On This Day In 1950: Roy Bentley Becomes First Chelsea FC Player To Play For England In World Cup

In the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, Chelsea FC legend Roy Bentley became the first Blue to feature for England in a World Cup and made his debut against Sweden. Bentley also played for England in the famous match where they lost 1-0 to an upstart United States side that featured a squad full of amateurs and part time footballers.

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Roy Bentley made 367 appearances for Chelsea and had 12 caps for England and for a time was considered one of the best center forwards in England. Bentley signed for Chelsea in January 1948 for £12,500 but struggled to really make an impact in his first half season. He began to adapt to a different style of play and was one of the pioneers of the deep-lying center forward position. In his first full season with the Blues, Roy Bentley scored 23 goals and was the club’s top goalscorer.

In 1954-55, Roy Bentley was the captain of the First Division league winning Chelsea side and was also the top goalscorer. He finished the season with 21 goals and was a tremendous leader on and off the pitch. Bentley was only with the Blues for one more season and went on to play for both Fulham and QPR before finally retiring.

Roy Bentley had a short but successful international career and was a prolific scorer for England with 9 goals in just 12 caps. Unfortunately for him he was on the field when England was embarrassed by the United States in the 1950 World Cup. His legacy however is not defined by that and rather it is defined by the fact that he is level with Peter Osgood as fourth in Chelsea’s all-time goalscorer list. He was also the leading scorer at the club for all of the eight full seasons that he spent at Stamford Bridge.

Source: Wikipedia

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