Daniel Bennett (footballer)

Daniel Bennett

Personal information
Full name	Daniel Mark Bennett
Date of birth	7 January 1978 (1978-01-07) (age 33)
Place of birth	Great Yarmouth, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Singapore Armed Forces FC
Number	8
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1995	Tiong Bahru	?	(?)
1999–2000	Balestier Central	?	(?)
2001	Tanjong Pagar United	35	(0)
2001–2002	Wrexham	6	(0)
2002	Singapore Armed Forces	11	(0)
2002–2003	Wrexham	18	(0)
2003–2004	Singapore Armed Forces	42	(1)
2005–2006	Woodlands Wellington	57	(4)
2007–	Singapore Armed Forces	86	(3)
National team‡
2002–	Singapore	101	(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 23 December 2010

Daniel Mark Bennett (born 7 January 1978 in Great Yarmouth, England) is a professional soccer player 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. He was a key member of the Singapore teams which won the ASEAN Football Championship (formerly known as the 'Tiger Cup') in 2004 and 2007. 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 2001-3, and helped the club win the FAW Premier Cup in 2003.

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 2005 Tiger Cup (defeating Indonesia in the final), and the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship (defeating Thailand in the final).

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).

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 woman from China whom he met in Singapore.

Honours

International

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

• ASEAN Football Championship: 2004, 2007

Club

Singapore Armed Forces FC

• S.League: 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009
• Singapore Cup: 2007, 2008

Wrexham

• FAW Premier Cup: 2003

Individual

• S.League Player of the Year: 2001

National team career statistics

Goals for senior national team

#	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

External links

• Daniel Bennett career stats at Soccerbase
• National Football Teams
• http://data2.7m.cn/Player_Data/48004/en/index.shtml
• http://www.fas.org.sg/default.asp?V_DOC_ID=1302
• http://www.soccerway.com/players/-daniel-bennett/24349/
• http://www.safwarriors.com.sg/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=316:player-profile-daniel-bennett&catid=8:club-happenings&Itemid=25

Persondata
Name	Bennett, Daniel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	7 January 1978
Place of birth	Great Yarmouth, England
Date of death
Place of death