Erroll Bennett

**Erroll Bennett** (7 May 1950 – 2 June 2025) was a Tahitian footballer. He mainly played as a forward for A.S. Central Sport and Paris Saint-Germain. He was capped 46 times for Tahiti, and played for them at the 1973 and 1980 Oceania Cups. He also helped Tahiti win the South Pacific Games tournament three times. In 1999, he was placed 15th in a poll by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics to decide Oceania's Player of the Century.

After retiring from football, Bennett worked as a police officer in Tahiti. His son, Naea Bennett, was also a footballer who played for Tahiti.

Bennett died on 2 June 2025, at the age of 75.

## Career statistics

|National team|Year|Apps|Goals||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="8"|Tahiti|1973|5|3|
|1974|3|0|||
|1975|5|0|||
|1978|3|0|||
|1979|5|7|||
|1980|9|2|||
|1981|9|3|||
|1983|5|0|||

- _Tahiti score listed first, score column indicates score after each Bennett goal_

|scope="col"|No.|scope="col"|Date|scope="col"|Venue|scope="col"|Opponent|scope="col"|Score|scope="col"|Result|scope="col"|Competition|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1|17 February 1973|Newmarket Park, Auckland, New Zealand||1–?|2–1|1973 Oceania Cup||||||||
|2|18 February  1973|Newmarket Park, Auckland, New Zealand||1–?|1–1|1973 Oceania Cup||||||||
|3|21 February 1973|Newmarket Park, Auckland, New Zealand||1–0|1–0|1973 Oceania Cup||||||||
|style="text-align: center;"|4|rowspan="3"|29 August 1979|rowspan="3"|Buckhurst Park, Suva, Fiji|rowspan="3"||rowspan="3" style="text-align:center"|?–0|rowspan="3" style="text-align:center"|8–0|rowspan="3"|1979 South Pacific Games|
|style="text-align: center;"|5|||||||||||||
|style="text-align: center;"|6|||||||||||||
|style="text-align: center;"|7|3 September 1979|Buckhurst Park, Suva, Fiji||style="text-align:center"|1–0|style="text-align:center"|1–0|1979 South Pacific Games|||||
|style="text-align: center;"|8|rowspan="2"|4 September 1979|rowspan="2"|Buckhurst Park, Suva, Fiji|rowspan="2"||rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|?–2|rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|3–2|rowspan="2"|1979 South Pacific Games|
|style="text-align: center;"|9|||||||||||||
|style="text-align: center;"|10|rowspan="2"|7 September 1979|rowspan="2"|Buckhurst Park, Suva, Fiji|rowspan="2"||style="text-align:center"|2–0|rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|3–0|rowspan="2"|1979 South Pacific Games|
|style="text-align: center;"|11|style="text-align:center"|3–0|||||||||||
|style="text-align: center;"|12|25 February 1980|Stade Numa-Daly Magenta, Nouméa, New Caledonia||style="text-align:center"|3–1|style="text-align:center"|3–1|1980 Oceania Cup|||||
|style="text-align: center;"|13|1 March 1980|Stade Numa-Daly Magenta, Nouméa, New Caledonia||style="text-align:center"|2–?|style="text-align:center"|2–4|1980 Oceania Cup|||||
|style="text-align: center;"|14|14 July 1981|Lawson Tama Stadium, Honiara, Solomon Islands||style="text-align:center"|1–0|style="text-align:center"|1–0|1981 South Pacific Mini Games|||||
|style="text-align: center;"|15|15 July 1981|Lawson Tama Stadium, Honiara, Solomon Islands||style="text-align:center"|?–0|style="text-align:center"|6–0|1981 South Pacific Mini Games|||||

## Honours

- A.S. Central Sport
- Tahiti Ligue 1 (14): 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982
- Tahiti Cup (9): 1966, 1967, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983

- Tahiti
- Oceania Cup runner-up: 1973, 1980
- South Pacific Games: 1975, 1979, 1983

## Other websites

- Michael Otterson. "Erroll Bennett: Tahitian Soccer Star", _Ensign_, Oct. 1982.
- _Meridian Magazine_ article with section on Bennett

## Infobox (football biography)

- **name**: Erroll Bennett
- **birth place**: Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
- **position**: Forward (association football), Forward
- **youthyears1**: 1963–1966
- **youthclubs1**: A.S. Central Sport
- **years1**: 1966–1972
- **clubs1**: A.S. Central Sport
- **years2**: 1972
- **clubs2**: Paris Saint-Germain
- **caps2**: 0
- **goals2**: 0
- **years3**: 1972
- **clubs3**: Paris Saint-Germain FC Youth Academy, Paris Saint-Germain Reserves
- **years4**: 1972–1983
- **clubs4**: A.S. Central Sport
- **nationalyears1**: 1973–1983
- **nationalteam1**: Tahiti national football team, Tahiti
- **nationalcaps1**: 46
- **nationalgoals1**: 15+