Gary Bennett

Playing career Born in Manchester, Bennett began his career with his hometown club Manchester City where he was part of the youth setup, alongside his older brother Dave. He left the club in 1981 without making a first team appearance to join Third Division side Cardiff City,

He left Cardiff for a tribunal set fee of £65,000, as well as a £20,000 bonus once Bennett had appeared in 40 matches for the club, in July 1984 to follow manager Len Ashurst to Sunderland, becoming only the second black player to play for the club after Roly Gregoire. He made a goal scoring debut for the club at Roker Park during a 3–1 victory over Southampton, heading past Peter Shilton after just two minutes. He left Sunderland in 1995 after eleven years at the club, joining Carlisle United.

In 1996, Bennett joined Scarborough as a player-coach, having been convinced to join the club by his former Carlisle manager Mick Wadsworth. He spent two seasons with the side, forming a defensive partnership with Jason Rockett, and helped the club reach the Division Three play-offs in the 1997–98 season. At the end of the season, Wadsworth departed the club to take up a coaching role at Newcastle United and Scarborough received an offer of £20,000 for Bennett from Darlington. He accepted the move, again being appointed player-coach, however he missed large amounts of playing time at the Feethams as he suffered from bone bruising.

Managerial career During his spell as a player-coach at Darlington, Bennett also managed the club's reserve side, helping them win the Pontins League First Division and the Durham Challenge Cup. He was appointed manager of the first team in August 2000, replacing David Hodgson who had originally signed him for the club in 1998. Hodgson had led the club to the play-off final, losing 1–0 to Peterborough United, but had grown tired of continued conflict with the board. Following his departure, the job was offered to Bennett. However, the club struggled to reproduce their form from the previous season and Bennett was sacked after 14 months in charge, having finished in 20th in Division Three in his only full season in charge, being replaced by Tommy Taylor. Despite his sacking, Bennett returned to his role as reserve team manager until his contract expired in May 2002.

Bennett later worked as a coach at Middlesbrough's academy before setting up his own coaching school alongside Julio Arca.

Bennett is also actively involved in campaigns to eliminate racism from football and was one of the first players to participate in the Show Racism the Red Card campaign. He has also participated at events run by fellow campaign Kick It Out.

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to anti-racism in football.

Bennett received an honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Sunderland in November 2022 in recognition of his achievements as a footballer, coach and anti-racism advocate.

Personal life Bennett released an autobiography, entitled The Black Cat, in 2011.

Career statistics

Playing career

Managerial statistics + Managerial record by team and tenureTeamFromToRecordDarlington2 August 2000

Honours Cardiff City Football League Third Division runner-up: 1982–83 Welsh Cup runner-up: 1981–82

Sunderland Football League Third Division: 1987–88 FA Cup runner-up: 1991–92 Football League Cup runner-up: 1984–85

Individual PFA Team of the Year: 1987–88 Third Division