Paul Henderson (footballer)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul Henderson
Personal information
Full name	Paul John Henderson
Date of birth	April 22, 1976 (1976-04-22) (age 33)
Place of birth	Sydney, Australia
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	North Queensland Fury
Number	1
Youth career
1994–1996	Sutherland Sharks
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996–1998 1998–2004 2004 2004–2006 2006–2009 2009–	Sutherland Sharks Northern Spirit Manly United Bradford City Leicester City North Queensland Fury	040 (0) 134 (0) 006 (0) 040 (0) 063 (0) 0 0
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 02:09, 24 December 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Paul John Henderson (born 22 April 1976 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian football goalkeeper who is currently playing for North Queensland Fury having been released by Leicester City.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Bradford City 1.2 Leicester City 1.3 North Queensland Fury 2 International 3 Honours 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Club career

Henderson started his career in club football in Australia. He played in the New South Wales Premier League for Sutherland before signing for NSL club Northern Spirit until the club became defunct in 2004.

[edit] Bradford City

Henderson then moved to England in July 2004 and had an unsuccessful trial with Blackpool, before signing for Bradford City in August on a one-year contract.^[1] He initially came to England for a trial at Ipswich Town and met a goalkeeper coach there, who put him in touch with an agent who brought him to Bradford.^[2]

Henderson's form later attracted the interest of Nottingham Forest, who sent scouts to assess him. However, a 4-1 defeat to Milton Keynes Dons convinced the club to think otherwise, while then-manager of Bradford Colin Todd believed Henderson was distracted by the transfer news.^[3] Despite impressing during his time at Bradford, Henderson rejected the club's three-year contract renewal offer,^[4] instead joining Leicester City on trial on May 6.^[5]

[edit] Leicester City

Henderson signed a two-year contract with Leicester City on a free transfer in the summer of 2005.^[6] He joined fellow Australians Patrick Kisnorbo, James Wesolowski and then-teammate Danny Tiatto in the squad.^[7] Henderson was brought to Leicester as an understudy to Rab Douglas, stating he was "willing to fight for his place" and the he felt Leicester was a club "moving in the right direction". After Douglas came under criticism for inconsistent performances, Henderson had a run of matches in the first team under new boss Rob Kelly, making 15 appearances during the 2005–06 season.

At the start of the 2006–07 season, Henderson played himself into the first choice position, and despite losing his place for a short term to Conrad Logan he soon regained his spot in the team. Despite conceding 36 goals in 28 league games, Leicester nevertheless survived relegation. With Henderson's contract close to expiring, he attracted the interest of Wigan, Aston Villa and Norwich in the January transfer window.^[8] He later allayed any fears of leaving by signing a new two-year contract with Leicester on 16 January.^[9]

With the loan signings of goalkeepers Márton Fülöp and Ben Alnwick, Henderson spent much of the 2007–08 season on the substitute's bench. He managed to play a total of 14 league games, conceding 16 goals and making 5 clean sheets as Leicester were relegated at the end of the season.

In the 2008–09 season, Henderson's first team place was shared with loan signing David Martin. He started the first game of the season against Milton Keynes Dons, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory.^[10] On September 23, 2008, he saved two shots from a penalty shootout in a Johnstone's Paint Trophy match against Lincoln, with Leicester winning 3–1 on penalties.^[11] However, Henderson conceded two goals in the next round in a 2–0 defeat to Rotherham United,^[12] a match which manager Nigel Pearson described as their worst performance of the season.^[13] After a show of poor form from David Martin, Henderson was given a run in the first team in November 2008. He suffered a groin injury in February 2009, resulting in him being replaced by three Premier League goalkeepers on loan,^[14] including David Stockdale and Tony Warner. Nonetheless, he was presented with a medal on April 24 after Leicester had won the League One title.

On April 28, it was reported that manager Nigel Pearson had told Henderson he can leave the following summer alongside fellow Australian Patrick Kisnorbo as the club begin their preparations for their Championship campaign the following season.^[15] On May 29, he was released at the end of his contract by Leicester alongside Marc Edworthy, Patrick Kisnorbo, Bruno N'Gotty and Barry Hayles.^[16]

[edit] North Queensland Fury

Henderson was soon signed up to Australian Side North Queensland after being released by Leicester City .

[edit] International

Henderson has never played at international level to date. However, he was placed on standby by an initial draft from the Australia national team on 26 September 2006 for forthcoming matches against Paraguay on October 7 and Bahrain the following Wednesday.^[17]

[edit] Honours

Leicester City

• League One: 2008-09

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Leicester City profile
• OzFootball profile
• Paul Henderson career stats at Soccerbase

v • d • e North Queensland Fury FC – current squad 1 Henderson · 2 Middleby · 3 Tadrosse · 4 Wilson · 5 Timpano · 6 Talay · 7 Spagnuolo · 8 Tambouras · 9 Fowler · 10 Brockie · 11 Santalab · 12 Vass · 13 Busch · 14 Grossman · 15 Agius · 16 Kohler · 17 Malik · 18 Robinson · 19 McBreen · 20 Pasfield · 21 Griffiths · Coach: Ferguson