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 lea ...

who played as a defender. Born in

Newport-on-Tay Newport-on-Tay is a town in the north-east of Fife in Scotland. The Fife Coastal Path passes through Newport-on-Tay. The area itself has views of the two bridges that cross the River Tay and distant views of the Scottish Highlands. History T ...

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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for Bury,

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...

and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

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. Histor ...

. 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, 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, 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, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an England, English association football, football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the form ...

match. It was Drummond who was to score the goal that took the Baldes into the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

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. Hendry sustained an injury during a New Year's Day friendly fixture at

Leith Athletic Leith Athletic Football Club is a association football, football club based in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland. They compete in the East of Scotland Football League, First Division. First team matches are played at Meadowbank Stadium. Th ...

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 (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

then returned South of the border to play for Bury 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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

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 currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

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 * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * January 6 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress; 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 men's 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