Henderson: Thomas Wedlock (Tommy)

1959-1959&1962-1965 (Player Details)

Outside Right

Born: Larkhall, Scotland: 25-07-1943

Debut: v Grimsby Town (a): 10-11-1962

5’4” 11st (1963)

Scottish Schoolboy International Henderson had two spells with Leeds. He was snapped up from school in January 1959, but was released because of homesickness. He played in the same Scottish Schoolboy team as Billy Bremner and both joined Leeds at the same time and were good friends at Leeds. At the time Henderson was rated very highly and both he and Bremner were stand out performers in the England v Scotland of 1958. No mean feat when you consider the Scottish forward line was Andy Penman (Rangers), Henderson, Ian Gibson of Coventry and Scotland under twenty-threes, Billy Bremner and Bobby Hope (West Bromwich Albion) and the England team included Terry Venables, Phil Chisnall, Ronnie Boyce, Bert Murray and Jentzen Derrick! Ironically both suffered from homesickness and several times Bremner was close to returning to his native Scotland, but it was Henderson who was allowed to return in March 1959 and play for Celtic, from where he obtained a free-transfer to Hearts in July 1960, without having played in the first team. He made his debut for the Tynecastle side on 18th October 1960 in a 0-1 home defeat by Partick Thistle and scored his first and only goal for Hearts on the half-time whistle as they beat Dundee at home on 29th April 1961. He played seven League games in the 1960-61 season, but the 3-1 win over Celtic at Parkhead on 2nd May 1961 was to be his final League game for Hearts. He did play two League Cup ties, both against Raith Rovers and the 1-3 away defeat on 26th August 1961 was to be his last competitive game, but he did take part in a 0-3 home defeat by the British Army in a friendly on 13th November 1961, in total, he played ten games and scored once before he was sold to St Mirren for £2,000 in December 1961. He scored twice in sixteen League games for the Paisley club during the rest of the 1961-62 season and took part in the "Buddies" march to the Final of the Scottish Cup, when he played in the Scottish Cup Final for St Mirren against Rangers. The Love Street team won 1-0 at Dens Park to get past Dundee in the Third Round on 27th January 1962, then after a 1-1 draw at Stark Park with Raith Rovers on 17th February 1962, they easily won the Love Street Replay by 4-0 three days later.A single goal from McLean was enough to ease past Dunfirmline Athletic in a home win in the Quarter Finals on 10th March 1962, before three weeks later they scored a fine 3-1 win over Celtic at Ibrox to win the right to play Rangers in the Final at Hampden Park on 21st April 1962.there was no happy ending as Rangers won it by 2-0 and Henderson only picked up a runners-up medal. Meanwhile Don Revie had been keeping up with Henderson's progress and hoped to solve Billy Bremner's homesickness and solve his outside right problem, which he did early in the 1962-63 season after Henderson had scored once in four games for St Mirren he paid £1,500 to bring him back to Elland Road in November 1962. He went into the first-team, making his debut on 10th November 1962 in a 1-1 home draw with Grimsby Town. He played regularly on the right wing, with the lightning fast Albert Johanneson on the left the pair capitalised on the precision passing of midfield General, Bobby Collins, and provided Jim Storrie and his strikers with an endless flow of crosses as Leeds became known for their attacking play, as after an uncertain start they surged up the Second Division table to finish fifth. Henderson opened his goal account on 16th April 1963 in a 4-1 home win over Charlton Athletic. It was his only goal of the season, but his other forwards reaped the harvest of his consistent crosses in the twenty-three games he played that season. Unfortunately for Henderson it was virtually the end of his career at Elland Road as Don Revie purchased Johnny Giles at the beginning of the next season and his only games in 1963-64 were twice as a replacement for the injured Albert Johanneson on the left flank but he did get his second United goal in the 1-1 draw at Portsmouth on 18th September 1963, as Leeds swept all before them to become Second Division Champions. Again in 1964-65, as Leeds finished runners-up in the First Division and also F.A. Cup, there was little room for anything but a cameo role as the strength of the Leeds team grew as the stream of young talent was supplemented by the purchase of carefully selected quality players. It left Henderson the choice of moving or to watch from the sidelines or face the endless grind of the Central League. His three year stay at Elland Road came to an end when he moved to Second Division Bury in June 1965 on a free transfer and scored once in seven League games. He soon left Gigg Lane and moved to Third Division Swindon Town on a free transfer in January 1966. He was off to a flying start, scoring in the seventieth minute to give his new team a 2-1 lead against the eventual champions of Division Three in a 3-1 home win over Hull City on 8th January 1966. He went on to score further goals against Oxford United away on 29th January 1967 and Millwall, the eventual runners-up, at home on 15th March 1966 to make it three League goals in eleven League starts and he also played in the club's only F.A. Cup game that season as they went out to Coventry City at home by 1-2 in the Third Round on 22nd January 1966. However despite his relative success he was on the move once more after playing his final game on 7th May 1966 in a 0-0 draw at home to Scunthorpe United. He joined Fourth Division Stockport County in July 1966 and he helped them win the Fourth Division Championship in his only season at Edgeley Park. He scored four times in seventeen League starts and two appearances from the bench. In October 1967 he moved to Cheshire League Champions Altrincham and helped them to finish runners-up. He then crossed the Irish sea to join Cork Hibernians and scored five times in nineteen games in 1969-70. He then went to South Africa with Johannesburg team Highland Park in the NFL in 1970-71. It was then on to Capetown and NSL team Hellenic in 1972 before returning to Johannesburg to join Jewish Guild another NSL club for 1974-75, before returning to Highland Park for his final season in 1976 before retiring.