Niall Henderson (born 7 February 1988) is a Northern Irish

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 plays for

NIFL Championship The Northern Ireland Football League Championship (known as the Playr-Fit Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national football league in Northern Ireland. Clubs in the Championsh ...

side Annagh United.

Career

Henderson is from

Craigavon Craigavon ( ) is a town in north County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was a planned settlement, begun in 1965, and named after the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland: James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon. It was intended to be the heart of ...

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

. He grew up in

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and roughly southwest of Belfast. The town is linked to Belfast by both the M1 motorway (Northern Ireland), M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin rail ...

and played

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

as a child, going on to represent Northern Ireland as a junior international in 2003. He was on the books at

Portadown Portadown ( ) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is based on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population ...

as a youth player, before moving to Scotland with Gretna at the age of 16. He first featured on the bench for Gretna in their 2–1 defeat to Stirling Albion on 29 April 2006 in the

Scottish Football League Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SFL ...

, and was subsequently on the bench for the 2006 Scottish Cup Final against Heart of Midlothian, which was lost 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

on 13 May 2006. He was loaned out to

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

in the Scottish Third Division in August 2007 until January 2008, during which he made 16 appearances and scored one goal. He was released by Gretna in January and signed for Raith Rovers later that month on a short-term deal to the end of the 2007–08 season, making his debut in the 1–0 victory at Queens Park on 19 January 2008 at

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

. Henderson featured for the side in both legs of their play-off semi-final defeat to

Airdrie United 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 Clu ...

and finished the season with 16 Raith appearances. He was released by Raith after the end of the season, after which he joined

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

in the

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

on 18 June 2008. He made his debut in a 1–0 victory against

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

on 14 August 2008 after coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute. He was named in the Northern Ireland under-21 team in September for their 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualifying game against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Henderson was on the bench as Northern Ireland were beaten 3–0, meaning they were unable to quality for the tournament. He made his return for York in a 4–2 defeat to Kettering Town, which was the team's first loss of the season. He suffered from two viruses within the space of four weeks, and returned to light training in October. He continued to play for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

and scored in a 4–4 draw against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

reserves. Henderson had fallen out favour under manager Colin Walker and struggled to feature in the team. He picked up a

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

injury during a training session in December. He was released by the club on 20 January and returned to Ireland to sign for either

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club is an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. They hail from Ballybofey, County Donegal and play their ho ...

or Newry City, eventually signing for Newry. On 6 July 2010, Henderson joined Dungannon Swifts on a one-year deal along with Johnny Topley after his contract with his previous employers, Newry City, expired. In June 2011 he joined Glenavon.

Career statistics

:''As of 13 September 2008.''

Footnotes

:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Niall 1988 births Living people People from Craigavon, County Armagh Association footballers from County Armagh Men's association football midfielders Portadown F.C. players Gretna F.C. players Dumbarton F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players York City F.C. players NIFL Premiership players NIFL Championship players Newry City F.C. players Scottish Football League players National League (English football) players Glenavon F.C. players Annagh United F.C. players Dungannon Swifts F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players