Tom Bender (footballer)

Thomas Joseph "Tom" Bender (born 19 January 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for St Albans City. He has represented Wales at under-15, under-16, under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels.

Tom Bender
Personal information
Full name Thomas Joseph Bender
Date of birth (1993-01-19) 19 January 1993[1]
Place of birth Harlow, England[1]
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 St Albans City
Youth career
2009–2011 Colchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2013 Colchester United 1 (0)
2011–2012 → Accrington Stanley (loan) 2 (0)
2012–2013 → Chelmsford City (loan) 2 (0)
2013–2014 Millwall 0 (0)
2014 → Welling United (loan) 11 (0)
2014–2015 Dartford 16 (0)
2015 Forest Green Rovers 10 (0)
2015 → St Albans City (loan) 5 (1)
2015– St Albans City 128 (8)
National team‡
2008 Wales U15
2008 Wales U16
2009–2010 Wales U17 5 (1)
2010–2012 Wales U19 6 (1)
2010–2011 Wales U21 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:37, 5 August 2019 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19:41, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

Club career

Colchester United

Bender is a product of the Colchester United Academy. He made his senior debut on 19 September 2009 for Colchester in a 2–0 win against Hartlepool United,[2] becoming the second youngest player ever to represent the club at 16 years and 243 days, just 26 days older than the record holder Lindsay Smith.[3] Bender was named on the bench for six further games that season against Tranmere Rovers, Brentford, Wycombe Wanderers, Exeter City, Charlton Athletic and Huddersfield Town. On 19 January 2010, Bender signed his first professional contract until the summer of 2012.[4]

On 12 June 2012, Bender signed a 12-month extension with Colchester following a season plagued by injury, including his high-profile head injury while on loan at Accrington Stanley and a hamstring tear in February 2012.[5]

On 30 August 2011 Bender joined Football League Two club Accrington Stanley on a season-long loan deal. He was given shirt number 20 and made his debut as a substitute against Barnet, and had his first career start came against Carlisle United in the Football League Trophy.

On 4 October 2011, Bender was involved in a three-way collision in a match in the 39th minute between Ian Dunbavin of Accrington Stanley and Lucas Akins of Tranmere Rovers in a Football League Trophy match between the two teams.[6] The match was subsequently abandoned because of the seriousness of the injury. Having received a full blow from his own keeper's fist, he was rushed to hospital for a brain scan. Despite unfounded rumours that he had broken his neck, Bender regained consciousness in hospital and only suffered severe concussion. On 24 February 2012, Bender returned to Colchester early due to a hamstring tear injury.[5]

On 30 November 2012, Bender and teammate Bradley Hamilton joined Chelmsford City on loan until 7 January 2013.[7]

Bender was released from his Colchester contract by mutual consent on 31 January 2013.[8]

Millwall

On 27 March 2013, Bender was signed by Millwall on a one-year contract, having been on trial with the club and appearing in their development squad.[9]

Dartford

On 26 September 2014, Bender was signed by Dartford on a free transfer on a short-term contract until January.[10] In January 2015, he was released by Dartford following the expiration of his contract, having made sixteen appearances for the club.[11]

Forest Green Rovers

After a spell spent training with the club, it was confirmed on 27 February 2015 that Bender had joined Forest Green Rovers on a deal until the end of the 2014-15 season.[12] He made his debut the following day as a substitute in a 5–3 home win over Southport.[13] His first start came in a 4–2 away victory over Gateshead on 18 April 2015.[14]

After helping Forest Green to the Conference National play-offs, he was offered a six-month contract for the 2015–16 season on 4 May 2015.[15] On 27 November 2015, he joined National League South club St Albans City on a one-month loan.[16] He was released by Forest Green at the end of his contract on 31 December 2015.[17]

International career

Born in England, Bender instead chose to represent Wales and has represented them at every level up to under-21 level.

Under 17

He made his debut for the Wales under-17 side in September 2009, playing in the opening two matches in the qualifying round of the 2010 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, a 3–2 win over Iceland and a 2–2 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina.[18][19]

Bender was called up for the 2010 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship Elite Round on 10 March 2010[20] but withdrew from the squad due to first team commitments with Colchester.[21]

Bender was called up by the Wales under-17 side for a friendly tournament in Sweden from 20 – 24 July.[22] Bender captained Wales for the first game of the tournament against Iceland, Wales lost the game 2–1.[23][24] Bender was also captain for the second game of the tournament against Norway in which he scored his first international goal, Wales drew 1–1.[25][26] Bender also played in the third and final game of the tournament a 1 – 1 draw with Sweden.[27][28]

Under 19

Bender was called up for the Wales under-19 side on 18 April for a friendly against Northern Ireland.[29] But he didn't feature in the game.

On 10 October 2010 Bender was called up for three 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship qualification games against Turkey, Iceland and Kazakhstan.[30] Bender played in the 3 – 3 draw against Turkey.[31] He also came on as a sub against Iceland[32] and Kazakhstan.[33]

Bender was named in a squad for a warm-weather training camp from 3 to 8 April 2011.[34]

Bender was called up for the 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship elite qualification matches in Norway.[35] Bender withdrew from the squad to finish the season with Colchester.

In September 2011 Bender was involved in three games in the Qualifying round of the 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. He captained the team against Belgium but was subbed off,[36] He played the full 90 minutes as captain against Scotland[37] and in the third game he came off the bench to score against Slovenia.[38]

Under 21

Bender was called up as a stand-by player for the Wales under-21 side for a friendly against Malta on 10 August 2010.[39] He was named on the bench for the game, coming on to make his debut as a substitute in place of David Stephens.[40]

Bender was also named in the squad for 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification Group 3 matches against Italy and Hungary.[41] But he didn't feature in those games.

Bender was put on the Stand-By list for a friendly against Austria on 17 November.[42] Bender was called up on 15 November to be part of the squad for the friendly against Austria.[43] Bender came on as a 79th minute sub against Austria as Wales won the game 1 – 0.[44]

Bender was once again called up for the Under 21s this time for a friendly against Northern Ireland on 9 February 2011.[45] He came on as a substitute in the 56th minute.[46]

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

Bender was called up for a 2013 UEFA U21 Championship Qualifying match against Andorra on 29 March 2011,[47] He was named on the bench for this game.[48] but was unused.[49]

Bender was called up for a friendly on 10 August vs Hungary.[50] He came on as a sub for this game.[51]

Bender was named as Stand-By player for a qualifier against Montenegro.[52]

Tom was once again called up for the Under 21s, this time for a qualifier against Andorra.[53] Bender withdrew from the squad due to injury.[54]

Bender was named on the Stand-By list for Geraint Williams' first two matches in charge, the first a friendly against Armenia[55] and the second a 2013 UEFA U21 Championship Qualifying match against Czech Republic.

Career statistics
As of match played 1 January 2015.
Club statistics
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Colchester United 2009–10[56] League One 1000000010
2010–11[57] League One 0000001[lower-alpha 1]010
Total 1000001020
Accrington Stanley (loan) 2011–12[58] League Two 2010001[lower-alpha 1]040
Chelmsford City (loan) 2012–13[59] Conference South 2000—0020
Welling United (loan) 2013–14[60] Conference Premier 11000—00110
Dartford 2014–15[61] Conference Premier 16030—1[lower-alpha 2]0200
Career total 320400030390
  1. Appearance in Football League Trophy
  2. Appearance in FA Trophy
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References
  1. "FootballSquads – Colchester United – 2012/13". FootballSquads. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  2. "Colchester 2–0 Hartlepool". BBC Sport. 19 September 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  3. "Tom enters the records books". cu-fc.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  4. "U'S Flash: Tom Signs Pro Deal". cu-fc.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  5. "Tom Bender expresses his relief at signing new U's deal". EADT. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  6. Fazackerley, Karen (4 October 2010). "Accrington match called off after Tom Bender head injury". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  7. "Clarets Complete Double Loan Capture". Blue Square South. 30 November 2012. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  8. "U's Flash: Bender Departs". Colchester United F.C. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  9. "Millwall sign ex-Colchester United youngster". London24. 27 March 2013. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  10. "Player News - Friday 26th September 2014". Dartford FC. 26 September 2014. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  11. "Dartford FC release defender Tom Bender". Kent Online. 4 January 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  12. "Forest Green Rovers sign ex-Dartford defender". BBC Sport. 28 February 2015.
  13. "Forest Green 5-3 Southport". BBC Sport. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  14. "Gateshead 2-4 Forest Green". BBC Sport. 18 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  15. "Six players released following play-off failure". BBC Sport. 4 May 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  16. "Forest Green defender Tom Bender joins St Albans City on loan". Stroud News & Journal. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  17. "Corby Moore and Tom Bender leave Forest Green Rovers". Stroud News & Journal. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  18. "Wales 3–2 Iceland". faw.org.uk. 28 September 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  19. "Wales 2–2 Bosnia-Herzegovina". faw.org.uk. 30 September 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  20. Archived 14 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  21. https://web.archive.org/web/20100403221146/http://www.faw.org.uk/news/1649. Archived from the original on 3 April 2010. Retrieved 29 June 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  31. https://web.archive.org/web/20151117110605/http://www.faw.org.uk/fixtures-events/results/match/497. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  36. "Under-19 2012 – Belgium-Wales –". Uefa.com. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  37. "Under-19 2012 – Wales-Scotland –". Uefa.com. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  38. "Under-19 2012 – Slovenia-Wales –". Uefa.com. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  39. https://web.archive.org/web/20100806131045/http://www.faw.org.uk/news/1780. Archived from the original on 6 August 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  40. "Malta 1–1 Wales". Football Association of Wales. 10 August 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  42. http://www.faw.org.uk/news/1943
  43. http://www.faw.org.uk/news/1960
  44. http://www.faw.org.uk/fixtures-events/results/match/506
  45. http://www.faw.org.uk/news/2022
  46. http://www.faw.org.uk/fixtures-events/results/match/522
  47. http://www.faw.org.uk/news/2090
  48. http://www.faw.org.uk/news/2115
  49. http://www.faw.org.uk/fixtures-events/results/match/536
  50. http://www.faw.org.uk/news/FAW61927.ink
  51. http://www.faw.org.uk/MatchReport.ink?matchid=39778&section=Home&type=m
  52. http://www.faw.org.uk/news/FAW62242.ink
  53. http://www.faw.org.uk/news/FAW82438.ink
  54. http://www.faw.org.uk/news/FAW82494.ink
  55. http://www.faw.org.uk/news/FAW85458.ink
  56. "Colchester 2009/2010 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 January 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
  57. "Colchester 2010/2011 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 January 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
  58. "Accrington 2011/2012 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 January 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
  59. "Wales – T. Bender – Soccerway". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  60. "Games played by Tom Bender in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 September 2014. Select season required via dropdown menu.
  61. "Games played by Tom Bender in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 September 2014. Select season required via dropdown menu.
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