OTD: JORDAN HENDERSON BORN

Born on this day in Sunderland is Jordan Henderson. Henderson joined our academy at 8 years old and went on to make just shy of 80 appearances for the Lads before moving on to Liverpool, where he played for over a decade and won everything there is to win. The less said about his destination after Liverpool though, the better.

Jordan is Sunderland fan through and through. A famous early MySpace (or was it Bebo?) post, an almost ancient seeming relic from a different era of the internet, details that he was happiest when he was playing for Sunderland, that his dream was to win the F.A. Cup with Sunderland before he was 30 and told of his desperation to get into the side for ‘the scum game’. Jordan would obviously go on to win the F.A. Cup, albeit with Liverpool, amongst many other trophies. I wonder if he'll make a triumphant return to Sunderland, and win something with us before retirement. There’s still time and given the recent rumours surrounding him it may not be that far fetched with us being back in the Premier League now.

He made his debut under Roy Keane but developed into a key player under Steve Bruce. He had a pretty brutal introduction to Premier League football, coming on at half time in a 5-0 pasting against Chelsea. He was likely the only player to come away with any sort of buzz after a miserable game, having made his debut for his boyhood side. Keane soon departed, replaced by caretaker Ricky Sbragia and Henderson, who had found himself around the fringes of the matchday squad, was loaned out to Coventry City.

He scored his first senior goal on loan and returned to Sunderland a better player. He was quickly integrated into an excellent Steve Bruce side, playing on the right midfield. I remember watching him go down the right with great excitement, anticipating him beating his man by putting the ball through their legs and crossing, something which probably happened only twice in reality but got me out of my seat nonetheless. Jordan was talented and everyone recognised it.

Eventually he would transition into a central midfielder. He played there in Lee Cattermole’s absence for us and did very well. Strong performances from such a young player, combined with back to back Young Player of the Season awards, meant that Henderson was always going to attract interest from bigger teams. Henderson eventually joined Liverpool for a rumoured £16 million, a big fee and a huge gamble by Kenny Dalglish and one which, initially, looked to have failed.

A year after joining, Henderson was very nearly shown the door. The midfielder was allowed to join Fulham in 2012, but Henderson rejected to opportunity and decided to prove his worth to manager Brendan Rodgers. After Steven Gerrard left in 2015, Henderson became the club captain and the rest, as they say, is history.

Henderson has lifted a Premier League title, an FA Cup, two League Cups, a Champions League (captaining the side in three finals), a UEFA Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup as well as being an instrumental figure in the England national team. Henderson had his detractors for years, but his professionalism and engine was, at one point, crucial to the way that both Liverpool and England play. He is a born leader and a serial winner.

I would have loved for the story to end there but unfortunately there is a bit of an elephant in this room. His Liverpool exit sent him across the world to Saudi Arabia where in his announcement video, his new club Al-Ettifaq desaturated his rainbow armband and made it black and white. He was widely criticised for the move, having spent years as an LGBTQ+ advocate and was accused of selling his morales. He did an interview with the Athletic in an attempt to clear his name and defend himself. Instead, he ruined his image even further and contradicted himself so many times. Apparently, he was unhappy in Saudi Arabia and moved to Ajax after less than six months. Supposedly, he hasn't received a penny for the time he spent in Saudi Arabia. He joined Ajax at a difficult time in their history, with them finishing 5th in his first season there and then they followed this up with a runners' up position, which isn't great for a club that once dominated Dutch football. The tensions were clearly felt at one point as he had a spat with a journalist during a press conference. Somewhat surprisingly, he's recently made a return to the England squad with him being favoured by new boss Thomas Tuchel.

Regardless of his later career, Henderson is one of the Premier League's most decorated midfielders and it has to be said that watching England do well is much sweeter when you've got a local lad in the team. Those of us watching Soccer AM in 2008, seeing Henderson take on Nathan Luscombe in the ‘Skill Skool’ and balance the ball on the back of his neck, could never have imagined his future trophy haul.