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.”
