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Some Tottenham Hotspur players go on to have long and successful careers, but one former player has revealed that he retired young due to feeling disillusioned with football.
It takes a certain amount of bravery to join one half of North London after previously playing for the other, and this is what David Bentley did when he joined Tottenham Hotspur.
The ex-England international began his career at Arsenal, but joined Spurs in 2008, just two years after his departure.
Bentley spent five years at Tottenham, but much of his time there was spent on loan at various teams in England, as well as a temporary move to FC Rostov.
Spurs released Bentley in 2013 after he returned from a loan move to Blackburn Rovers. The winger was without a club for a year before he finally announced his retirement from football, despite being just 29 years old.
Bentley has now revealed why he made the decision to retire, and it was a result of feelings which began to emerge after Tottenham qualified for the Champions League in 2010.
He told Sky Sports News: “It was a sort of pattern which happened after the ice bucket incident [when Spurs beat Manchester City to qualify for the Champions League].
“It wasn’t that moment. It was just after that season where I sort of found myself out of the team, and then I took some loans that I shouldn’t have took.
“I went to West Ham on loan, I loved it at West Ham under Sam Allardyce. It was a great club, great environment. Kevin Nolan was club captain and I loved it.
“I ended up doing my knee, and I had a defect in my knee, similar to what sort of Ledley [King] has, and my knee wasn’t right.
“I don’t know, just that sort of pattern applied itself and then I just found myself a little bit disillusioned with the game and at that point I just naturally fell into retirement.”
After Bentley retired, he was so disenchanted with football that he couldn’t even bring himself to watch it. However, he has since rediscovered his love for the sport thanks to his son and now works as a TV pundit.
“I didn’t watch football,” Bentley continued. “I was hurt, it broke my heart having to give up the game that I love. I love every, every aspect of football, but for a period, I couldn’t even watch it, and now I can’t get enough of it.
“I’m back in love with the game. My little boy’s playing, and he is the one that sort of rekindled that love for the game and showed me exactly why I fell in love with football.
‘I’m glad and happy to be back loving every minute of it.”
Bentley never lifted silverware at Spurs but his NLD goal will be played for decades
Unfortunately for Bentley, he was signed soon after Tottenham won the League Cup, and so he never experienced a success of his own at the club.
The former Spurs player did come off the bench during the 2009 League Cup final against Manchester United, but he missed a penalty as Tottenham fell to defeat in a shootout.
In total, Bentley made 62 appearances for the Lilywhites across all competitions, registering five goals and 11 assists.
READ MORE – David Bentley makes worrying Micky van de Ven prediction ahead of telling Tottenham transfer windows
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