Alan Bennett

Cork City

Bennett was born in Cork, Ireland on 4 October 1981. He began his footballing career at his local club Richmond, based in Waterfall, County Cork, which competes in the West Cork League. He was coached by highly regarded coach Colm Donovan. Bennett subsequently joined League of Ireland Premier Division club Cork City in 2000 at the age of 18. He initially played as a midfielder, but was converted to the defensive role of centre-back during the 2004 season. He made more than 150 appearances for the "Rebel Army", scoring ten goals. During his time at Cork City, Bennett played in The UEFA Cup and Champions league and also won a FAI Youth Cup medal in 2000, National league Medal in 2005 and 3 Munster Senior Cup medals.

Reading

Following several bids, Bennett joined Reading on a two-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee thought to be £250,000 on 30 January 2007. On 31 July 2007, he was loaned for six months to Southampton and made his debut during a home defeat to Crystal Palace. He returned to Reading in January 2008. On 7 March 2008, he joined Brentford on loan during this time Bennett scored his first goal in English football against Bradford City. On 28 July 2008, Bennett was told that he did not feature in Reading's plans and was told to find a new club. He began a second loan spell at Brentford on 8 August 2008, initially for one month, although this was extended to five months on 31 August 2008, following Man-of-the-Match performances…

Bennett received a call up for the Republic of Ireland under-21 team in 2001. In 2007 Bennett was called up to the Ireland 'B' squad for a game against Scotland 'B' in Airdrie. In May 2007, he was called up to the full Republic of Ireland team for their two match trip to the United States. Bennett played the full 90 minutes against Ecuador, helping Ireland to a 1–1 draw. He then played in the following match against Bolivia, which also ended 1–1, during which he made a saving tackle to keep the Bolivian team from going ahead.

Cork City

League of Ireland Premier Division: 2005, 2017 FAI Cup: 2016, 2017 Brentford

Football League Two: 2008–09 Wycombe Wanderers

Football League Two third-place promotion: 2010–11