James Graham Bentley (born 11 June 1976) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a centre back. He was most recently the manager of National League North club Morecambe.
Playing career Bentley debuted for Telford United in 1997, playing for the Shropshire club for 5 years.
He signed for Morecambe in 2002, managed at the time by Jim Harvey. In 2007, Bentley captained Morecambe to a 2–1 victory over Exeter City in the Conference National play off final, taking the club to the Football League for the first time in their history.
In June 2010, Bentley was appointed player-coach, having spent the previous season in a coaching role with the reserve team.
Managerial career On 13 May 2011, Bentley was appointed the player-manager of Morecambe on a two-year contract, but since then he has concentrated on the managerial role and did not play a competitive match after taking on the post. He signed a two-year contract extension with the Shrimps on 10 October 2013. A further two-year contract extension was agreed with Morecambe on 29 August 2015. Ken McKenna also agreed the same deal with the League Two club. On 13 October 2017, Bentley and McKenna agreed further contract extensions until the end of the 2019–20 season.
During Morecambe's 1–2 defeat to Cheltenham on 17 December 2016, Bentley was sent off from the dugout, after reacting to Alex Kenyon's dismissal. He received a £750 fine with £250 costs and a two match touchline ban from the FA after a personal hearing. At the following home game, a 4–1 victory over Notts County, Morecambe fans held a 'bucket collection' and raised the £1,000.
After the departure of Paul Tisdale from Exeter City in June 2018, Bentley became the longest serving manager in the top four tiers of English football, until his resignation in October 2019 to become the new manager of AFC Fylde. In March 2022, Bentley was sacked by the National League North club, which was in fourth place, 14 points off top spot.
On 29 August 2022, Bentley was appointed manager of League Two's bottom club Rochdale on a two-year contract. On 27 March 2023, Rochdale sacked him; under Bentley, the side had won just six out of 32 league games and were still bottom, ten points from safety with eight games remaining.
On 29 August 2023, exactly a year after his appointment at Rochdale, Bentley was appointed as manager of National League North club, Southport. At the time of his appointment Southport were at the foot of the table with only one point after six games. Having overseen a turnaround in form, he was awarded the Manager of the Month award for November 2023. He was sacked on 12 March 2025, the club sitting 17th in the league, 11 points clear from safety.
On 1 February 2026, six years after previously leaving the club, Bentley was reappointed as Morecambe manager for the rest of the 2025–26 National League season, replacing Ashvir Singh Johal. On 11 April 2026, Morecambe were relegated to the National League North following a 5–1 defeat at Woking. The club then announced Bentley would be standing down as manager at the end of the season, remaining with the club to support development across footballing and non-footballing areas.
Career statistics + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonDivisionLeagueFA CupLeague CupOtherTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsTelford United1999–2000Conference2440000002442000–01Conference2321000002422001–02Conference288000000288Total75141000007614Morecambe2002–03Conference233320031 appearance in Football League Trophy2 appearance(s) in Conference play-offs02952003–04Conference3641000003742004–05Conference National384110021 appearance in FA Trophy04152005–06Conference National404100042 appearances in Football League Trophy2 appearances and 1 goal in Conference play-offs14552006–07Conference National311200052 appearances in FA Trophy3 appearances in Conference play-offs03812007–08League Two43610312Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy04972008–09League Two4531010305032009–10League Two283100021 appearance in League Two play-offs03132010–11League Two8100001091Total292291134122132934Career total367431234122140548
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenureTeamFromToRecordMorecambe13 May 201128 October 2019AFC Fylde28 October 20194 March 2022Rochdale29 August 202227 March 2023Southport29 August 202312 March 2025Morecambe1 February 202625 April 2026Total
Honours Individual League Two Manager of the Month: August 2014, August 2016 National League North Manager of the Month: November 2023
References
External links