john benson has died

Sad news. R.I.P. John

I am very sad to hear this news.

I met John Benson in 1996, when I worked at Springfield Park for a short time. It was my first day at the club, and as the players and coaching staff arrived for training, John Benson suddenly appeared, introduced himself, and then sat down at my desk and talked with me for about 10 minutes, asking me about myself and what I was doing, etc. He seemed a really decent bloke. Down to earth, certainly.
And when he later took over as manager, and we had that forward line of Howarth, Barlow, and Liddell, perhaps it was ahead of it’s time? We played cavallier football at times, and of course we went all the way to the play off final. We lost that day, but perhaps as a club, it was for the best, as it may have been too soon for us as a club.

Many Wigan Athletic fans, and I’m not going to hide it, have used him as a scapegoat. Someone to aim criticism at easily, for whatever reason. It’s alway’s puzzled me why. Nobody is perfect. Whether there was truth in his so-called ‘fall out’ with Stuart Barlow, I don’t know. But that kind of thing has always happened in football. It always will. I remember when we played away at Bournemouth, the last game of the season. A rumour went around that John Benson had been ‘assaulted’ by a so-called Latics ‘fan’, whilst in a piano bar opposite the squad’s hotel. I really hope it was just a rumour, as nobody deserves that. We all think we are football managers and know better than them. Wemight be able to talk the talk, but we can’t walk the walk. (Like to think we can)

It seems coincidental that John Benson has passed away so soon after Malcolm Allison, as the two men were connected in certain ways, and through John Bond and spells at Man City.

Whatever you may have thought of John Benson, please remember he did actually play a part in our success, and our rise up the leagues.He was John Deehan’s assistant when we won the Third Division in 1996. He brought players to the club that included Andy Liddell and Arjan De Zeeuw, two players who would possibly get in most peoples all time best Latics side. More recently, he had tapped into the South and Central American market. I have no doubt whatsoever that he did his best for us.

I offer sincere condolences to his family, and all who knew him. John Benson. A football man in the greater sense.

R.I.P.

ditto R.I.P

Well said that para, well done bang on mate.

it was a shock & a half when i was reading the match report on teletext this morning. RIP john.

That explains the armbands then.

RIP John