Swindon Town striker Paul Benson has a Southend-supporting Dad second to none, and if he scores in south-east Essex Tuesday evening for his new club, he'll know what to expect when he visits the family home!
Benson: Celebrates his winner against Wigan on his debut!
Poor Paul Benson, it was bad enough a year ago in the JPT match against his last club Charlton, but at least he only sat on the subs bench, the odds are tomorrow he'll be in the starting eleven for Swindon Town in the League Two promotion six-pointer, and his Dad Charlie will be watching closely, as will his Mum, in opposite ends of the ground!
It would have been so much easier if he'd signed for the Shrimpers as was strongly rumoured a while back, and it seems words were spoken.
Speaking to
www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk Benson said:
"They wanted to take me on loan but there was an issue of how much they could give Charlton in terms of a loan fee, so that move never materialised. After the option to come to Swindon on loan came about, although that was ultimately aborted, I made it clear to my agent that I wanted to come to Swindon and that really cancelled out anything that Southend might have done in January. There was a chance of going on loan before December but nothing permanent was going to materialise in January.”
However, he's a Robins man now, and knows he's in for a tough night.
Benson told BBC Points West: "We are under no illusions that we will be in for a really tough game. But we've got to go there, play our own way, and hopefully our style of play will enable us to come away with the three points."
Fair enough, but what about the old man?
Paul said: "My dad is a massive Southend fan. He's a season ticket holder and will be in the home end - shouting abuse at me - and my mum will be in the away end. It's going to be an interesting 90 minutes for me, personally."
The full interview is here: http://news.bbc.co.uk
How serious was the effort to sign Benson?: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk
Who will win the biggest game of the season so far?: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk
The Robins faithful speak: http://thetownend.com
The Benson Files
| Personal information |
|---|
| Full name |
Paul Andrew Benson[1] |
|---|
| Date of birth |
12 October 1979 (1979-10-12) (age 32) |
|---|
| Place of birth |
Southend-on-Sea, England |
|---|
| Height |
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
|---|
| Playing position |
Striker |
|---|
| Club information |
|---|
| Current club |
Swindon Town |
|---|
| Number |
9 |
|---|
| Youth career |
|---|
| 1997 |
Southend United |
|---|
| Senior career* |
|---|
| Years |
Team |
Apps† |
(Gls)† |
|---|
| 2003–2005 |
White Ensign |
62 |
(107) |
|---|
| 2005–2010 |
Dagenham & Redbridge |
174 |
(70) |
|---|
| 2010–2012 |
Charlton Athletic |
33 |
(10) |
|---|
| 2012– |
Swindon Town |
3 |
(1) |
|---|
| National team‡ |
|---|
| 2007 |
England C |
1 |
(1) |
|---|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:30, 26 January 2012 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:30, 26 January 2012 (UTC) |
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