Playing Career
Benson was born on 23 December 1942 in Arbroath, Scotland. He grew up in Manchester after moving there at an early age, and began his career in football with Stockport Boys before signing as an apprentice with Manchester City. He turned professional with the Maine Road side in July 1961 and made his debut against West Bromwich Albion in 1962. Benson made 44 league appearances for the club before being signed by Torquay United in June 1964 for a club record fee of £6,000. He established himself as a regular in the Torquay side and was a member of the 1965–66 promotion side, Torquay finishing third in Division Four.
After 240 league games and 7 goals, Benson moved to Bournemouth in October 1970 for a fee of £12,000, and was appointed captain by manager John Bond. He played four games on loan with Exeter City in March 1973, before moving to Norwich City in December 1973 where he made 37 appearances scoring a solitary league goal. He returned to Bournemouth in January 1975 to become player-manager and made another 57 league appearances. He failed to save the Cherries from relegation at the end of his first season, and led them to 6th place the following year. However, this was the nearest the Cherries would get to winning back their Division Three status under Benson as they finished 13th and 17th the following years. The 1978–79 season looked to be going the same way and he was replaced at Dean Court by Alec Stock.
Read more about this topic: John Benson (footballer)
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