Sunderland Nation

Roy Keane on Jordan Henderson: 'He's a Sunderland lad - that's a great start'

Jordan Henderson has a fan in Roy Keane, who gave him his debut in senior football.

Michael Graham

Roy Keane on Jordan Henderson: 'He's a Sunderland lad - that's a great start'
Roy Keane on Jordan Henderson: 'He's a Sunderland lad - that's a great start' /

Roy Keane says Jordan Henderson being a Sunderland lad gave him a ‘great start’ in his career.

It was Keane who handed Henderson his debut in senior football in November 2008, with him coming on as a half-time substitute in an away game at Chelsea.

Henderson has since gone on to have a stunning career, captaining Liverpool to the Premier League title and Champions League glory. He has also made his mark as an international player, with no one playing more major tournaments for the Three Lions.

Sadly, his and England’s 2022 World Cup campaign came to an end in an unfortunate 2-1 quarter-final defeat to France, but not before Keane could pay tribute to his former player.

"We always felt, even at Sunderland, he loved the game,” Keane said as part of ITV’s World Cup coverage. “As a young player he went on loan and had challenges there. At Sunderland he did very well, obviously [he’s] a Sunderland lad so that’s a good start.

"[He] goes to Liverpool, which wasn't easy with Gerrard still around the place who was a great player and people try to compare them. He then took leadership roles at Liverpool and been successful, he's done brilliant with England, we've seen all the stats there with the six tournaments, that's all the stuff on the pitch... off the pitch he has done amazing stuff.

"He's a really good kid, his family must be really proud of him, I've always liked Jordan, always liked him as a kid, and I think he's a pretty humble guy.

“In saying that I did meet him a few months ago for breakfast, and I had to pay for it!"

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Michael Graham
MICHAEL GRAHAM

Michael Graham is a professional sports writer with more than ten years of industry experience. After pursuing football writing by helping establish the Roker Report Sunderland AFC fansite, Michael moved to Planet Sport to cover football.  Michael has since worked on many of the sports sites within the Planet Sport network, including Football365, TEAMtalk and Planet Football before leaving to join 90min. As well as football, Michael is an accomplished tennis writer and has been regularly featured on Tennishead, TennisBuzz and Tennis365. It is football that is his first love, though, with Sunderland AFC his particular passion.  Contact: michael@buzzpublishing.co.uk

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