Daniel Bennett (footballer)

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Daniel Bennett
Personal information
Full nameDaniel Mark Bennett
Date of birth (1978-01-07) 7 January 1978
Place of birthGreat Yarmouth, England
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing positionDefender
Club information
Current clubSingapore Armed Forces FC
Number16
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1995Tanjong Pagar United20(0)
1999–2000Balestier Khalsa11(0)
2001Tanjong Pagar United35(0)
2001–2002Wrexham6(0)
2002Singapore Armed Forces11(0)
2002–2003Wrexham18(0)
2003–2004Singapore Armed Forces42(1)
2005–2006Woodlands Wellington57(4)
2007–Singapore Armed Forces86(3)
National team‡
2002–Singapore128(7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 April 2008.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 July 2013

Daniel Mark Bennett (born 7 January 1978 in Great Yarmouth, England) is a professional footballer who plays for the Singapore national football team, and for the Singapore Armed Forces Football Club (SAFFC) in Singapore's S.League. He was born a British citizen, but changed his nationality to Singaporean in 2002 in order to play international football for Singapore. With 128 caps for Singapore,[1] he currently holds the national record for the most international matches played. He was a key member of the Singapore teams which won the ASEAN Football Championship in 2004, 2007, and 2012. He has also won four S.League titles with SAFFC, and was named the S.League's 'Player of the Year' in 2001. He played for Wrexham in the English Football League from 2001–03, and helped the club win the FAW Premier Cup in 2003.

Club career

Bennett had a stint playing for Tiong Bahru in the Singapore Premier League as a 17 year-old in 1995, before he left Singapore to study at Loughborough University in the UK. He then returned to Singapore, and played in the S.League for Balestier Central from 1999–2000, and for Tanjong Pagar United in 2001. He won the S.League's 'Player of the Year' award at the end of the 2001 season.

Bennett then had a stint playing for Wrexham in the English football league. He helped the club win the FAW Premier Cup in 2003.

Bennett briefly returned to the S.League in 2002, playing 11 games for SAFFC during their title-winning season. He then returned to Singapore permanently in 2003 and joined SAFFC. He moved to Woodlands Wellington in 2005, before rejoining SAFFC in 2007. He was part of the SAFFC teams which won the S.League and Singapore Cup double in 2007 and 2008.

During the 2007 Singapore Cup final against Tampines Rovers, Bennett was involved in a clash with Noh Alam Shah (a Tampines Rovers striker and fellow Singapore national team player) during which Alam Shah kneed Bennett in the head in a tussle for the ball and, after being dragged away by his team-mates, returned and kicked Bennett in the head. Bennett was knocked unconscious and had to be taken to hospital while Alam Shah was sent off. SAFFC ultimately won the match 4–3. The incident resulted in Alam Shah receiving a 12 month ban (reduced to 7 months on appeal).

International career

Bennett made his debut for the Singapore national team on 11 December 2002 against the Philippines at Singapore's National Stadium. He had a goal disallowed that day (an effort that he still maintains was a legitimate goal). He scored his first international goal against Hong Kong on 4 August 2003.

Bennett was a key member of the Singapore teams which won the 2004 Tiger Cup (defeating Indonesia in the final), the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship (defeating Thailand in the final), and the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup (defeating Thailand in the final).

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 29 December 2004 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Myanmar 4–3 Won 2004 Tiger Cup
2 8 January 2005 Jakarta, Indonesia  Indonesia 3–1 Won 2004 Tiger Cup
3 8 June 2005 Penang, Malaysia  Malaysia 2–1 Won Friendly
4 28 December 2006 Bangkok, Thailand  Vietnam 2–3 Lost Friendly
5 7 January 2007 Singapore  Philippines 4–1 Won Friendly

Personal life

Bennett was born in England. His family moved to Singapore when he was two years old. He was educated in Singapore at Tanglin Trust School and the United World College of South East Asia (where his father, Andrew Bennett, was a teacher and later Headmaster until 2004), before going on to study at Loughborough University.

Bennett is married to Cherry, a lady from China whom he met in Singapore. They have one child.

Honours

International

Daniel Bennett at Changi Airport, returning home with the triumphant Singapore team after the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship final.

Club

Singapore Armed Forces FC

Wrexham

Individual

  • S.League Player of the Year: 2001

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA Century Club". FIFA. Retrieved 6 July 2013. 

External links

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