Henderson: James Thomas (Jimmy)

1905-1907 (Leeds City Player Details)

Left Half

Born: Morpeth, Northumberland: 10-06-1877

Debut: v Bradford City (a): 02-09-1905

5’8” 12st 0lb (1907)

Henderson was a top-class sprinter with Morpeth Harriers and in 1908 clocked eleven seconds for the one hundred yards. He started his football career with local clubs Morpeth Harriers and Morpeth Town in the Northern Alliance, in 1897, before joining Southern League Reading at the start of the 1903-04 season. He returned north and joined Second Division Bradford City in May 1904. After fourteen League games, he and team-mate Tom Drain both left Valley Parade to join the newly elected Leeds City in July 1905 and both debuted in City’s first fixture, which by co-incidence was their former club Bradford City at Valley Parade, a match which the Bantams won 1-0. He understandably got the bird from the same supporters that had been cheering him just months before. He was a regular for Leeds at Left Half in their first season in the Second Division of Football League, missing only three games and he was naturally one of the quickest players on Leeds City's books. Quite ironically, Henderson was criticised for being slow, and continually caught out of position, but eventually did enough to endear himself to the City faithful. He made seventy-five League and five F.A. Cup appearances for the Peacocks over the next three years, though he was injured for most of 1906-07 and suspended for a period in the following season. Jimmy Kennedy took his spot for the start of the second season and his appearances until the end of February depended on others being injured and the versatile Kennedy filling in for them. He did re-establish himself as the first choice Left Half for the final eleven games of the season, as Jimmy Kennedy switched to Centre Half. He started the next season as first choice Left Half but had stiff opposition from the versatile Jimmy Thorpe and Jimmy Kennedy, who had lost the Centre Half spot to Tom Hynds, but once more Henderson showed his resilience and came back to take the Right Half spot for the last seventeen games of the season but opted to join First Division Preston North End in July 1908. However, after making his debut in a 1-0 home win over Sunderland on 19th December 1908, he made only seven League appearances and one in the F.A. Cup for the Lilywhites before joining up with his younger brother, Bill, a right-back, at Clapton Orient in May 1909. He scored four goals in twenty-four League games, primarily at Left Half but he again opted for a change of scenery and a year later he returned north and signed for Non-League Rochdale in June 1910. He remained there until transferring to South Liverpool in 1914. He returned to Rochdale after World War I and he had a long association with Rochdale, before retiring in December 1919 and made almost two hundred appearances appearances for the Dale. He later played non-League football for Rochdale Pioneers until 1921 and then worked as a trainer at Rochdale and stayed with the club as Trainer under Leeds City War-time guest Jack Peart until July 1930.