Erroll Bennett

Tahitian footballer

Erroll Bennett (born 7 May 1950) is a former Tahitian footballer, who spent most of his career with AS Central Sport. Bennett placed fifteenth in a 1999 poll by International Federation of Football History & Statistics to find the Player of the Century for Oceania.^[1]

Bennett was part of the Tahitian national squad for the 1973 Oceania Cup, the first ever Oceania-wide international soccer tournament. Bennett scored three goals in the tournament, and played in the final, which Tahiti lost 2–0 to New Zealand.^[2]

He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in 1977 after which he refused to play football on Sundays. Following Bennett's baptism, Napoléon Spitz, the head of Bennett's team, held a meeting in which he said his team would stop Sunday play and all football teams in that division agreed to move games to weeknights.

Bennett was also a police officer in Tahiti. He is the father of Naea Bennett, who also played for Tahiti national team.^[3]

References

^ "IFFHS Century Elections". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2016-01-12. Retrieved 2010-11-03.
^ "Oceanian Cup 1973". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-11-03.
^ Article from Richard Vansam, in France Football, n°1.855, 27 october 1981, page 23.