Youth team product returns to the Beacon after two years away
Another former favourite will return to the Beacon for 2022-23 with James Westlake securing the signature of forward Liam Benson from Saltdean United.
Benson last played for the Robins in the 2019-20 season, his third spell with the club since making his senior debut in 2014. Since then, he has made 134 appearances for the Robins and scored 31 goals.
A part of the Under 18s side who won the Southern Combination Youth League Central Division title in the 2013-14 season, Benson scored 22 times from 27 outings to fire the Robins to their first championship in eight years.
He made his first team debut towards the end of that campaign, coming on as a substitute in a 1-0 win over Dorking Wanderers. Benson’s Under 18s teammate Dan Stokes scored the only goal that evening.
Benson made his first start 48 hours later as Hassocks were beaten away at already crowned Southern Combination champions East Preston.
Over the next three seasons, Benson was a regular scorer for the Reserves and then the Under 21s once development squad football was introduced by the Southern Combination League.
He netted 13 times from 30 matches for the Reserves in 2014-15, five in nine for the Under 21s in 2015-16 season and then 15 times from 16 outings in 2016-17.
That form saw Mark Dalgleish and Phil Wickwar had Benson his first team opportunity. He duly responded with 10 goals in 29 appearances, the highlight of which was a superb double when Hassocks shocked eventual champions Shoreham by hammering the Musselmen 4-1 in February 2017.
Benson began the 2017-18 season in equally impressive form, racking up seven goals from 22 games before joining Lancing as the Robins struggled to pull away from the bottom three.
He spent eight months at Culver Road, including scoring twice against Hassocks in March 2018 before returning to the Beacon for a second spell ahead of the 2018-19 campaign.
Benson made more appearances than any other Robin that season, playing 44 times and finding the net on 13 occasions. His partnership with 27-goal Phil Johnson was a big reason for Hassocks landing their highest finish of the past eight years.
The summer of 2019 saw Benson move again for a brief spell at Steyning Town. After seven games at the Shooting Field, he returned to the Beacon and scored once in 23 matches as Hassocks struggled before Covid-19 brought an early end to the 2019-20 season.
Benson moved to Peacehaven & Telscombe ahead of the 2020-21 campaign alongside Alex Spinks and Harry Mills. He played 25 times for the Tye before heading to Haywards Heath Town midway through last season, finishing the campaign with six outings for Premier Division runners up Saltdean.
Welcome back to the Beacon, Liam.
