Nathan Bennett

I bumped into Nathans mom today, thought you would like to know that Nathan is now living Stratford way, happily married and expecting a child due on 29th dec.
He has not played since his injury and now 36 will probably hang up his boots.

His parents follow us on twitter and send their best for Sat and the rest of the season.

Great footballer and a good bloke, a true Stour Legend.

Brian Handy wrote:I bumped into Nathans mom today, thought you would like to know that Nathan is now living Stratford way, happily married and expecting a child due on 29th dec.
He has not played since his injury and now 36 will probably hang up his boots.

His parents follow us on twitter and send their best for Sat and the rest of the season.

Great footballer and a good bloke, a true Stour Legend.

No wonder Nathan has officially retired if he's pregnant!

Seriously though, Big Nath is a top bloke,the quietest, most likeable player at any level of the game that I've had the pleasure to know and see play. I'd go as far as saying he was my all time favourite Stour player. Good luck and best wishes to him and his family. He will never be forgotten at Stour.

Nath wrote:

Brian Handy wrote:I bumped into Nathans mom today, thought you would like to know that Nathan is now living Stratford way, happily married and expecting a child due on 29th dec.
He has not played since his injury and now 36 will probably hang up his boots.

His parents follow us on twitter and send their best for Sat and the rest of the season.

Great footballer and a good bloke, a true Stour Legend.

No wonder Nathan has officially retired if he's pregnant!

Seriously though, Big Nath is a top bloke,the quietest, most likeable player at any level of the game that I've had the pleasure to know and see play. I'd go as far as saying he was my all time favourite Stour player. Good luck and best wishes to him and his family. He will never be forgotten at Stour.

I echo that 100% Mr Gulliver sir,a complete legend in my eyes ( both of you in fact! )

Our defence and team have never been the same since Nathan departed,a certain spirit departed Amblecote the day that the pair of you left actually.

I'd love to see Nathan Bennett back at the club in some capacity,surely HE does warrant a place in our extended back room staff,i'm sure he has lot's to give in that area.

I wish him all the very best for the future and I hope his young family thrives and that 20 years from now I get to witness a young Bennett dominating opposing defenders.

I'll continue to cherish to group "man hug" I enjoyed with Nathan in the Shed End the night he scored that cracker against Gosport in the play off semi final,was that his last ever Stour goal

A final few words to you young Mr Gulliver…..it really is time you got back down to Amblecote,you have so many friends down there mate and your great humour and presence is missed,don't leave it too long before visiting us again.

Devil's Advocate wrote:

Nath wrote:

Brian Handy wrote:I bumped into Nathans mom today, thought you would like to know that Nathan is now living Stratford way, happily married and expecting a child due on 29th dec.
He has not played since his injury and now 36 will probably hang up his boots.

His parents follow us on twitter and send their best for Sat and the rest of the season.

Great footballer and a good bloke, a true Stour Legend.

No wonder Nathan has officially retired if he's pregnant!

Seriously though, Big Nath is a top bloke,the quietest, most likeable player at any level of the game that I've had the pleasure to know and see play. I'd go as far as saying he was my all time favourite Stour player. Good luck and best wishes to him and his family. He will never be forgotten at Stour.

I echo that 100% Mr Gulliver sir,a complete legend in my eyes ( both of you in fact! )

Our defence and team have never been the same since Nathan departed,a certain spirit departed Amblecote the day that the pair of you left actually.

I'd love to see Nathan Bennett back at the club in some capacity,surely HE does warrant a place in our extended back room staff,i'm sure he has lot's to give in that area.

I wish him all the very best for the future and I hope his young family thrives and that 20 years from now I get to witness a young Bennett dominating opposing defenders.

I'll continue to cherish to group "man hug" I enjoyed with Nathan in the Shed End the night he scored that cracker against Gosport in the play off semi final,was that his last ever Stour goal

A final few words to you young Mr Gulliver…..it really is time you got back down to Amblecote,you have so many friends down there mate and your great humour and presence is missed,don't leave it too long before visiting us again.

I agree DA, Nathan Bennett would be very useful to have in some capacity back at Stour at some point in the future for a number of reasons.

Firstly, his natural leadership qualities are a very rare commodity and that it itself would no doubt earn the respect of some of the younger or more inexperienced squad members and/or the youth team squad. Secondly, his skills from his day job (Secondary school Maths and Sports teacher) would also fit in quite nicely with maybe a role within the youth set up some way?

We best hope his missus has a lad then if we are hoping for a Bennett markII in 20 years! Saying that, a 6ft tall 20 year old girl with legs up to her armpits might be worth watching gracing the number 6 shirt!

I'd love to be able to get back to Amblecote more often mate but being stuck living in the middle of nowhere without a car and with public transport being pretty much non existent it is easier said than done! I did do the Tividale game and I'm hoping to be there 'glory hunting' on Saturday too and then I'll take things from there!

Many happy memories of Nathan,few seasons ago at Barwell,I think! He was near the opposing penalty area,that is true,he got fouled outside the box but the ref gave a penalty lol played at Rugby in a cup match but Nathan was injured upon asking how he said pulled his back lifting a trampoline at work lol

Nathan was absolutely brilliant - definitely my favourite ever player to put on a Stour shirt (supporting since 2002).

He was superb in defence and yet his free kicks conceded and yellow cards awarded count must be in single figures.

He also scored plenty of crucial goals for us - the equaliser at Leamington in the play off final, a last gasp equaliser at Romulus the season we were promoted out of the Midland Alliance, the play-off semi final opener v Gosport, and many more.

My memory even recalls him scoring against us for Cradley Town back in the day!

What amazed me was his seamless transition from playing in the Alliance for us, all the way up to Southern Premier level, and he just seemed to be at home in the higher leagues straight away.

Will be sorely missed at the club and like it has been mentioned it would be great to see him back in some sort of capacity at the club in future.

stour_boy wrote:Nathan was absolutely brilliant - definitely my favourite ever player to put on a Stour shirt (supporting since 2002).

He was superb in defence and yet his free kicks conceded and yellow cards awarded count must be in single figures.

He also scored plenty of crucial goals for us - the equaliser at Leamington in the play off final, a last gasp equaliser at Romulus the season we were promoted out of the Midland Alliance, the play-off semi final opener v Gosport, and many more.

My memory even recalls him scoring against us for Cradley Town back in the day!

What amazed me was his seamless transition from playing in the Alliance for us, all the way up to Southern Premier level, and he just seemed to be at home in the higher leagues straight away.

Will be sorely missed at the club and like it has been mentioned it would be great to see him back in some sort of capacity at the club in future.

Like you say Stour_boy, Nathan's goal scoring record was superb, I can't think of a defender with a better one off the top of my head. For a few seasons either side of the promotion year from the Alliance, he was regularly in our top 3 or 4 leading scores for the season. It was common to see the three 'B's (Bellingham, Broadhurst and Bennett) at the top of our scoring charts, only one of the being a striker. As you also rightly say, Nathan made up part of the 'backbone' of our side that enabled us to progress up through the grades swiftly and with a certain degree of ease. It's wonderful to see the two remaining parts of that backbone (Lewis and Leon) still with us and still by all accounts playing very well from what I gather from recent comments on here.

Nath wrote:

stour_boy wrote:Nathan was absolutely brilliant - definitely my favourite ever player to put on a Stour shirt (supporting since 2002).

He was superb in defence and yet his free kicks conceded and yellow cards awarded count must be in single figures.

He also scored plenty of crucial goals for us - the equaliser at Leamington in the play off final, a last gasp equaliser at Romulus the season we were promoted out of the Midland Alliance, the play-off semi final opener v Gosport, and many more.

My memory even recalls him scoring against us for Cradley Town back in the day!

What amazed me was his seamless transition from playing in the Alliance for us, all the way up to Southern Premier level, and he just seemed to be at home in the higher leagues straight away.

Will be sorely missed at the club and like it has been mentioned it would be great to see him back in some sort of capacity at the club in future.

Like you say Stour_boy, Nathan's goal scoring record was superb, I can't think of a defender with a better one off the top of my head. For a few seasons either side of the promotion year from the Alliance, he was regularly in our top 3 or 4 leading scores for the season. It was common to see the three 'B's (Bellingham, Broadhurst and Bennett) at the top of our scoring charts, only one of the being a striker. As you also rightly say, Nathan made up part of the 'backbone' of our side that enabled us to progress up through the grades swiftly and with a certain degree of ease. It's wonderful to see the two remaining parts of that backbone (Lewis and Leon) still with us and still by all accounts playing very well from what I gather from recent comments on here.

Leon is back to his best Nath…..not suprising really,amazing what happens when a player get's played in his more natural position.

Lewis is Lewis……..Amblecote is never quite the same without the sound of "SQUEEEEEZE" being screamed every couple of minutes

He's playing extremely well although Baz reports that he does apparently have a dodgy back these days.

I always get this vision of Lewis flying around his goal then crawling out of bed for the rest of the week and hobbling everywhere like a 93 year old,speaking as someone who played until he was 43 and played his last full match when he was 48 i can confirm to Mr Solly that it only gets worse!

Devil's Advocate wrote:

Nath wrote:

stour_boy wrote:Nathan was absolutely brilliant - definitely my favourite ever player to put on a Stour shirt (supporting since 2002).

He was superb in defence and yet his free kicks conceded and yellow cards awarded count must be in single figures.

He also scored plenty of crucial goals for us - the equaliser at Leamington in the play off final, a last gasp equaliser at Romulus the season we were promoted out of the Midland Alliance, the play-off semi final opener v Gosport, and many more.

My memory even recalls him scoring against us for Cradley Town back in the day!

What amazed me was his seamless transition from playing in the Alliance for us, all the way up to Southern Premier level, and he just seemed to be at home in the higher leagues straight away.

Will be sorely missed at the club and like it has been mentioned it would be great to see him back in some sort of capacity at the club in future.

Like you say Stour_boy, Nathan's goal scoring record was superb, I can't think of a defender with a better one off the top of my head. For a few seasons either side of the promotion year from the Alliance, he was regularly in our top 3 or 4 leading scores for the season. It was common to see the three 'B's (Bellingham, Broadhurst and Bennett) at the top of our scoring charts, only one of the being a striker. As you also rightly say, Nathan made up part of the 'backbone' of our side that enabled us to progress up through the grades swiftly and with a certain degree of ease. It's wonderful to see the two remaining parts of that backbone (Lewis and Leon) still with us and still by all accounts playing very well from what I gather from recent comments on here.

Leon is back to his best Nath…..not suprising really,amazing what happens when a player get's played in his more natural position.

Lewis is Lewis……..Amblecote is never quite the same without the sound of "SQUEEEEEZE" being screamed every couple of minutes

He's playing extremely well although Baz reports that he does apparently have a dodgy back these days.

I always get this vision of Lewis flying around his goal then crawling out of bed for the rest of the week and hobbling everywhere like a 93 year old,speaking as someone who played until he was 43 and played his last full match when he was 48 i can confirm to Mr Solly that it only gets worse!

Not forgetting that other famous Lewis cry of "Big Winners!!" as our Centre Backs prepare to meet a ball in the air!

Baz certainly seems to be 'in the know' when it comes to our players having dodgy backs, that's the second reference to Baz's knowledge about a Stour player having a dodgy back in this thread!

It's great to hear that Leon is back to his best and Lewis is playing well, just a shame that Nathan Bennett is missing from the old brigade. I know time moves on and we all get older. It will be nice to think that the younger members of the current squad will develop together and stay at the club and make as much of an impact over the course of many seasons to come like that squad of 8-10 years ago did.

Nath wrote:

Devil's Advocate wrote:

Nath wrote:

stour_boy wrote:Nathan was absolutely brilliant - definitely my favourite ever player to put on a Stour shirt (supporting since 2002).

He was superb in defence and yet his free kicks conceded and yellow cards awarded count must be in single figures.

He also scored plenty of crucial goals for us - the equaliser at Leamington in the play off final, a last gasp equaliser at Romulus the season we were promoted out of the Midland Alliance, the play-off semi final opener v Gosport, and many more.

My memory even recalls him scoring against us for Cradley Town back in the day!

What amazed me was his seamless transition from playing in the Alliance for us, all the way up to Southern Premier level, and he just seemed to be at home in the higher leagues straight away.

Will be sorely missed at the club and like it has been mentioned it would be great to see him back in some sort of capacity at the club in future.

Like you say Stour_boy, Nathan's goal scoring record was superb, I can't think of a defender with a better one off the top of my head. For a few seasons either side of the promotion year from the Alliance, he was regularly in our top 3 or 4 leading scores for the season. It was common to see the three 'B's (Bellingham, Broadhurst and Bennett) at the top of our scoring charts, only one of the being a striker. As you also rightly say, Nathan made up part of the 'backbone' of our side that enabled us to progress up through the grades swiftly and with a certain degree of ease. It's wonderful to see the two remaining parts of that backbone (Lewis and Leon) still with us and still by all accounts playing very well from what I gather from recent comments on here.

Leon is back to his best Nath…..not suprising really,amazing what happens when a player get's played in his more natural position.

Lewis is Lewis……..Amblecote is never quite the same without the sound of "SQUEEEEEZE" being screamed every couple of minutes

He's playing extremely well although Baz reports that he does apparently have a dodgy back these days.

I always get this vision of Lewis flying around his goal then crawling out of bed for the rest of the week and hobbling everywhere like a 93 year old,speaking as someone who played until he was 43 and played his last full match when he was 48 i can confirm to Mr Solly that it only gets worse!

Not forgetting that other famous Lewis cry of "Big Winners!!" as our Centre Backs prepare to meet a ball in the air!

Baz certainly seems to be 'in the know' when it comes to our players having dodgy backs, that's the second reference to Baz's knowledge about a Stour player having a dodgy back in this thread!

It's great to hear that Leon is back to his best and Lewis is playing well, just a shame that Nathan Bennett is missing from the old brigade. I know time moves on and we all get older. It will be nice to think that the younger members of the current squad will develop together and stay at the club and make as much of an impact over the course of many seasons to come like that squad of 8-10 years ago did.

Last season players weren't even staying 8-10 days or weeks Nathan let alone years

I know I haven't been around to witness much of it first hand over the last couple of years but surely it's no coincidence that this season's better results have gone hand in hand with us having what appears to be a more settled starting 11? The Alliance promotion winning side from 2005 and then for the next few seasons in the Southern League especially,the side picked itself, the squad hardly changed with just 2 or 3 players coming and going each season, if that. That togetherness and familiarity about the place were probably the main reasons for our continual progress at that time. Like I said earlier, that backbone of Lewis, Nathan and Leon were an integral part of that. It would be lovely if the current crop of players could develop together at Stour in a similar way. I know we have a couple of older, vastly experienced lads up front who seem to be doing exactly what is required at this level but the rest of the squad seem young enough to hang around and stick together for a few years to come.