William Harold Hendry (20 June 1869 – 4 May 1901) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a defender. Born in

Newport-on-Tay Newport-on-Tay is a small town in the north-east of Fife in Scotland, acting as a Commuting, commuter suburb for Dundee. The Fife Coastal Path passes through Newport-on-Tay. The area itself is surrounded by views of the two bridges that cross the ...

he played 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 ...

for

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

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 ...

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

Football career

Early career

After leaving school, Hendry, a talented forward, played for Dunblane Thistle and then Dundee Wanderers, usually at outside right, but he was soon to play football in England. There was no professional football at the time in Scotland, so those players with talents to sell crossed the border. In 1888, Hendry found himself playing for

in the first Football League season. Hendry made his League debut on 8 September 1888, in a 2–0 win against

at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

. Hendry scored his debut League goal on 29 September 1888 at Stoney Lane, against Burnley. He played 16 of the "Throstles" 22 Football League matches and scored three goals in 1888–89. Hendry, now playing as a centre forward was restless in his time with

the Baggies West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...

, and in April 1889 he joined

. While at Stoke Hendry was mainly used as a left-back and played 16 times scoring once. In January 1890 he joined

, who had just become Football League champions for a second time.

Sheffield United

In January 1891, Charles Stokes, the Chairman of

's football committee went to Preston and returned with the signatures of three Preston players in the hope of improving United's professionalism. The players he signed were

Jack Drummond Sir Jack Cecil Drummond FRIC, FRS (12 January 1891 – 4/5 August 1952) was a distinguished biochemist, noted for his work on nutrition as applied to the British diet under rationing during the Second World War. He was murdered, together with ...

, Sammy Dobson and Billy Hendry. Hendry made his debut for Sheffield United against Derby Junction on 28 February 1891 in a

Midland Football League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

match. It was Drummond who was to score the goal that took the Baldes into the First Division in 1893, but it was Hendry's signing that was the most significant. By now, Hendry had become a centre half. He was made team captain at Sheffield United and remained so until his career with the club ended in 1895. He was a small stocky player, described as neat, cool and calculating with 'exceptional skill'. His value to Sheffield United lay not just in the shrewdness and effectiveness of his play, but in the direction and leadership he gave to the club in the early years of Sheffield United in general. The United committee "set great value upon his options as to the arrangement and formation of the team, and placed confidence in his judgement... and ability as a player, a captain, and an adviser" It was also said that Hendry's advice and guidance helped the natural talents of

Ernest Needham Ernest Needham (21 January 1873 – 8 March 1936) was an English footballer and cricketer. He played in sixteen international football matches for England and captained the side in 1901. He was an outstanding left half who played for Sheffield ...

, who was to become an

England international The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affiliat ...

. Hendry sustained an injury during a New Year's Day friendly fixture at Leith Athletic in 1895 and it was thought that it would end his career. He played only four more games for United before being released the following summer.

Post Sheffield United

Despite his injury problems Hendry later went on to play for

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

then returned South of the border to play for

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 ...

before moving to Brighton United and finally to

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

where he remained until his death in 1901 from heart disease.

Professional Baseball

In 1890 Hendry played second base professionally for

Preston North End Baseball Club Preston North End Baseball Club were a short lived English professional baseball club, who played their home games at Deepdale, competing for the 1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain. Preston North End Baseball Club Limited were for ...

in the National League of Baseball of Great Britain.

Style of play

Hendry had an ability to skilfully dribble the ball, a technique not used in the traditional English game in the 1880s. (One source described Hendry had qualities of speed, headwork and whole-hearted endeavour.)

Career statistics

Honours

;

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

: Runners Up –

1893 Events January–March * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson. * January 6 – Th ...

Bibliography

*Clarebrough, Denis. ''From The past''. Sheffield United matchday programme, 10 January 1986.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hendry, Billy 1869 births 1901 deaths People from Newport-on-Tay Scottish footballers Men's association football defenders English Football League players Dundee Wanderers F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Bury F.C. players Brighton United F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Midland Football League players Northern Football League players Scottish baseball players