Roy Bentley, who has died aged 93, became the first deep-lying centre-forward in English football, in the style of the Hungarian Nándor Hidegkuti. His inspired wanderings – now dropping back, now moving to the wings – combined with sharp opportunism with head and foot, were a crucial factor in Chelsea’s first league championship win in 1954-55, when he was captain. He scored 21 goals in 41 games that season and altogether amassed 150 goals from 367 appearances for Chelsea, the joint-fifth highest total in the club’s history.
Bentley spent eight years at Stamford Bridge after signing in 1948, finishing top scorer in seven consecutive seasons, and was appointed captain in 1951. His exploits for Chelsea earned him a dozen appearances for England between 1949 and 1955, including two matches in the 1950 World Cup finals in Brazil.
Continue reading...from Football | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2HA0N9t
No comments:
Post a Comment