!!0!!4!!1!!7!!0!!119!!6 |- !colspan=3|Career Total !338!!34!!24!!3!!18!!2!!20!!0!!400!!39 |}
{{refbegin}} :A. {{note|Other}} The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Italian Cup, Football League play-offs and Football League Trophy. {{refend}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Soccerbase}} * {{NeilBrownPlayers|player4/juniorbent}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bent, Junior}} Category:1970 births Category:Footballers from Huddersfield Category:Living people Category:English men's footballers Category:English people of Jamaican descent Category:Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Category:Men's association football forwards Category:Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Category:Burnley F.C. players Category:Bristol City F.C. players Category:Stoke City F.C. players Category:Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Category:Blackpool F.C. players Category:Kettering Town F.C. players Category:Lancaster City F.C. players Category:English Football League players Category:Preston North End F.C. non-playing staff