FOOTBALL BOOK REVIEWS

JORDAN HENDERSON: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY

WHAT MAKES A GREAT FOOTBALL CAPTAIN? IS IT THE BEST PLAYER IN THE TEAM OR THE MOST CONSISTENT? THE LOUDEST VOICE OR THE BEST COMMUNICATOR? SOMEONE WHO PLAYS WITH THEIR HEART OR THEIR HEAD? THE PERSON WHO LEADS BY EXAMPLE ON THE PITCH OR OFF IT? IN TRUTH, IDEALLY IT IS A COMBINATION OF ALL OF THESE THINGS, AND MORE BESIDES. NAMES LIKE TONY

ADAMS, ROY KEANE, WES MORGAN, VINCENT

KOMPANY AND STEVEN GERRARD OFTEN FEATURE IN DISCUSSIONS OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE’S GREATEST

CAPTAINS. THESE ARE PLAYERS WHO NOT ONLY WON TROPHIES FOR THEIR CLUBS BUT ALSO LED THEIR TEAMS PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY – THEY BECAME, IN A WAY, EXTENSIONS OF THE BADGE.

TONY ADAMS WAS ARSENAL, ROY KEANE WAS

MANCHESTER UNITED, WES MORGAN WAS

LEICESTER CITY. THEY WERE THE FIGUREHEADS FOR THEIR CLUBS, UNDOUBTED LEADERS ON THE PITCH WITH PERSONAS THAT MATCHED. EACH HAD HIS OWN STYLE, HIS OWN CHALLENGES TO FACE AND EACH LEFT AN ENVIABLE FOOTBALLING LEGACY.

THESE ARE BIG BOOTS TO FILL, BUT ARGUABLY

JORDAN HENDERSON HAS NOT ONLY FILLED THESE BOOTS BUT MADE THEM EVEN BIGGER.

NHL HALL OF FAMER JOE SAKIC SAID, ‘A… TEAM NEEDS A VOICE, NOT ONLY IN THE COMMUNITY, BUT

MORE IMPORTANTLY BETWEEN THE COACHING STAFF AND THE PLAYERS. ’ WHILST THE TRIPTYCH REMAINS – PLAYERS, STAFF, COMMUNITY – THE EMPHASIS ON COMMUNITY HAS GROWN IN RECENT YEARS, NOT LEAST AS A RESULT OF THE PANDEMIC. AND HENDERSON’S VOICE HAS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF BRIDGING A LINK NOT ONLY WITH LIVERPOOL FANS, OR EVEN FOOTBALL FANS, BUT WITH WIDER SOCIETY, THROUGH HIS WORK ON THE #PLAYERSTOGETHER NHS INITIATIVE AND FUND. IF THERE IS ONE TAKEAWAY FROM HENDERSON’S RECENT AUTOBIOGRAPHY, IT IS THAT HE IS QUICK TO PASS THE PLAUDITS AROUND; LIKE ANY GREAT LEADER, HE HONOURS THE WORK OF OTHERS AND DOWNPLAYS HIS OWN ROLE. YET HENDERSON WAS AT THE HEART OF FOOTBALL’S RALLYING FOR THE NHS AND, COUPLED WITH THE INCREDIBLE SUCCESS UNDER HIS CAPTAINCY AT LIVERPOOL, WHICH HAS INCLUDED THE FULL GAMUT OF TOP-TIER TROPHIES ON OFFER – PREMIER LEAGUE, FA CUP, LEAGUE CUP, COMMUNITY SHIELD, CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, EUROPEAN SUPER CUP AND CLUB WORLD CUP – THE FORMER WON FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THREE DECADES FOR THE REDS, THE LATTER WON FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER – HIS IS A LEGACY THAT CARRIES EXCEPTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE NOT ONLY ON THE PITCH BUT BEYOND FOOTBALL, NOT ONLY IN LIVERPOOL BUT NATIONWIDE.

IN MANY WAYS, HENDERSON’S IMPRESSIVE LEADERSHIP HAS MADE HIM NOT ONLY A FIGUREHEAD FOR HIS CLUB BUT A FIGUREHEAD FOR THE FOOTBALL COMMUNITY AND HE’S A WARM, LIKEABLE AND MODEST ONE AT THAT, AS EVIDENCED THROUGHOUT THE COMPELLING AUTOBIOGRAPHY.