Born on this day is Sunderland youth academy product and Champions League winner, Jordan Henderson.
During his spell as a youngster in Sunderland’s first team, Henderson scored his first goal for the club in a League Cup fixture against Birmingham City, before scoring in the Premier League against Manchester City.
Playing mostly on the right, Henderson also covered in central midfield in Lee Cattermole’s absence. The versatility of the midfielder earned him a long-term contract on Wearside. He also earned the club’s Young Player of the Year award.
The following year, Jordan was named Young Player of the Year for the second season in a row, playing more regularly in central midfield. In January 2011, he was named by FIFA as one of 13 young players to watch.
Henderson joined Liverpool for a rumoured £16 million, which was a lot of money and a huge gamble by Kenny Dalglish. 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.
Fans may also be interested to know that to mark Jordan Henderson’s 10 years at Liverpool Football Club, The Redmen TV have released a 3-part Docu-series that looks back on the highs and lows of his incredible career and some of the filming regarding Jordan's early days at SAFC were shot in ALS. The series features exclusive interviews with Liverpool FC manager Jurgen Klopp, Trent Alexander Arnold, Sir Kenny Dalglish, Steven Gerrard, and England boss Gareth Southgate, as well as fantastic insight from his father Brian Henderson, Kevin Ball and a plethora of former teammates, former coaches and more.
Episode One goes back to Jordan’s roots and charts his rise from a young hopeful at Fulwell Juniors growing up in Sunderland’s Academy, his loan spell at Coventry City and his eventual breakout for the Sunderland AFC first team. All told by those who coached him, raised him, watched and played alongside him.
Episode One is available to stream for free on YouTube
