Conor Alan Henderson (born 8 September 1991) is an Irish professional
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 ...
who plays as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
.
Career
Arsenal
A product of the
Arsenal Academy
The Arsenal Academy was a military academy in Columbia, South Carolina, originally established in 1842 as an independent school by the state of South Carolina. In 1845, the academy became a component of the South Carolina Military Academy (now Th ...
2009–10 Premier Academy League
The 2009–10 Premier Academy League Under–18 season is the thirteenth edition since the establishment of The Premier Academy League, and the sixth under the current make-up.
All teams played the other teams in their group twice and play 10 in ...
wins.
Henderson was named on the bench for the away trips to
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
and
Blackburn
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...
near the end of the 2009–10 season but did not make an appearance. On 2 March 2011, it was announced that he would make his debut against
Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...
in an
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 ...
replay. He played the full 90 minutes as Arsenal won 5–0.
Arsène Wenger
Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...
later stated after the match that he expects Henderson to be a future player for the first team. During pre-season, he damaged his knee ligaments. Arsène Wenger later said that he would be out for a minimum of six months. In March 2012 he played his first game in eight months in a behind-closed-doors match against
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
.
In September 2012, Henderson went on a three-month loan to
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...
, making his debut in a 2–1 home defeat to
Carlisle United
Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...
. However, Henderson's loan spell at Coventry City was marred by a spell on the substitution bench and injuries. After making two appearances, Henderson returned to his parent club on 23 December 2012.
Henderson was released by Arsenal after the end of the 2012–13 season, after failing to agree a new deal with the club.
Hull City
After impressing manager
Steve Bruce
Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Br ...
during two reserve matches, Henderson was signed by
Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
on 24 September 2013 on a free transfer and was given the number 30 shirt. Henderson made his debut against
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...
in the third round of the
Football League Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
and came on in the 74th minute, replacing fellow Irish midfielder
Stephen Quinn
Stephen Jude Quinn (born 1 April 1986) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Mansfield Town. He has also represented the Republic of Ireland national team.
He started his career with League of Ireland club St Patric ...
in a 1–0 win for the Tigers.
On 27 March 2014, Henderson went out on loan to
Stevenage
Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...
for the rest of the season. After featuring on the bench four times, Henderson made his debut for the club on 12 April 2014, where he made his first start, as Stevenage lose 3–2 to
Colchester United
Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...
. Henderson added two more appearances for Stevenage. Stevenage were relegated to League Two and he returned to Hull City.
At the end of the 2013–14 season, Henderson was released by the club upon the expiry of the contract.
Crawley Town
After being released by Hull City, Henderson joined
Crawley Town
Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...
for free on a one-year contract. Henderson made his debut in the opening game of the season, where he set up the only goal in the game as Crawley Town beat
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
1–0. Henderson scored his first goal for the club on 21 October 2014, in a 1–0 win over
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
. However, Henderson was placed on the transfer list by Manager John Gregory after being on the bench. Nevertheless, Henderson remained in the first team, until an ankle injury in the 2–2 draw against
Milton Keynes Dons
Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...
kept him out for the remainder of the season. Having spoke to new manager Mark Yates in June 2015, Henderson agreed to a new six-month contract with the club.
Grimsby Town
On 25 November 2015, Henderson joined
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
side
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...
, on loan until January 2016. Having previously spending a week on trial at
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 ...
side
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...
.
Following his release by Crawley, Henderson signed a deal until the end of the 2015–16 season. He was part of the team that eventually beat
Forest Green Rovers
Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
after a six-year absence from
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 ...
. Henderson was released when his contract expired at the end of the season.
Return to Crawley Town
On 1 November 2016, Henderson re-joined Crawley Town on a short-term deal. Henderson made his return for Crawley, in a
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 ...
replay at
Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...
on 16 November as an emergency left back. The game resulted in a 4–2 defeat for the Reds, with Henderson conceding a penalty in extra time. On 17 January 2017, Henderson extended his contract with Crawley until the end of the 2016–17 campaign.
On 30 May 2017, it was announced that Henderson would leave Crawley upon the expiry of his contract in June 2017.
Eastbourne Borough
Following his release from Crawley, Henderson joined
National League South
The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...
On 14 August 2017, following a successful trial period, Henderson signed a one-year contract with Bulgarian club
Pirin Blagoevgrad
Futbolen klub Pirin ( bg, Футболен клуб „Пирин“), also known as Pirin Blagoevgrad is a Bulgarian football club based in Blagoevgrad, which currently competes in the First League, the top division of Bulgarian football.
Th ...
. At the end of the season his team was relegated to Second League and he left.
Dunărea Călărași
On 10 January 2019, he joined Romanian
Liga I
The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...
side
Dunărea Călărași
Dunărea may refer to:
* Dunărea, the Romanian name for the river Danube in Central Europe
* Dunărea (river), a tributary of the Danube in Constanța County, Romania
* Dunărea, a village in the commune Seimeni, Constanța County, Romania
See ...
on an 18-month deal. His team was relegated at the end of the season.
He represented England at youth level but then switched to Republic of Ireland and has represented them at U-19 level. In March 2011 made his debut appearance for the Irish national Under-21 team. On 10 September 2012, Conor scored for the U21s, in a 4–2 win over
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
Club statistics
Honours
Club
;
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
*
Premier Academy League
The Premier Academy League (sometimes abbreviated as FAPAL) was the top level of youth football in England before it was to be replaced by a new league proposed by the Elite Player Performance Plan in 2012, which was accepted by the 72 member ...
FA Youth Cup
The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...
*
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...