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Fullname: Liam Henderson
aka: –
Born: 25 April 1996
Birthplace: Livingston, Scotland
Signed: 1 Jul 2013 (from Hearts (youth))
Left: 17 Jan 2018 (to Bari (Italy))
Position: Midfielder, Right-wing
Debut: Motherwell 0-5 Celtic, SP, 6 Dec 2013
Squad No.: 53
Internationals: Scotland [which international team played for]
International Caps: ? [complete at end of career]
International Goals: ? [complete at end of career]
Biog![[Untitled]](https://wikifoundryimages.s3.amazonaws.com/4d146fdff367ace99f7f96f61c661f2b "[Untitled]")
Liam Henderson was a definite one to look out for. Highly regarded, he more than lived up to the belief in him with some great performances hitting the ground running.
Signed a three year contract in Jan 2014 so showing club has promise in him.
After a debut v Motherwell in an easy 5-0 win, Lennon gave him a run of matches towards the end of the season where he gave a fine set of matches and scored a debut goal in a 5-1 victory over Partick Thistle.
Despite the crowded midfield, Henderson held his own and many felt this gifted footballer was for the up with praise from his manager and the Lennon.
Once Ronnie Deila come on board, his chances were put on hold until later on. He had to wait a few months into the new manager’s reign and then he showed his positive attitude and worth.
His finest moment was coming on as a sub in the match v Inter Milan in Feb 2015, to set up the injury time goal with a beautiful chip ball that levelled the game at 3-3 at Celtic Park and sent all home happy. A wonderful game and a wonderful moment, and Henderson is worthy of all the praise. He proved himself in his further run, and then this seemed to be the moment that he was now to establish himself in the side.
Curiously was loaned out in early 2015 to a Norwegian side, which many were unhappy about. Nevertheless he won game time, scored goals, bagged a lovely girl (if pictures are to be believed) and won a lot of plaudits.
Back at Celtic, he was in a difficult situation. There was no denying his talent and his right to get more gametime, but with the arrival of Rodgers as manager, the entire squad had picked up to a new level and even certain established players were struggling to ensure a starting place. The first team were going through an incredible resurgence. Nevertheless, Rodgers was very pragmatic and gave youth opportunities, and Henderson showed his worth and did not disappoint in his stints.
He just seemed to be phased out the picture, and a further loan to Hibernian (2015/16 season) was a further sign that he was being pushed out the picture.
It was sad to see, but he was to be part of history when he came off the bench in the classic 2016 Scottish Cup Final to help Hibs defeat TheRangers in their first Scottish Cup trophy triumph in over 100 years. He provided the assists for his fellow players to score the vital winners, and so he was to write his name into Hibernian history.
One curious note is that when at Hibernian, he was substituted off late in a match to give a debut to on-loan ex-Celt Islam Feruz, who at one time was the big new hope for Scottish football. Islam Feruz’s career collapsed and little got off the ground.
Following the 2016/17 season, with Celtic achieving the incredible domestically unbeaten run, it was going to be next to impossible for a player at his stage to break through into the first team. His peers like McGregor and Tierney had established themselves, but Liam Henderson was unlikely to win more than the fleeting appearance, and that at this stage was not going to be enough. Granted, the Celtic squad at the time were giving youth a chance where possible, but Henderson was at the tail-end for youth now at his age.
All a bit frustrating we assume for Liam, but through his hard work and performances he won a surprise transfer to Bari in Italy. Admittedly, not a glamour club (Serie B, second tier), but often Italy has been a graveyard for players from the British Isles, so Italian clubs had been wary to buy from these shores. For Liam to have won a transfer to there was a big achievement, and worthy of everything that he had done with Celtic and his on loan clubs.
He was well liked and there was hope for him, maybe he was just unfortunate. Some luck here and there and things could have been so much different. Some would say he lacked pace, but there were others at Celtic who were hardly pacy themselves.
Liam Henderson gave a number of fine performances with Celtic, and with some luck in circumstances he could have broken through to the first team as a first pick, but it wasn’t to be. It was around 4 years since his initial breakthroughs and a fresh start was needed for his own sake.
We wished him the best in his new adventures in Italy.
Post-Celtic
He went to become that rarity in footballers from these isles, a success in Italy, albeit not with the blue-chip sides, being a regular with Bari, Hellas Verona, Empoli, Lecce and Palermo, playing in the top two tiers. He even mastered the local language, and went on to play in the most Serie A matches for any player from Scotland.
Celtic was in the family, and his younger brother (Ewan Henderson) made the grade all the way through to the first team with Celtic, but again couldn’t cement for himself a first team spot and so moved onto Hibernian and then tried his hand like his older brother to play abroad, moving to Belgium.
The interesting note is that at stated earlier, the once young Scottish prospects Liam Henderson and the much lauded Islam Feruz were both in the second tier together to gain experience with Hibernian. As time was to prove, it was Liam Henderson unexpectedly to be the one to make a good name & long-lasting career in the game, mainly due to application, commitment and correct attitude.
[…Incredibly, he never won any caps for the Scotland senior side. Granted, the senior side was at this time going through a decent era with a number of decent (and even great) talents, but still surprising that there wasn’t room for Liam Henderson for even one appearance (even in a friendly). Fair to argue that he was unfairly overlooked…]
[….]
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES (subs) |
LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 2013/14 | 4 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 (4) |
| Goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2014/15 | 4 (5) | 0 (1) | 0 (1) | 0 (1) | 4 (10) |
| Goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2015/16 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016/17 | 5 (5) | 1 (0) | 0 (1) | 0 (1) | 6 (7) |
| Goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2017/18 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total |
13 (16) |
1 (1) |
0 (2) |
0 (2) |
14 (23) |
| Goals |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Honours with Celtic
Scottish League
Scottish Cup
Scottish League Cup
Pictures
KDS
Articles
Celtic captain reckons Liam Henderson is on road to becoming Parkhead driving force
Stewart Fisher
Sports Writer
http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/celtic-captain-reckons-liam-henderson-is-on-road-to-becoming-parkhead-driving-force.23706500
Sunday 16 March 2014
SOMETIMES sport, like art, can imitate life.
At the start of this season, Scott Brown was tasked with giving callow Liam Henderson a lift through from the east coast to training at Lennoxtown each day, while the Celtic teenager waited to receive his driving licence.
It was fitting then that at Rugby Park on Friday night Brown should be directing traffic in the congested midfield area as the 17-year-old removed his L-plates as a Parkhead player. Henderson passed his full debut test with flying colours during the 3-0 victory against Kilmarnock, a performance that suggested he could become a driving force for the Parkhead club in years to come.
While it is possible to imagine the odd awkward silence between these two contrasting individuals on those early car journeys, the Scotland Under-19 player is not short of belief in his own ability and Brown likes the cut of his jib.
“I first noticed him at the start of the season,” said the Celtic skipper. “I was picking him up for training a few times when he was in the squad, before he could drive. He was very quiet. But then no-one quite knows how to take me the first few times.
“But he is a really nice lad. I have thought all along that he has got a great chance. He shows it in training, he is just a joy to play one-touch football with, passes round the corner as well. He will play off you, go on a mazy run and score goals. It is great. The only problem is he is coming for my position!”
All joking aside, whilst Celtic are gathering a plethora of midfield possibilities – the arrival of Nir Biton and Stefan Johansen has added to Neil Lennon’s options – Brown’s own form has rarely been better. Celtic’s World Cup contingent of Fraser Forster, Efe Ambrose, Emilio Izaguirre and Georgios Samaras may be afforded a late-season rest once the title is wrapped up in the next few weeks, but Brown would rather not be idle.
“We know the finish line is coming,” said Brown. “But we just want to get as many points as possible by the end of the season. Personally, I would prefer to play as long as possible. We have a Scotland game against Nigeria on May 28 so I need to try to stay fit for that as well. Last season was unbearable – it’s not great when you are coming back on June 24. But that is part and parcel of being at Celtic.”
With the opening qualifiers set to be played at Murrayfield – Celtic Park, Hampden and Ibrox are all in use for the Commonwealth Games – Brown, and Henderson for that matter, will not need to commute.
“I love Murrayfield,” said Brown, who has attended rugby matches at the SRU crucible. “I don’t need to do any travelling for a change. There is a novelty factor and I am sure the fans will travel through.”
So comprehensive was Celtic’s victory on Friday night that by the end thoughts were stretching beyond this season. No Celtic manager since Jock Stein has racked up four top-flight titles in a row – Brown himself was part of the squad in 2009 under Gordon Strachan which lost out to Rangers – but, regardless of the status of Scotland’s other larger clubs, the skipper sees no reason why this squad cannot kick on.
“The lads we have in that dressing room are outstanding and if we can keep the squad together as long as possible we will see where we can go,” said Brown. “Missing out in 2009 was hard, losing to your biggest rivals, but the way it is looking now we need to get over the line with the third one, then try to build to four and five.”
Other young players will be drip-fed into the first team during the remainder of the season, such as defenders Eoghan O’Connell and Marcus Fraser, and Icelandic new boy Holmbert Fridjonsson, but Henderson has motored into pole position.
“I don’t think he is fazed by it,” said Lennon. “He is not an arrogant boy, but he has got a self-confidence about him.”
The 17-year-old, it seems, is going places.
What’s happened to Liam Henderson? | videocelts.com
http://videocelts.com/2014/11/blogs/latest-news/whats-happened-to-liam-henderson
Date: 4th November 2014 at 8:16 am
Written by: Joe McHugh | Comments (0)
After making a big impression towards the end of last season it was assumed that Liam Henderson would ‘kick-on’ this term.
At 18-year-old there are big expectations on the midfielder but so far first team opportunities have been rare.
Sustaining a place in the side, or matchday squad, can sometimes be a bigger challenge than the initial breakthrough with Henderson finding his chances limited.
Rather than drift out of the picture the Development League has given the midfielder the platform to push his game further and in some cases play alongside players such as Leigh Griffiths and Nir Bitton.
Henderson’s performance alongside Bitton in a friendly against Galatasaray in January certainly caught the eye but for now he’s having to use game time at Cappielow to advance his case for a first team place.
In Sunday’s SFA Youth Cup tie against Motherwell he was clearly the difference between the two side’s, driving forward at every opportunity and scoring a brilliantly taken goal in the 82nd minute when extra-time seemed inevitable.
The evolution of the u-20 league into a development league allows clubs a little more scope with Stevie Frail determined to use his side to push Henderson back into first team football.
Without doubt the 18-year-old is dominating games for the development side, even attempting some highly speculative long range shots at goal, with Frail looking to encourage his expression while refining it slightly for the benefit of the player and the team.
“He had a long range shot in the first half where he had other options,” Frail said. “We don’t want to be over critical of that but he could have taken another touch, driven forward a bit and had other options on either side.
“Against Aberdeen a couple of weeks ago he had two efforts from the halfway line, one when it wasn’t on, one when it was and it almost caught out their goalie. We don’t want to curb that but he has to realise when to do it and when not to.
“It’s not a case that he is trying to do too much, the way that I look at it it’s his enthusiasm to play the game, I liken it to when we were running about on the street, just wanting to play and try things. He needs to learn how to play within the team, he needs to work on his positional discipline, other people will drop off and get the ball to give to him to go and hurt teams.
“It’s an enthusiasm that we have to keep working on, working on his awareness and he’ll come up with the goods and the goals.
“I felt in the first half against Motherwell he was decent, he tried to force passes then he played an outrageous ball over the top for Kieran Tierney, we can’t curb that.
“I thought his performance in the second half went up a couple of levels, he was more disciplined, his ball retention was better, his final pass was better and he came up with an important goal.”
Frail added: “It’s upto us as coaches to manage him, he won’t be allowed to drift, the first team coaches won’t allow him to drift and we won’t let that either.
“The manager likes him as a player, we’re working on things that he has identified, if we do that we’ll see what a talent he is, he’s still only 18-year-old.
“These games aren’t easy for him, these are good games but he is showing his quality and if he keeps doing in training where he is working with the first team every day.
“At the minute he isn’t quite in the 18 involved with the team for matches but he’s around them every day, we all still have high hopes for him.”
Henderson was joined on the scoresheet by Kieran Tierney who followed up his 90 yard strike against Hearts with a more traditional effort from 15 yards.
“Kieran strikes the ball really well and has an eye for goal,” Frail added. “It’s a case of trying to nail that position down, Calum Waters is doing so well at left-back which is maybe Kieran’s natural position.
“He could maybe play play in a left of centre role in midfield but we’re playing him wider just now and is a real threat in the final third and scored another good goal.”