Benjamin James Greenhalgh (born 16 April 1992) is an English football manager who is currently the player-manager of Dartford.
He is noted for winning the football reality show Football's Next Star, where he won a contract at Italian giants Inter Milan and is also a golfer.
Career
Football's Next Star Greenhalgh, from Orpington, who played for the Welling United youth team, was featured in the Sky One show Football's Next Star and impressed judges in the trial game after laying on a perfect cross for Hicham Abdellah to head home. At the end of the opening episode, the judges presented the Inter Milan shirt to ten players who would travel to Italy to compete for their dream of a professional contract in later episodes.
After 20,000 entries to the show and eight episodes, Greenhalgh was given the shirt and revealed as the winner of Football's Next Star 2010, receiving a professional six-month contract with Inter Milan.
Back in the United Kingdom After his six-month professional contract at Inter Milan came to an end, Greenhalgh was offered another year from the Italian giants which included a four-month loan spell to Calcio Como, where he scored eight goals from 12 games. Despite never playing a senior game during his time with Inter Milan, Greenhalgh was presented with a Champions League winners medal after being part of the travelling squad for the 2010 UEFA Champions League Final. After his contract was up, he returned to the UK and spent time at Brighton & Hove Albion, as well as a spell at Birmingham City, where he was advised to play first team football in the Conference to gain experience in the English game. He signed for non-League club Welling United in December, before later joining Ebbsfleet United and Maidstone United.
In June 2013 he transferred to Scottish club Inverness Caledonian Thistle. This was due to happen in February 2013, however international clearance stopped Greenhalgh from leaving England until the 2013–14 season. Having played only six first-team games for Inverness, Greenhalgh was loaned to Scottish League One club Stenhousemuir for the final six games of the season. In June 2014 it was reported that Inverness had opted not to offer Greenhalgh a further contract, with manager John Hughes stating that he could not guarantee Greenhalgh first-team football.
It was announced on 22 June 2015, that Greenhalgh had signed for National League South side Concord Rangers, returning to a club where he had made a big impact during the run-in of the 2012–13 season, winning both the Isthmian League Cup, and the Isthmian League Premier Division play-offs.
On 26 May 2016, Greenhalgh had signed for Maidstone United again. He was released by Maidstone a year later in May 2017. He was immediately signed by National League South side Hemel Hempstead Town, who had Greenhalgh on loan towards the back end of the 2016–17 season.
On 24 May 2018, Greenhalgh had signed for Dartford.
On 8 November 2019, Greenhalgh had signed for Tonbridge Angels on an initial month's loan. His loan was then extended until 4 January 2020. On 7 January 2020, he left Dartford by mutual consent. The following day, Greenhalgh signed permanently for Tonbridge Angels.
On 6 April 2021, Greenhalgh signed for Margate for the 2021–22 season. Greenhalgh was appointed captain ahead of the 2022–23 season. In December 2022, the sacking of Andy Drury saw Greenhalgh appointed joint-caretaker manager with fellow player Reece Prestedge. On 31 January 2023, Prestedge was appointed manager on a permanent basis with Greenhalgh as his assistant manager. Following relegation at the end of the 2023–24 season, Greenhalgh was named player-manager.
On 7 May 2026, Greenhalgh returned to Dartford as first-team manager.
Personal life In 2015 he became a professional golfer and joined the PGA circuit, playing in one-day golf tournaments while continuing to play semi-professional football.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsWelling United2009–10Conference South1000—0010Inter Milan2010–11Serie A 0000—0000Como (loan)2010–11Lega Pro Prima Divisione Group A12800——128Welling United2011–12Conference South163——00163Ebbsfleet United2012–13Conference Premier10110—1Appearance(s) in FA Trophy0121Maidstone United2012–13Isthmian League Division One South30———30Concord Rangers2012–13Isthmian League Premier Division115———115Inverness Caledonian Thistle2013–14Scottish Premiership600000—60Stenhousemuir (loan)2013–14Scottish League One63———63Maidstone United2014–15Isthmian League Premier Division461053—4Two appearances in FA Trophy, two appearances and one goal in Alan Turvey Trophy15514Concord Rangers2015–16National League South421310—214514Maidstone United2016–17National League21220—21253Hemel Hempstead Town (loan)2016–17National League South184———184Hemel Hempstead Town2017–18National League South11420—00134Concord Rangers2017–18National League South278——10288Dartford2018–19National League South42420—3Appearance(s) in Kent Senior Cup04742019–20National League South12330—00153Dartford total547500030627Tonbridge Angels (loan)2019–20National League South81———81Tonbridge Angels2019–20National League South71———712020–21National League South11142—10163Tonbridge Angels total263420010315Margate2021–22Isthmian League Premier Division421830—10Appearance(s) in Velocity TrophyAppearance(s) in Kent Senior Cup655242022–23Isthmian League Premier Division421220—8Appearance(s) in Velocity Cup552172023–24Isthmian League Premier Division391441—2Appearance(s) in Velocity Cup045152024–25Isthmian League South East Division411064—7Appearance(s) in Kent Senior CupAppearance(s) in Velocity CupAppearance(s) in Isthmian League South East Division play-offs354172025–26Isthmian League South East Division402220—5Appearance(s) in Kent Senior CupAppearance(s) in Velocity Cup04722Margate total2047617500321425395Dartford2026–27Isthmian League Premier Division10241—11154Career total5241494111004718612178
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenureTeamFromToRecordMargate (joint-caretaker)26 December 202231 January 2023Margate (player-manager)29 May 20247 May 2026Dartford7 May 2026PresentTotal
References
External links