Niall Henderson (born 7 February 1988) is a Northern Irish footballer who plays for NIFL Championship side Annagh United.

Niall Henderson
Henderson training with York City in 2008
Personal information
Date of birth (1988-02-07) 7 February 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth Craigavon, Northern Ireland
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Annagh United
Youth career
Portadown
2004–2006 Gretna
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Gretna 0 (0)
2007Dumbarton (loan) 13 (0)
2008 Raith Rovers 14 (0)
2008–2009 York City 6 (0)
2009–2010 Newry City 26 (1)
2010–2011 Dungannon Swifts 28 (1)
2011–2013 Glenavon 43 (4)
2013–2016 Glentoran 64 (2)
2016–2018 Portadown 51 (7)
2018– Annagh United 132 (12)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

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Henderson is from Craigavon, County Armagh.[1] He grew up in Lurgan and played snooker as a child, going on to represent Northern Ireland as a junior international in 2003.[2] He was on the books at Portadown as a youth player, before moving to Scotland with Gretna at the age of 16.[3] 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,[4] 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 on 13 May 2006.[5] He was loaned out to Dumbarton in the Scottish Third Division in August 2007 until January 2008,[6] during which he made 16 appearances and scored one goal.[7] 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,[8] making his debut in the 1–0 victory at Queens Park on 19 January 2008 at Hampden Park.[9] Henderson featured for the side in both legs of their play-off semi-final defeat to Airdrie United and finished the season with 16 Raith appearances.[10][11][12]

He was released by Raith after the end of the season,[13] after which he joined York City in the Conference Premier on 18 June 2008.[14] He made his debut in a 1–0 victory against Wrexham on 14 August 2008 after coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute.[15] 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.[16] Henderson was on the bench as Northern Ireland were beaten 3–0,[17] meaning they were unable to quality for the tournament.[18] He made his return for York in a 4–2 defeat to Kettering Town, which was the team's first loss of the season.[19] He suffered from two viruses within the space of four weeks, and returned to light training in October.[20] He continued to play for the reserve team and scored in a 4–4 draw against Barnsley reserves.[21][22] Henderson had fallen out favour under manager Colin Walker and struggled to feature in the team.[23] He picked up a hamstring injury during a training session in December.[24] He was released by the club on 20 January and returned to Ireland to sign for either Finn Harps or Newry City,[25] eventually signing for Newry.[26]

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

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As of 13 September 2008.
Club Performance
Club Season League S. Cup S. League Cup Other[A] Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Gretna 2005–06[27] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2006–07[28] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2007–08[29] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Subtotal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dumbarton (loan) 2007–08[7] 13 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 16 1
Subtotal 13 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 16 1
Raith Rovers 2007–08[12] 14 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 16 0
Subtotal 14 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 16 0
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
York City 2008–09[30] 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
Subtotal 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
Total 33 0 3 1 0 0 2 0 38 1

Footnotes

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A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the play-offs.

References

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  1. ^ "Niall Henderson". sportbox.tv. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  2. ^ "Euro Player Profile". Global Snooker Centre. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  3. ^ Flett, Dave (6 August 2008). "Season preview: Here comes the Irish Rover to drive City on". The Press. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  4. ^ "Stirling Albion 2–1 Gretna". BBC Sport. 29 April 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  5. ^ "Hearts 1–1 Gretna (4–2 on pens)". BBC Sport. 13 May 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  6. ^ "Sons sign Henderson from Gretna". BBC Sport. 14 August 2007. Retrieved 19 June 2008.
  7. ^ a b "Dumbarton 2007/2008 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 19 June 2008.
  8. ^ "Gretna farm out youth duo". BBC Sport. 23 January 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2008.
  9. ^ "Queen's Park 0–1 Raith Rovers". BBC Sport. 19 January 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2008.
  10. ^ "Raith Rovers 0–2 Airdrie United". BBC Sport. 30 April 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2008.
  11. ^ "Airdrie 2–2 Raith Rovers (4–2)". BBC Sport. 3 May 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2008.
  12. ^ a b "Raith 2007/2008 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 19 June 2008.
  13. ^ "Kirkcaldy clear-out after defeat". BBC Sport. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2008.
  14. ^ "Minstermen move in for Henderson". BBC Sport. 19 June 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2008.
  15. ^ "York 1–0 Wrexham". BBC Sport. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2008.
  16. ^ "Irish U21 call-up for Henderson". BBC Sport. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
  17. ^ "Germany 3–0 Northern Ireland". UEFA. 5 September 2008. Archived from the original on 1 November 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
  18. ^ "Germany U21 3–0 N Ireland U21". BBC Sport. 5 September 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
  19. ^ "Kettering 4–2 York". BBC Sport. 13 September 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
  20. ^ "PhysiosUpdate". City Review: 15. 25 October 2008.
  21. ^ "Farrell leads from front for York City reserves". The Press. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  22. ^ "York City reserves draw at Barnsley". The Press. 20 November 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  23. ^ Flett, Dave (28 November 2008). "York City boss Martin Foyle starts reign against familiar foe". The Press. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  24. ^ Flett, Dave (12 December 2008). "Michael Ingham declared fit for York City's FA Trophy tie against Northwich". The Press. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  25. ^ Flett, Dave (20 January 2009). "Niall Henderson's heading for a KitKat Crescent exit". The Press. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  26. ^ "Dungannon Swifts 0–0 Newry City". BBC Sport. 17 October 2009. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
  27. ^ "Gretna 2005/2006 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
  28. ^ "Gretna 2006/2007 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
  29. ^ "Gretna 2007/2008 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
  30. ^ "York 2008/2009 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
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