Grimsby Town Bennett was born in
Orsett, Essex. He came to prominence in 2006 when
Grimsby Town's youth team manager at the time,
Neil Woods swooped to sign him after he was let go by the youth setup at
Ipswich Town. Initially joining the club as part of the youth team midway through the 2006–07 campaign, he was soon promoted to the first team, managed at the time by
Alan Buckley. Bennett would make his professional debut as an 88th-minute substitute, replacing
Danny Boshell in a 2–1 win over
Milton Keynes Dons in April 2007. 21 days later he became the club's youngest ever captain, aged only 17 years old when Grimsby's all-time record appearance holder
John McDermott passed him the skippers armband after being substituted in the local derby with
Lincoln City. In the summer of 2007 Bennett had re-established himself as one of the club's favoured centre backs, and in this he was handed the number 5 shirt for the coming season. He scored his first goal in professional football on the opening day of the
2007–08 season when his header from six yards opened the scoring in the 1–1 draw with
Notts County at
Blundell Park. He won the club's Player of the Month award in August. In that same season, Bennett largely was favoured in the place of club captain
Justin Whittle in the heart of Town's defence, and he went on to play in the club's
Football League Trophy final defeat to
Milton Keynes Dons at
Wembley Stadium. In May 2008, Bennett was given the "Supporters Young Player of the year" for the 2007–08 season. With the appointment of
Mike Newell as first team manager in October 2008, Bennett was handed the captain's armband for the remainder of the 2008–2009 campaign aged only 18. This was down to the fact that the new signing
Matthew Heywood, who had also been designated the new club captain, had fallen out of favour following several unconvincing performances, and Newell had preferred a youthful back pairing of Bennett and
Rob Atkinson to the veteran duo of Heywood and
Richard Hope. Bennett was ever-present for the club during the 2008–09 season, and his consistently solid performances throughout a very difficult season for Grimsby saw Bennett win firstly the PFA Player of the Month for February, which would eventually be followed by several club accolades. He swept the board at the GTFC Player of the Year ceremony in May 2009, claiming the Supporters' Player of the Year award, Supporters' Young Player of the Year, as well as other minor awards. Newell made repeated reference to Bennett's professionalism and maturity, and his unflappable playing style in particular was impressive for such a young defender, whilst his height made him an asset at set pieces. Also, Bennett was described as comfortable on the ball. On 13 May 2009, Grimsby were reported to have turned down a bid from
Peterborough United after United's director of football
Barry Fry publicly revealed that The Mariners had politely turned down a proposed move, mentioning that Grimsby said 'thanks for the interest but we wouldn't sell him for £1m'. On 13 June, United stepped up in their aim to sign Bennett, and offered Grimsby a largely superior offer to their previous one. Grimsby chairman
John Fenty rejected the offer three days later mentioning that he did not feel it was in the club's best interest to let Bennett go. A week later Bennett confirmed he would be staying with Grimsby for the unforeseeable future by signing a new four-year deal to keep him at
Blundell Park until the end of the 2012–13 season.
Peterborough United in 2011 Bennett eventually did a U-turn and signed for Peterborough United on 23 October 2009 on an initial three-month loan deal with a view to a permanent move. Grimsby chairman
John Fenty had a change of heart, and following a slow start to the season for his club, he decided to cash in on the Town skipper only days after sacking manager
Mike Newell. Posh manager
Darren Ferguson said of the transfer: "Ryan is an excellent signing for us, he has potential and fits in with our policy of bringing good, young players to the football club". Bennett scored against Barnsley on 3 December, although Barnsley won 4–3. Bennett's final game for Peterborough was away at Doncaster; the Posh were 1–0 down in stoppage time until Bennett went down the wing and hooked the ball into the area for
Tyrone Barnett who headed in on his debut after coming off the bench.
Norwich City On 31 January 2012, Bennett signed for
Premier League side
Norwich City, for a reported £3.2 million. Club manager
Paul Lambert said of the transfer: "I'm delighted we have signed Ryan. He's made a bright start to his career at Grimsby and Peterborough; he's an England U21 international and he's got so much potential." Peterborough United defender
Gabriel Zakuani compared Ryan Bennett's move to Norwich to a "divorce". As part of the deal Bennett was immediately loaned back to Peterborough until the end of the month. Bennett was expected to sign for
Swansea City and had begun the drive down to the
Liberty Stadium only to be rung up and told to head for Norwich when the deal fell through. A 25% sell on clause meant that former club
Grimsby Town earned for from the deal, with Grimsby chairman
John Fenty revealing that
Barry Fry had failed in an attempt to buy out the clause. He scored his first goal for the club against
Reading on 20 April 2013, which Norwich won 2–1. He was voted as Norwich's Man of the Match for his performance, and would proceed to also achieve that feat twice more in the following home matches against
Aston Villa and
West Brom, the latter of which his shot was deflected off
Gareth McAuley after a
Wes Hoolahan free-kick and into the net. Bennett scored his first goal of the 2013–14 season in a crucial home game against
Hull City, where his 87th-minute header gave struggling Norwich a 1–0 victory. The goal eased pressure on manager
Chris Hughton, who had recently been under-fire for a string of constant poor performances dating back to early 2013. In May 2017, it was announced that Bennett would be released when his contract expired.
Wolverhampton Wanderers On 31 May 2017, he signed a three-year deal with
Wolverhampton Wanderers. Bennett scored his first goal for Wolves when he scored a last minute winner against
Bristol City on 30 December 2017. On 14 December 2018, it was announced that Bennett had extended his contract with Wolves until June 2021. On 19 January 2019, Bennett scored his debut
Premier League goal for Wolves, a header from a
João Moutinho corner, in a 4–3 victory over
Leicester City at
Molineux. This goal was the first goal for Wolves scored by an Englishman in the Premier League since
Matt Jarvis scored in a 3–2 defeat to
Wigan Athletic on
13 May 2012. On 7 April 2019, Bennett made his debut appearance in an
FA Cup semi-final (as a second-half substitute), as Wolves lost 2–3 to
Watford at
Wembley after extra time. On 25 July 2019, Bennett made his debut appearance in
UEFA European competition, playing the full 90 minutes of Wolves's
Europa League Qualifying Second Round First Leg match against
Crusaders of Northern Ireland. In the return leg on 1 August 2019, Bennett scored both for Wolves and an own-goal for Crusaders.
Leicester City (loan) On 31 January 2020, Bennett signed for
Leicester City on a loan deal until the end of the 2019–20 season, with an option to buy for £5 million at the end of the loan. Bennett was brought to the
King Power Stadium by
Brendan Rodgers to provide competition for
Jonny Evans and
Çağlar Söyüncü. He made his Leicester debut as a half-time substitute against
Crystal Palace on 4 July 2020.
Swansea City Bennett joined Swansea City on a permanent deal on 16 October 2020. Despite initially being a first team regular with Swansea, by March 2022, Bennett had fallen out of favour at Swansea, his manager
Russell Martin announced that consistency of other players and the loan signing of
Finley Burns from
Manchester City had pushed him down the pecking order. On 1 September 2022, Bennett was released by mutual consent. On 23 September 2022,
Grimsby Town boss
Paul Hurst said he would not rule out Bennett re-joining the club after he had begun training with the club again following his release by Swansea.
Cambridge United On 6 January 2023, Bennett signed a six-month contract with
EFL League One club
Cambridge United. He was voted as Cambridge's Player of the Month for March 2023. At the end of the 2022–23 season, Cambridge announced that they had offered Bennett a new contract for the 2023–2024 season. Amid speculation of a return to Grimsby Town following news that he had recently taken up residence in the local area, a transfer never materialised and on 3 July, Cambridge announced they had reached an agreement for Bennett to sign a new one-year deal. On 1 May 2024, Cambridge announced the player would be released at the end of his contract. In an interview with the Pink Un, Bennet said he is "done with playing" and outlined his ambitions to be a sporting director. ==International career==