Longford Town have announced that former Cobh and Waterford manager Stephen Henderson, will be the club’s new manager ahead of the 2023 First Division Season.
Henderson has plenty of knowledge and experience in the league, having both played and coached throughout his career on the Island of Ireland.
Coming from a big soccer family mainly of goalkeepers, his father Paddy Henderson was a League of Ireland goalkeeper, as was his brother Dave Henderson, while his younger brother Wayne Henderson was a Republic of Ireland international goalkeeper, his son Stephen Henderson currently minds the nets for Charlton Athletic.
Henderson lined out for clubs such as Shelbourne, Dundalk, Limerick, Lisburn Distillery, St James’s Gate, Cobh Ramblers, Ards and Finn Harps in his long career, before becoming a goalkeeper coach at Cork City before moving into a managerial role elsewhere.
He is best known for his two stints as manager of Cobh Ramblers, while also managing Waterford United from 2009 to 2011, at Cobh he guided them to third place in the First Division table in 2005, their highest league placing since 1999, and fourth place the following season before delivering the club their first-ever piece of silverware when he guided Cobh Ramblers to the First Division title in 2007.
At Waterford he led the club to the final of the League Cup and the semi-finals of the FAI Cup in 2009, and to the promotion play-offs the following season. Returning to Cobh Ramblers in 2015 he brought them to their first ever league cup final in 2018 where they narrowly lost out to Derry City while beating Stephen Kenny’s Dundalk side in the semi-final.
Speaking on the announcement on their club website this morning Henderson said:
“I am delighted and grateful to Jim & the board of Longford Town FC for this tremendous opportunity to manage a fantastically run football club with a number of exceptional people on and off the pitch. Gary Cronin laid the foundations of a very attacking, exciting and committed group of players which I am extremely excited to work with.
The process of re-signing our best best players and adding to the group begins immediately and I promise everyone at Longford Town that I will give my heart & soul to the club as we embark on what I hope will be an exciting and successful journey together”
Diarmuid Kearney
Diarmuid Kearney is a freelance Sports Journalist based in Co Kerry. He has more than 5 years experience covering domestic and international soccer for different media organisations, while also working for local and national print and digital organisations covering GAA.