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.
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.
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.
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.
External links
- Michael Otterson. "Erroll Bennett: Tahitian Soccer Star", Ensign, Oct. 1982.
- Meridian Magazine article with section on Bennett
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  | This biographical article relating to French Polynesian association football is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |
- 1950 births
- Converts to Mormonism
- French Polynesian Latter Day Saints
- Living people
- French Polynesian men's footballers
- Tahiti men's international footballers
- French Polynesian police officers
- 1973 Oceania Cup players
- 1980 Oceania Cup players
- Men's association football forwards
- French police officers
- 20th-century French sportsmen
- French Polynesian football biography stubs