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 lea ...

who played professionally in Scotland and briefly in the United States, England and Wales. Playing as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

, he saw his greatest success with

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

in the 1920s but was never capped by

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

despite an excellent club scoring record.

Football career

Henderson was born in

Forfar Forfar (; , ) 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 had a population of 16,280. The town ...

and began his professional career with hometown club Forfar Athletic. Towards the end of the 1910s, he played briefly with

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 ...

before joining

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

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

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 the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Club ...

. 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 axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

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) is a defunct 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 ...

, 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 rule ...

s and two Charity Cups. Although he did not represent

, he played once for the

Scottish Football 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

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. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

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 ...

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 Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

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

Rhyl Rhyl (; , ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire in Wales. The town lies on the coast of North Wales, at the mouth of the River Clwyd. To the west is Kinmel Bay and Towyn, to the east Prestatyn, and to the south-east Rhuddlan ...

in the

Birmingham and District League The Birmingham and District Football League (formerly the Birmingham & District Amateur Football Association and often referred to as the Birmingham AFA) is an amateur association football competition covering the city of Birmingham, England, an ...

.Dundee United profile
/ref> After his retirement he owned a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

Honours

Rangers *

Scottish League Division One The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional association football, football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers F.C., Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tw ...

: 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. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

Dundee United * Scottish League Division Two: 1928–29

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Geordie 1897 births 1953 deaths Scottish men's footballers Men's 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 Footballers from Forfar Scottish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Scottish Football League representative players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States 20th-century Scottish sportsmen