Marcus Bent: I'll forever be grateful to Brentford | OneFootball

Throughout his career, Marcus Bent made a name for himself as a journeyman.

From 1995 to 2011, the former England Under-21s striker played for nine English clubs on a permanent basis - including Charlton, Everton, Ipswich and Sheffield United - and another five on loan - including Leicester, Middlesbrough and Wigan. There was a short stint in Indonesia later, too.

It is the first of those that surprises many; Bent started on the path to becoming a professional footballer at Brentford.

“Growing up in Shepherd’s Bush, I was a late bloomer in the sense that football wasn't really my passion at first. I was playing five-a-side football, but it was more athletics for me,” he admits.

“Then, one day, I remember watching Liverpool; I can't remember who they were playing, but it was on a Sunday on BBC One. I was watching John Barnes and all the legends who played for Liverpool, so I decided I wanted to be like him.

“We had QPR down the road, where Les Ferdinand played. Barnes, Ferdinand and Trevor Sinclair were Black idols. Coming from an estate like I did, it was kind of a way out and it was something that I wanted to achieve.

“In the first year of secondary school, my sports teacher saw a talent in me and another player, so he requested a friendly against Brentford and it was all to watch us play.

“Brentford then took me on on schoolboys forms, training in Feltham, not far from where I lived in Bedfont. I'd moved from Shepherd’s Bush; it was a council thing, they were moving people out of London to the outskirts and Surrey. It was a big transformation for me and an exciting one because I wanted to play football.”

Mentored by Carl Hutchings and billed as the next Marcus Gayle, Bent progressed over the next couple of years until he made it into David Webb’s Brentford first team in November 1995, six months after he had turned 17.

He reflects honestly about his attitude in those teenage years: "At times at Brentford, my confidence and my ego was a bit too much, I would say. The players had to reel me in.

“There was a time when we were doing pre-season and running at Feltham track. I was quite fit, so I would be out in the front and all the wiser pros were telling me to calm down and I didn't, so they stripped me down and I had to keep running in my slips!

“But it's a good story now and it didn't affect me then. It was a laugh, it was a joke, but it's that reminder just to wind your neck in and not get too carried away. There were many occasions where I had to get reeled back in, but having a mentor like Carl guided me and helped me through the process.”

Bent played 12 games in the Second Division in 1995/96, but it was in the FA Cup that he really got the chance to shine.

He appeared four times and scored three goals to help Brentford reach the fourth round, where they were narrowly beaten 3-2 at Charlton.

“I don't remember too much about those early days, to be honest with you,” he says.

“We'd been at Griffin Park many times before; we played reserve team games on the pitch and it was something I wished for and something I worked for. I remember the stadium probably looking bigger than it had done.

“Going into the changing rooms and having your kit set out, your boots, it's a feeling of ‘I’ve made it’, in a sense. But this is when it really means something; now you have to put all the work and all the hours in to succeed.

“I listened and I learned and, me being me, I was quite confident. I suppose my ego was a bit bigger than some of the rest of the youngsters that I played with. I just tried to prove and show what I had.”

Bent’s preference was always to play through the middle, but with the more experienced Robert Taylor, Nicky Forster and Carl Asaba ahead of him, he often played out on the wing instead, as the aforementioned Gayle had done before him.

He accepted it was necessary if he wanted the first-team minutes that would set him ahead of his peers.

“I was quick and raw, so I got pushed out to the wing a little bit and, when I got my chance to play up front, I played up front. I was more attacking, trying to get the ball in the box for them.

“Sometimes players get a bit angry about moving positions but, at that stage, it was about being among the best at Brentford, playing among the professionals, playing against other teams on that level and me learning my trade.

“It's a good thing to have two positions in your locker. My main position was up-front and I always wanted to play up-front, but I knew I had to sacrifice something to get there.

“Bob Taylor was a great finisher. He could get whip on the ball like no other. He was leaps and bounds above his years so I learned a lot from him. Nicky Forster was very quick, quick off the mark, played on the shoulder, good finisher. He could rip a defence apart with just one pass. I learned a lot from him and Sarbs [Carl Asaba], too.

“Like I said, maybe I was a little bit too arrogant, too overconfident. I probably didn't listen as much as I should have done. So I'm going to say I learned stuff from them, but thinking back now, maybe I could have learned more.”

In 1996/97, Bent played 45 games in all competitions, scoring four goals as Brentford reached the Second Division play-off final, where they lost 2-1 to Crewe.

“I felt I failed that day because I didn't do too well, but it taught me a lot,” he recalls. “It's disappointing the older players didn’t get there, but for me, it was a learning curve to go on and play at a higher level.

“We played football from back to front; hold the ball up, get the ball out to the wing and get in the box and score. The problem is that the players that we had were more than capable of playing football and it showed in the final.

“Don't get me wrong, we weren’t played off the pitch, but if we played a different way, I think we would have won that game.

“If you could have kept that team together and maybe brought in one or two, I think we could have done great things. That was, arguably, one of the best teams that Brentford had for a long, long time.”

Failure to win promotion to the First Division saw Paul Smith, Barry Ashby and Brian Statham sold to Gillingham, with Asaba moving on to Reading. Forster had already been sold to Birmingham in January 1997 and Bent was transfer listed in the summer, too.

“I think there were contract talks and I didn't agree to them,” he recalls. “Dave Webb was a hard man and he literally sidelined me, in a sense.

“I didn't agree to his terms, knowing Crystal Palace would come in for me and knowing that, if I did sign, he probably wouldn't let me go. It wasn't pleasant, but I had my dad, who was a very hard man, a Jamaican man, in my corner. I suppose he was like my agent. I had to deal with it and move past it, but it all worked out in the end.

“I look back and I didn't like him [Webb] for a long time because I got affected emotionally and mentally at times. But what he did do is he prepared me to go on and assert my talent or assert my feelings or thoughts on things.”

Bent did not leave in the summer and continued to play regularly, first under Eddie May, then under player-manager Micky Adams. He played 29 games and scored five goals - before a substitute appearance in the 3-1 defeat to Gillingham on 29 December 1997 proved to be his last.

Palace firmed up their interest with a £300,000 bid, which was enough to take Bent to Selhurst Park and play Premiership football, permanently.

“Micky wanted me to stay, but I was knocking on the door to play at a higher level. I felt it was something I was destined for,” he says.

“It was an exciting time, a scary time, because it was the first time I'd ever had big teams looking at me like that.

“I'm quite focused on what I want and where I want to go and the ultimate goal was to impress and do as well as I could; I’d been brought up like that. The main goal was to do well and move on but, of course, it was sad when I left.”

Though most of Bent’s career was spent in the first and second tiers of English football - he went on to score 40 goals in the Premier League - he is still incredibly proud of coming through at Brentford all those years ago.

“The club is very important to me because I was one of those kids that could have gone either way," he reflects. "I'm not saying I was a bad kid, but I found that constructiveness in Brentford, and they moulded me and put me on the right path.

“Brentford gave me those foundations to succeed in the game. I was only there three years, but I think I was one of the first to come into the first team at such a young age. I proved that Brentford were a team that could bring through players; the only reason more players didn't come through was probably finances.

“So I'm in debt to them up until the day I leave this Earth. It might sound quite dramatic, but they're very close to my heart, and I've always looked out for them wherever I've been. After I left, I didn’t come back to the club until they got into the Premier League, so it’s amazing to go back.

“I just wish I could find the goals I scored for Brentford online; it's hard to get them on social media and it's hard remembering some of the games! I wish I could, because they meant a lot.”