Biography
Versatile defender and midfielder Ben Petty joined the Tigers in July 2001, reuniting with manager Brian Little who had managed Petty at both of his previous clubs. Little eased him into the City first team during the opening weeks of the 2001/02 season and he made his first start in a League Cup tie at Derby when City were forced to cope with the extravagant talents of Georgi Kinkladze and Fabrizio Ravanelli. He became a first team regular in mid-September, a watershed 3-1 win over Rochdale that suggested the Tigers were hitting a rich vein of form. Inspired by the goals of Gary Alexander and Lawrie Dudfield, Petty operated in the base of midfield before switching to full back positions in November. Over the festive period City’s form collapsed and Petty was dropped in mid-January after a 0-1 defeat against Carlisle. By the time he was restored to the first team in mid-March Brian Little was dismissed and Billy Russell was performing an interim manager’s role ahead of the appointment of Jan Molby. Petty made a handful of starts under Molby but by the end of August 2002 he made his last City appearance.
Born in Solihull, in the suburbs of Greater Birmingham, Benjamin James Petty came through the junior ranks at Aston Villa where he first came to the attention of manager Brian Little. Ben did not make a first team appearance for Villa but impressed enough for Little to take him to his new club Stoke City in November 1998. Petty was an occasional starter and useful substitute for Stoke over the next three seasons, making 65 senior appearances and scoring the only senior goal of his career in February 2001 during a 4-0 thumping of Walsall in the LDV Vans Trophy. The Saddlers had the last laugh though, dumping the Potteries side out of the League Division 2 play-off semi-finals three months later – Petty made a substitute appearance in the first leg of that semi-final, bringing down a Walsall forward as he advanced on goal in the last moments of a tense 0-0 draw and receiving a red card. This was his last appearance for Stoke City.
Petty was loaned to Midlands-base Southern Premier League side Moor Green in November 2002, playing briefly alongside his brother Jamie, then had a similar loan move to Stafford Rangers in December 2002. In February 2003 his Hull City contract was paid up and Petty signed for Conference National side Burton Albion, but by the following June he had returned to Moor Green. After three seasons in the Conference North with Moor Green, Ben spent 2006/07 season at Redditch United before bringing his playing career to a close.
Petty was awarded his football coaching badges while he was playing in non-league and in 2007 he joined the academy coaching staff at Aston Villa. In 2016 he moved to Leicester City, where he coached the Foxes’ under-23 side alongside experienced ex-Doncaster manager Steve Beaglehole.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 22 March 1977, Solihull
Hull City First Game: 21 August 2001, Wrexham A (League Cup First Round), 24 years, 152 days old
Hull City Final Game: 26 August 2002, Hartlepool United A (League Division 3), 25 years, 157 days old
Clubs
Aston Villa (1995-1998), Stoke City (1998-2001), Hull City (2001-2003), Moor Green (2002, loan), Stafford Rangers (2002-2003, loan), Burton Albion (2003), Moor Green (2003-2006), Redditch United (2006-2007)
Hull City Record
Career: 36 apps, 0 goals
Ben Petty| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001/02 | 22 (5) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | - | - | 3 (0) | 0 |
| 2002/03 | 2 (0) | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |