Nick Henry

Nick Henry (born 21 February 1969 in Liverpool, England) is an English retired footballer. He played as a midfielder, and spent most of his career at Oldham Athletic.

Career[]

Oldham Athletic[]

Henry started his professional career with Oldham Athletic after coming up through their youth academy. He made his debut in the 1986–87 season under Joe Royle. He played a major part in the club's most successful period, including the 1989-90 cup runs, reaching the final of the League Cup and the semi-final of the FA Cup, with Henry famously scoring in the 3-1 League Cup victory over Arsenal. He again played a major part in the club's promotion to the top flight the following season, and a year later he scored on the opening day of the brand new Premier League, in a 1–1 draw against Chelsea in 1992. In ten years at the club he made 273 league appearances, scoring 19 goals.

During Oldham's 1989-90 FA Cup run, Henry was at the centre of a little-noticed incident which may have changed the course of footballing history. During the FA Cup semi-final replay against Manchester United, with the scores level, Henry's long range shot cannoned against the cross-bar and appeared, from television pictures, to have crossed the goal line before bouncing back out into play. No goal was given, and Manchester United went on to win the tie with a goal from Mark Robins. Had Henry's goal been given and Oldham gone on to win the match, it is highly possible, if contemporaneous press speculation were to be believed, that Alex Ferguson would have been sacked as manager of Manchester United, after another trophy-less season in which his team were languishing in mid-table of the (then) First Division. Had this happened, the shift in the balance of footballing power towards Manchester United following the introduction of Sky Sports and the inception of the Premier League may never have happened.

Sheffield United[]

On 28 February 1997, Nick Henry earned a £500,000 move to Sheffield United. His debut came on 9 December when the blades lost 2–1 at Charlton Athletic. That turned out to be Henry's only appearance of the season. Henry went on to making only 21 appearances for the club, failing to score any goals, and towards the end of his Bramall Lane spell he was loaned out to Walsall F.C. for two months, where he made eight league appearances, failing to score any goals.

Tranmere Rovers[]

He moved on to Tranmere Rovers in the Summer of 1999 where he spent a couple of years in the first team, making 89 appearances and playing in the 2000 Football League Cup Final, the second League Cup Final of his career, 10 years after the first. Earlier that season he scored the winning goal as Tranmere memorably beat Premier League side West Ham United 1–0 in the FA Cup.^[1]

Scarborough[]

On 12 July 2002, Henry joined Scarborough F.C. on a free transfer. On 17 August he got sent off on his Scarborough debut in the 1–1 draw at Burton Albion. He went on to make 24 appearances (two as sub) for Scarborough, scoring two goals. He later managed the club, before being sacked after a run of poor results. He later became the Head Chef and owner of 'The Albert' pub. Now ending his career as a lino technician at a local bus building firm Henry believes he found his level and has never been happier earning money with his extensive knowledge of the beautiful game.

References[]

External links[]

• Nick Henry at Soccerbase
• Nick Henry at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database