John Gillespie Henderson (17 January 1932 – 26 January 2005) was a Scottish international

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 played as a forward in the English Football League for

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 ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

, Arsenal and Fulham.

Club career

Henderson was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1932, and started playing football as a youth with his

Bishopbriggs Bishopbriggs ( sco, The Briggs; gd, Achadh an Easbaig) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the northern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the city centre. Historically in Lanarkshire, the area was once part of ...

-based church team and for Kirkintilloch Boys Club. He signed for

as a 17-year-old, and after completing his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

he made his debut for the first team against Sunderland in September 1951. At first playing as a centre forward, he also subsequently appeared at

inside 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 ...

and on the left wing for the club. Henderson's performance with Portsmouth soon attracted the attention of the

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

international management. A physical player known for his pace, fast crosses and good two feet, he was a regular goalscorer for his seven years with Portsmouth. Henderson moved on in March 1958 to

for £16,000. Wolves won the First Division title that season but Henderson did not qualify for a medal. He began the following season still at Molineux and appeared in a handful of early games in what would be another championship-winning campaign, but played only nine matches in all for Wolves. Unable to secure a first-team place, Henderson moved on to Arsenal in October 1958 for £20,000, and made his debut against

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 pl ...

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was sit ...

on 4 October; he scored twice in a thrilling 4–3 win. Injury interrupted his first season, but he still scored twelve times as Arsenal finished third in the league. He became a regular in the first team in the following two seasons. Swindin's tinkering with the Arsenal attacking line-up meant the versatile Henderson was unable to hold down any particular position in the side, and midway through the 1961–62 season he was transferred to Fulham for £14,000. He had played 111 games for Arsenal in total, scoring 29 goals. In his first season at

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against ...

, Henderson helped Fulham reach the

1961–62 FA Cup The 1961–62 FA Cup was the 81st staging of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Tottenham Hotspur won the competition for the fourth time, beating Burnley 3–1 in th ...

semi-final, in which they lost narrowly to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

. Henderson also helped keep the Cottagers in the First Division for two seasons. He was a Fulham regular up until March 1963, when he broke his leg. An attempted comeback was unsuccessful, and he left the club in 1964. He continued to play non-league football with Poole Town, where he was top scorer as they were promoted to the

Southern League Premier Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...

, and Dorchester Town until his retirement from football in 1971.

International career

Henderson made his representative debut in a B international against England B in March 1953. His first appearance for the senior team came on 6 May, in a friendly at home to Sweden; Scotland lost 2–1. Henderson's only goal for Scotland came on 3 October, in a 3–1 win over

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

in a

1953–54 British Home Championship The 1953–54 British Home Championship was an international football tournament played between the British Home Nations during the 1953–54 season. This season's tournament also doubled as UEFA – Group 3 for 1954 FIFA World Cup qualifica ...

that doubled as a qualifying group for the 1954 World Cup. Scotland finished runners-up and qualified. Henderson was included in their 22-man squad, but only 13 of the 22 travelled to the finals. Henderson stayed at home on reserve with the likes of

Bobby Combe James Robert Combe (29 January 1924 – 19 January 1991) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Hibernian and was player/manager of Dumbarton for one season. He also represented Scotland and the Scottish Football League XI. A schoolboy inter ...

and

Jimmy Binning James Binning (21 December 1922 – 1991) was a Scottish footballer who played for Arbroath and Dumfries side Queen of the South. Career From the season 1948–1949 until his departure, Binning scored six goals in his 84 league games for Arbro ...

. Inside forward George Hamilton was also on reserve but travelled after

Bobby Johnstone Robert Johnstone (7 September 1929 – 22 August 2001) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Selkirk, Hibernian, Manchester City, Oldham Athletic and Witton Albion. Johnstone also represented Scotland and the Scottish League. Johnston ...

withdrew through injury. His seventh and final senior cap was also against Northern Ireland, in a 2–2 draw on 5 November 1958.

Personal life

Henderson was married with two sons. After his playing days ended, he left the game and settled in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

where he worked as a storeman for a builders' merchant. He died in Poole in 2005 at the age of 73.

Career statistics

International appearances

International goals

Honours

Scotland * British Home Championship runners-up: 1953–54 Poole Town * Southern League Division One promotion: 1964–65

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Jackie 1932 births 2005 deaths Military personnel from Glasgow Footballers from Glasgow Scottish footballers Scotland B international footballers Scotland international footballers Association football forwards Portsmouth F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Poole Town F.C. players Dorchester Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Western Football League players 1954 FIFA World Cup players Royal Army Ordnance Corps soldiers 20th-century British Army personnel