# Liam Henderson

Liam Henderson (born 25 April 1996) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Serie A club Empoli.
He began his career at Celtic, winning the 2015 Scottish League Cup Final, and the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership. He spent time on loan at Norwegian club Rosenborg, winning the 2015 Norwegian league and cup double, and whilst on loan at Hibernian he appeared in the 2016 Scottish Cup Final supplying two assists from corners as the Edinburgh side ended a 114 year wait to lift the trophy with an unforgettable 3-2 victory over Rangers. He has also played in Italy for Hellas Verona, Bari, Lecce and Palermo.
He captained Scotland at youth international level, up to and including under-21.

## Club career

Henderson started his football career with Broxburn Athletic before joining Celtic.

### Celtic
#### 2013–14: First team debut

Henderson signed for Celtic in 2008. He featured for the club's development squad in midfield and was included in the first team squad for their pre-season trip to Germany in the summer of 2013. He played pre-season at home versus Ukrainian side Sevastopol, beside higher profile debutants Virgil van Dijk and Amido Balde. In 2013–14 Henderson played at both under-20 level and in the UEFA Youth League.
His competitive first team début, aged 17, was on 6 December 2013. He subbed on in Celtic's 5–0 league win at Motherwell. On 13 March 2014, Henderson's first competitive match start was in the 3-0 league win at Kilmarnock. Henderson scored his first Celtic goal on 26 March 2014. This was Celtic's second in the 5–1 league clinching win at Partick Thistle. His March form won him the SPFL Young Player of the Month award for that month. Manager Neil Lennon commented "He's been absolutely excellent", and "His attitude to work is fantastic and there's certainly a willingness on his part to get better". All of his 8 competitive first team games that season were in the Premiership (2 games short of the minimum 10 required to be awarded a winner's medal).

#### 2014–15: Loan to Rosenborg

Henderson made 15 Celtic first team appearances in all competitions in 2014/15. He scored with a left-footed shot on the turn at Hamilton Academical on 17 January 2015. He substituted Stuart Armstrong on 75 minutes to assist John Guidetti's 93rd-minute equaliser in the 3-3 Europa League first leg home tie versus Inter. Henderson was unused from the bench when Inter went through when winning the return 1-0. He subbed on in the 82nd minute of Celtic's 2–0 League Cup Final win over Dundee United.
By the end of March, Henderson had nine appearances in Celtic's 28 Premiership games so far that season. He needed one more appearance from Celtic's remaining 10 Premiership games that season, for him to reach the minimum 10 appearances needed to qualify for a winner's medal. However, on the 31 March last day of the Norwegian transfer window, he gave up that medal opportunity and instead signed a 3 month loan deal with Rosenborg. He was 18 at the time of this, his first move overseas.
Henderson debuted for his new club on 12 April when he subbed on in the second half in a 6–0 win at Haugesund. After his home debut substitute league appearance versus Strømsgodset, his first start in Norway was on 22 April in a Norwegian Cup tie at lower league Vuku. He scored his first Rosenborg goal, opening the scoring on 8 minutes with a right-foot strike. His team won 3–0. On 25 April on his 19th birthday, he subbed on at Viking to score twice within 10 minutes. Rosenborg won 4–1.
After 9 league and 4 cup appearances and scoring 4 goals, Henderson left Rosenborg at the end of June 2015. He was positive about his time in Norway stating, "it was a great experience, playing in a different league and in a foreign country." Rosenborg clinched the league title on 25 October 2015. He had made enough appearances to qualify for a league medal. Rosenborg also won the 2015 Norwegian Football Cup. He qualified for a cup medal, with rules in Norway making a player eligible for a medal by playing during the cup run.

#### 2015–16: Loan to Hibernian

Aged 19, on 14 August 2015 Henderson signed a three-year contract with Celtic. At the same time he moved on loan to Hibernian, the team supported by his family. He debuted for Hibs the next day, subbed on in 69 minutes for Dan Carmichael in a 1–0 home league win over Morton. On 12 September, he scored his first Hibs goal, the opener in a 3–0 win over Alloa Athletic. Jason Cummings and John McGinn also scored. A week later, Henderson's curled free kick scored the only goal to win 1–0 at Livingston. Manager Alan Stubbs described the goal as "worthy of winning any game".
Henderson played in that season's League Cup Final. Hibs lost 2–1 to a 90th minute Ross County winner.
Hibs played at Hearts in the 2015–16 Scottish Cup round of 16, coming from two down to draw 2-2. Hibs won the home replay 1–0. Henderson was prominent in both games. Hibs defeated Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2–1 in the round of 8, with Henderson heavily involved in the move that lead to Hibs' second goal.
Henderson subbed on after 70 mins with Hibs 2-1 down to Rangers in the 2016 Scottish Cup Final. He delivered both corner kicks to assist Anthony Stokes' equalising 2nd goal, and David Gray's stoppage time 3-2 winner. This was Hibs' first Scottish Cup trophy win since 1902, 114 years before.
Hibernian ended the league season 3rd in Scotland's 2nd tier behind Rangers and Falkirk, to qualify for the end of season play-offs. Hibs eliminated Raith Rovers 2-1 on aggregate in the play-offs, before losing 5-4 on aggregate to Falkirk.

#### 2016–17: Return to Celtic

Under new Celtic manager, Brendan Rodgers, Henderson made his first starting appearance of the season on 15 October 2016 in a 2–0 league win over Motherwell. By the end of the season he had made six starts, with a further seven substitute appearances to bring his total to 13 games. He played in 10 league games this season, reaching for the first time the minimum number required to qualify for a Scottish league winner's medal.

#### 2017–18

By January 2018, his only competitive first-team football of the 2017–18 season was 23 substitute minutes at home to Dundee in October.

### Bari

Aged 21, Henderson after a successful trial signed for Italian Serie B club Bari on 17 January 2018. The undisclosed fee was later reported as £115,000. He made his debut on 28 January, playing for the first hour in a 4–0 home league defeat to Empoli. On 24 February, he scored his first goal for Bari, the opener in a 2–1 win over Ternana, and provided the assist for Luca Marrone's second half winner. He became a free agent after Bari were declared bankrupt at the season's end.

### Hellas Verona

Aged 22, on 3 August 2018, Henderson signed a four-year contract with Serie B Hellas Verona. Verona made a strong start to the season, winning their opening five games. He scored his first Verona goal in a 2–1 win over Crotone on 22 September 2018. Manager Fabio Grosso praised Henderson's versatility and the "timing of his runs into the [penalty] box". Verona won the 2019 Serie B promotion play-offs for promotion to Serie A. Henderson started all 5 of Verona's play-off games. They won 4-1 after extra-time at home to Perugia, 1-0 on aggregate versus Pescara, and 3-2 on aggregate versus Cittadella.
Henderson played in Verona's opening match of the 2019–20 Serie A season, a 1–1 home draw with Bologna. Joe Baker was raised in Scotland and self-identified as Scots. However Baker was only eligible due to international football rules at the time for his country of birth, England, where he lived for the first six weeks of his life. Hence, that game v Bologna made Henderson the fourth Scot to play in men's Serie A after Denis Law (Baker's 1961/62 Torino team mate), Joe Jordan and Graeme Souness and the first since Souness played for Sampdoria 33 years before in 1986. At Verona Henderson played in four games in Serie A, 23+5 in Serie B and Serie B play-off games, and 3 in the Coppa.

#### Loan to Empoli

Aged 23, on 17 January 2020 he joined Serie B Empoli on loan with an option to buy. He scored his first Empoli goal with the equaliser on 1 February 2020 in a 3–1 Serie B home win versus Crotone.

### Lecce

Aged 24, on 11 September 2020 Henderson signed a four-year contract with Serie B side Lecce. At the end of 2020–21, Lecce made the play-offs by finishing fourth. He played in both games when they lost in the play-off semi-finals 2–1 on aggregate to Venezia. He left Lecce after one season.

### Return to Empoli

Aged 25, in August 2021 Henderson returned to Serie A for the first time since his spell at Verona. He transferred to Empoli who had been promoted as Serie B champions in Henderson's season at Lecce.
His first Serie A goal was an equaliser at home on 9 January 2022 versus Sassuolo. If again discounting Joe Baker, that goal made Henderson the fifth Scot to score in Serie A. Henderson was again behind Law, Jordan and Souness, and now also Aaron Hickey who had scored 4 Bologna Serie A goals that season before Henderson's strike versus Sassuolo. Empoli lost that Sassuolo game 5–1, conceding three goals after Mattia Viti's 60th minute sending off. Henderson scored in Serie A again that season, on 24 April 2022 at home versus Napoli. Henderson joined the fray as a 61st-minute substitute with his team 2–0 down. His 80th-minute goal was the first of three his team scored to come back to win 3–2. Other stand out wins he played in that season were 1-0 victories at each of Juventus and Napoli.
On 9 October 2022, he joined Souness as the second Scot to reach 50 men's Serie A appearances, when Empoli drew 1–1 at Napoli. On 4 February 2023 in a 2–0 defeat at Roma, Henderson's 57th Serie A appearance meant he surpassed Souness' tally of 56 to become the Scot to play in the most men's Serie A games. His Serie A wins that season included 1–0 at Internazionale and 4–1 at home versus Juventus. He played in 64 Serie A games in this two-year spell at Empoli, taking his career Serie A appearances to 68 at this point. Empoli finished 14th in Serie A in both of these seasons. Henderson also notched 4 Coppa games in this Empoli stint.

#### Loan to Palermo

Aged 27, on 28 August 2023 Serie B Palermo announced Henderson signed on loan from Empoli, with an option to buy. Palermo finished that season 6th in Serie B, qualifying for the promotion play-offs preliminary round in which he subbed on at home defeating Sampdoria 2–0. He was unused from the bench when Palermo lost in the semi-finals 3–1 on aggregate to Venezia.

### Third spell at Empoli

Aged 28, Henderson returned in July 2024 from his Palermo loan. The first game of his return was a 4–1 home Coppa Italia win versus Catanzaro. Under new Head Coach, Roberto D'Aversa, this game sparked Empoli's 8 Coppa & League game unbeaten start to the season. The first Serie A game of his return was the goalless home draw versus Monza on 17 August 2024. The unbeaten run also included the Coppa win at Torino and Serie A wins over Roma and Cagliari, as well as the Serie A draw with Juventus. Henderson started all 8 games. In the absence of Alberto Grassi and Ardian Ismajli, Henderson deputised as Empoli captain in the Coppa win in Torino. Empoli were sixth in Serie A after six games with only Juventus bettering Empoli's 2 goals conceded defensive record. The unbeaten run ended in Empoli's ninth game of the season, losing 2-1 at Lazio. Subbed on after 65 minutes, this was Empoli's first competitive first team game of the season Henderson didn't start. That appearance made Henderson the first Scot to play in 75 men's Serie A games. The 1-1 draw at Lecce on 8 November 2024 made him the first Scot to play 80 men's Serie A games.

## International career

Henderson captained the Scotland national under-17 football team. He was part of the under 19 squad in Belarus in October 2013. Scotland qualified from three 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship elite qualification games there. Henderson was unused from the bench when Ryan Gauld scored in the 1-1 draw versus Latvia. Denny Johnstone scored both Scotland goals when Henderson then played in the 1-0 win versus hosts, Belarus, and in the 1-1 draw versus Germany. Henderson played in all three elite round matches in May 2014. However, Scotland finished bottom of the group with one draw and two 1 goal defeats.
In October 2014 Henderson played in three 2015 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifying games in Kaunas. He scored a penalty to put Scotland 2–0 ahead versus Finland who scored twice in the final 14 minutes to draw. He then played in draws versus Lithuania and Norway. Unbeaten Scotland qualified for the Elite Round as the best ranked third-placed team. In the three Elite Round games played in Austria in March 2015, he scored both Scottish goals in the 2–1 win over host team, Austria. He missed the 0-0 draw with Italy, then played in the last game versus Croatia. Oli McBurnie scored for the Scots to draw 1–1. However, Scotland unbeaten in all 6 games they played at the two levels, were eliminated by Austria's late winner against Italy.
On 13 November 2015, Henderson played for Scotland under-21s in a 2-2 draw, European Under-21 Championship qualifier versus Ukraine at St Mirren Park, Paisley. Over the next year, he played in a further seven U21 internationals. His last Under 21s game was on 28 March 2017. He was captain in a 0-0 friendly draw against Estonia in Paisley.

## Personal life

Henderson's father, Nicky, was a professional footballer in the 1990s and early 2000s. Liam's younger brother Ewan, followed Liam through the Celtic youth system before also playing for Hibs. Ewan in July 2024 joined Beerschot in Belgium.

## Career statistics

    As of match played 8 November 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National cup | National cup | League cup | League cup | Europe | Europe | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Celtic | 2013–14 | Scottish Premiership | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 1 |
| Celtic | 2014–15 | Scottish Premiership | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 1 |
| Celtic | 2015–16 | Scottish Premiership | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 |
| Celtic | 2016–17 | Scottish Premiership | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 1 |
| Celtic | 2017–18 | Scottish Premiership | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 |
| Celtic | Total | Total | 29 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 3 |
| Rosenborg (loan) | 2015 | Tippeligaen | 9 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 4 |
| Hibernian (loan) | 2015–16 | Scottish Championship | 32 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 1 | 48 | 6 |
| Bari | 2017–18 | Serie B | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 18 | 2 |
| Hellas Verona | 2018–19 | Serie B | 23 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | 30 | 3 |
| Hellas Verona | 2019–20 | Serie A | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 0 |
| Hellas Verona | Total | Total | 32 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 35 | 3 |
| Empoli (loan) | 2019–20 | Serie B | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 17 | 1 |
| Lecce | 2020–21 | Serie B | 38 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | 42 | 4 |
| Empoli | 2021–22 | Serie A | 38 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 40 | 2 |
| Empoli | 2022–23 | Serie A | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 26 | 0 |
| Empoli | 2023–24 | Serie A | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 |
| Palermo (loan) | 2023–24 | Serie B | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 31 | 1 |
| Empoli | 2024–25 | Serie A | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 14 | 0 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 280 | 23 | 24 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 323 | 26 |
* ↑ Appearances in Scottish Challenge Cup
* 1 2 3 4 Appearance(s) in Serie B promotion play-offs

## Honours

Team:
Celtic
* Scottish Premiership: 2016–17 winner
* Scottish League Cup: 2014–15 winner
Rosenborg
* Tippeligaen: 2015 winner
* Norwegian Football Cup: 2015 winner
Hibernian
* Scottish Cup: 2015–16 winner
* Scottish League Cup: 2015–16 runner-up
Hellas Verona
* Serie B Promotion Play-offs: 2019 winner
Individual:
* SPFL Young Player of the Month: March 2014