George Donald Henderson (15 April 1897 – 14 June 1953) 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 professionally in Scotland and briefly in the United States, England and Wales. Playing as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, he saw his greatest success with Rangers in the 1920s but was never capped by

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

despite an excellent club scoring record.

Football career

Henderson was born in

Forfar Forfar ( sco, Farfar, gd, Baile Fharfair) is the county town of Angus, Scotland and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town has a p ...

and began his professional career with hometown club

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

. Towards the end of the 1910s, he played briefly with

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 ...

before joining Rangers in November 1919. His debut with Rangers came in a league match on 20 March 1920 against

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

and his first goal came a fortnight later on 3 April against

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

. Henderson was top scorer at Rangers for four consecutive

seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...

from 1921–22 until 1924–25 (the latter season being his most productive, netting 32 times). He played a total of 195 first class games (170 league, 25

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish League championships The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

, four

Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rules ...

s and two Charity Cups. Although he did not represent

, he played once for the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

. He left Rangers to join English

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 ...

club

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

in January 1927, where he made 14 appearances, scoring six goals as Darlington ended the season in 21st place and were relegated to the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

. In the autumn of 1927, he left Britain and signed with the New York Nationals of the American Soccer League. The Nationals finished third in league play, but won the

1928 National Challenge Cup The 1928 National Challenge Cup was the annual open cup held by the United States Football Association now known as the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Eastern Division Western Division Final References {{1927–28 in American soccer U.S. ...

in a two-game final against the

Bricklayers and Masons F.C. Bricklayers and Masons F.C., also known as Chicago Bricklayers, was a U.S. soccer team based in Chicago, Illinois which joined that city's Association Football League in 1914. Over the next twenty years, Bricklayers won two Peel Cups and was the ...

of Chicago. The first game ended in a 1–1 tie after extra time, but the Nationals, on the strength of two Henderson goals, won the replay 3–0. In 1928, Henderson returned to Scotland where he signed with

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

. He spent only two seasons there, winning the 1928–29 Second Division championship, before transferring to Welsh club

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

in the Birmingham and District League.Dundee United profile
/ref> After his retirement he owned a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

Honours

Rangers *

Scottish League Division One The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

: 1920–21, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1924–25 New York Nationals *

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

Dundee United *

Scottish League Division Two The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

: 1928–29

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Geordie 1897 births 1953 deaths Scottish footballers Association football forwards American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Darlington F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Forfar Athletic F.C. players New York Nationals (ASL) players Rangers F.C. players Rhyl F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players People from Forfar Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Scottish Football League representative players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Footballers from Angus, Scotland