Benjamin John Heneghan (born 19 September 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

. He previously played for

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

, Sheffield United and

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

, as well as loan spells with

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

Career

Early years

Heneghan started his career at Everton, where he spent seven years. In 2012, he made the move to

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

, where he was a regular in the Under-21 Premier League and had a loan spell at struggling

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

side

Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester city centre and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the ...

. He didn't make a senior appearance for Stoke and was released at the end of the 2013–14 season. He then spent time on trial at Oldham Athletic and Accrington Stanley.

Chester

Heneghan joined

in August 2014, initially on non-contract terms. On 16 August, he debuted as a half-time substitute against

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team o ...

coming on at right back. On 30 August, Heneghan made his first start for Chester, against

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

replacing captain Matty Brown. He maintained his place in the squad playing mostly as a right back. On 24 September, Heneghan scored his first professional goal, a 94th-minute winner against

Cross-border derby The cross-border derby is a football match played between Wrexham and Chester. The clubs are 12 miles apart but are Welsh and English respectively (though Chester's Deva Stadium straddles the England–Wales border, and its pitch lies entire ...

rivals

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. Two days later he an agreed contract until the end of the season. Heneghan switched to his preferred central back position in January, when Chester finally signed right back Ryan Higgins. On 30 March, Heneghan and Higgins signed new contracts until the end of the 2015–16 season. Heneghan finished the season as a first choice centre back playing 44 matches and scoring eight goals, including valuable ones against Stockport County and Southend United in

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

matches. Heneghan started the 2015–16 season building a strong partnership in the middle of the defence with the experienced

Ian Sharps Ian William Sharps (born 23 October 1980) is an English former footballer who is currently First-Team Coach at Walsall Football Club. During his playing career he was a defender most commonly deployed at centre-back. Career Born in Warrington ...

, but was sent-off in the fifth game of the campaign as Chester lost 5–2 to

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

. On 19 September, Heneghan scored the winning goal against

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

. During the season Heneghan was reported to be attracting interest from clubs in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

and in Scotland, though he had not ruled out remaining with Chester.

Motherwell

On 23 June 2016,

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

club

confirmed the signing of Heneghan on a two-year deal. He made his début in a 2–0 home defeat against

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

in the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

. The defender spent a year in Scotland, playing exactly 50 games in all competitions, scoring one goal in a 2–1 home loss in the Scottish Premiership against Rangers.

Sheffield United

On 31 August 2017, Heneghan signed for Championship club Sheffield United on a three-year contract. He made his first and what turned out to be only appearance for Sheffield United in an

tie against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

in January 2018. He was transfer-listed by Sheffield United at the end of the 2017–18 season. On 3 July 2018, Heneghan moved to

on a season-long loan. After a difficult start, Heneghan settled into a defence that regularly kept clean sheets and became a fans favourite by the end of the season. On 23 August 2019, Heneghan returned to

on a loan deal until January. In January, this was extended until the end of the season. Heneghan left Sheffield United at the end of the 2019–20 season, having been released on a free transfer.

AFC Wimbledon

On 19 November 2020, Heneghan joined League One club

, having been a free agent following his release by Sheffield United. The length of contract was not disclosed. He made his debut for Wimbledon as a substitute against

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

on 21 November 2020. In his second appearance for the club he scored his first goal, in a 2–1 defeat to Gillingham on 24 November.

Sheffield Wednesday

On 14 June, it was announced Heneghan would join League One side

following the expiry of his AFC Wimbledon contract. He made his Wednesday debut, starting against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on 30 July 2022. In a match against Lincoln City on 22 October 2022, he would pick up a potential season-ending knee injury..

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heneghan, Ben 1993 births Living people English footballers Everton F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Chester F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players National League (English football) players Scottish Professional Football League players English Football League players Footballers from Manchester England semi-pro international footballers Association football defenders Droylsden F.C. players