Julian Bennett

Julian Llewelyn Bennett (born 17 December 1984) is an English retired footballer, who played as a defender, having spent his career at Walsall, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday before finishing his career at Southend United.

Bennett was a youth player at Nottingham Forest's Centre of Excellence but left when he was 14 years old to play for local teams in the Nottingham area.

However, he soon joined Walsall as a YTS player He progressed through the youth and reserve sides at Walsall and made his Walsall debut on 28 February 2004, where he came on as a substitute for Matt Carbon in the 70th minute, in a 1–0 loss against Wigan Athletic., which turns out to be only appearance of the 2003–04 season.

After signing his first professional contract with the club, Bennett eventually became a regular first-team player there in the 2004–05 season.

During the 2004–05 season, he scored two goals during the season against Colchester United and Wrexham.

The 2005–06 season saw Bennett managed to remain in the first team in the defence until he received a straight red card for a reckless tackle on Dani Rodrigues, in a 0–0 draw against AFC Bournemouth.

Bennett's disciplinary issues was criticised by then Manager Paul Merson.

After serving a three match suspension, Bennett scored his first goal of the season one week later on 8 October 2005, in a 1–1 draw against Milton Keynes Dons.

He made a total of over 50 appearances for Walsall, playing at centre-back and left-back

On 10 January 2006, Bennett signed for his home town club of Nottingham Forest in a two-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

He said, "Lots of other teams, including ones in the Championship, were showing interest in me, but this is my home-town club and it's a dream come true".

Four days later on 14 January 2006, Bennett made his Nottingham Forest debut, where he played 90 minutes, in a 3–0 win over Oldham Athletic.

However, in the next game on 17 January 2006, Bennett received a red card after a second bookable offence in a 1–1 draw against Brentford.

After a serving three match suspension, Bennett scored his first Nottingham Forest goal on his return when he scored the last minutes in a 2–2 draw against Blackpool on 4 February 2006 and scored again in the last game of the season, in a 1–1 draw against Bradford City.

Bennett started the 2006–07 season well when he scored in the opening game of the season, in a 1–0 win over Bradford City.

Manager Colin Calderwood did not play Bennett regularly earlier in the 2006–07 season, however he eventually established himself as Forest's first-choice left full-back.

Bennett then scored his second goal of the season, which turns out to be the only goal of the game, in a 1–0 win over Northampton Town on 10 February 2007.

In the 2007–08 season, the signing of the experienced Matt Lockwood put Bennett's chances to maintain his place under pressure.

However, injury to Lockwood gave him an opportunity.

He scored his first goal of the season in Forest's 2–1 defeat at Luton Town.

He received praise from Calderwood after assisting both of Forest's goals in a 2–0 win against Tranmere Rovers, who admitted it would be difficult to take him out of the team despite Lockwood nearing a return.

He then had an injury in late November 2007 that kept him sidelined him until the new year.

He made a total of 33 league starts in the 2007–08 season, scoring 4 goals.

Bennett was voted Forest's Player of the Year for the promotion 2007–08 season.

'Jules' had helped the team keep 24 clean sheets that season, a league record.

His performances were also recognised when he was named in the PFA's League One team of the year along with Forest teammate Kris Commons.

However, having established himself as first choice left-back at Forest and become a fan favourite – owing to his consistent form, local credentials and no-nonsense playing style – the rest of his career at the City Ground was ravaged by injury.

On 14 January 2008, Bennett signed a new 2 1⁄2-year contract, committing him to the club until the summer of 2010 On return to fitness, he managed to dislodge Matt Lockwood from the starting line-up and continued in the same vein of form.

He netted two goals in two games in February 2008, against Millwall and Leeds United, and made a goal-line clearance at Elland Road.

He also scored in the final game of the season, the first goal in Forest's 3–2 victory over Yeovil Town at the City Ground, which saw Forest finish second in League One in a dramatic last day of the season, thereby gaining promotion to the Championship.

The 2008–09 season was one to forget for Bennett.

Bennett appeared in the first four matches at the start of the season until he suffered a calf injury and after being sidelined for two matches, Bennett made his first team return on 20 September 2008, in a 0–0 draw against Charlton Athletic.

His return was short-lived when on 21 October 2008 he injured his collarbone which kept him out of action for six weeks.

Then, soon after his return, in December 2008 he sustained a serious knee injury (cruciate and cartilage ligaments) in the Boxing Day 4–2 home defeat to Doncaster Rovers.

This ruled him out for the rest of the season.

While recovering from a major knee operation, Bennett was nominated for the PFA Player in the Community, but lost out to Graeme Murty.

Recovering from a major knee operation, Bennett commenced rehab in summer 2009 and full training in January 2010.

He did not play for the Forest first team for the entirety of the 2009–10 season, but he did make a minor public comeback at the final home match when he warmed up on the pitch with his teammates before the game.

After an extensive 14-month injury lay-off, he returned in a behind-closed-doors friendly in March 2010 at Forest's training ground in which he played 45 minutes.

Shortly afterwards Bennett signed a contract extension keeping him at Forest until summer 2011.