John Henderson (hurler)

John Henderson (born 1957) is a former Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with the Kilkenny senior inter-county team from 1978 until 1991.

Early life

Henderson was born in Johnstown, County Kilkenny in 1957, where he was educated locally at Johnstown's National School, where his interest in hurling reportedly first began. Later, Henderson and his two brothers, Pat and Ger, would form the backbone of the great Kilkenny team of the 1970s and early 1980s. He went to college in Carlow RTC where he won an All Ireland college's football medal.

Playing career

Club

Henderson played his club hurling with the local Fenians club in Johnstown where he enjoyed much success. He was too young to play senior hurling when the club triumphed winning county championship titles in the early 1970s, however, he shared in the club’s county and Leinster club victories in 1974.he finally won a senior championship with the fenians in 1977 when they defeated the Rower inistiogue. He also won a wicklow senior hurling championship in 1996 with Glenealy playing at full forward.

Inter-county

By 1975, Henderson was a key player when the Kilkenny minor hurling team won the All-Ireland title. He later joined the county’s under-21 side, winning an All-Ireland title in 1977. Following this, Henderson quickly joined his brother as a member of the Kilkenny senior hurling panel. In 1978, Henderson won his first Leinster title, however, Kilkenny were later defeated by Cork in the All-Ireland final. In 1979, Henderson captured a second Leinster title before later collecting his first All-Ireland following a win over Galway. Three years later, Kilkenny had a hugely successful season. Henderson won his first National Hurling League and a third Leinster medal, before winning his first All-Ireland medal following a win over Cork.

In 1983, Henderson captured another trio of National League, Leinster and All-Ireland honours, before adding an All-Star award to his collection. The following few years saw Kilkenny’s hurling fortunes take a downturn. In spite of this Henderson won a third National League in 1986, before adding a fifth Leinster title in 1987. Unfortunately, Kilkenny were later defeated by Tipperary in the All-Ireland final. Henderson claimed his fourth National League medal in 1990, before winning a sixth provincial title in 1991. Once again, however, ‘the Cats’ were defeated by Tipperary in the All-Ireland final. Henderson retired from inter-county hurling after this defeat.After he retired from Kllkenny he played senior hurling for Wicklow for a coulple of season,winning an All Ireland B.

Managerial career

In retirement from playing, Henderson turned his hand to inter-county management. He spent a short period in charge of the Wicklow senior hurling team, however, he had little success. He has managed several Bray Emmets juvenile teams to success. He managed the Cuala senior hurling team in Dublin prior to his management role with Dublins under 21 team. He is the current Dublin under 21 hurling manager.^[1]

References