Dean Henderson
Dean Bradley Henderson is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Crystal Palace, which he captains, and the England national team.
Henderson joined Manchester United's youth system in 2011 from Carlisle United. He was loaned out to a number of teams. Having played in various lower divisions, he made his Premier League debut with Sheffield United in 2019. He made his first-team debut for Manchester United against Luton Town in the EFL Cup in September 2020. After sporadic appearances as a back-up for United, he spent a season on loan at Nottingham Forest before being signed by Crystal Palace, where he won the FA Cup in 2025.
Henderson has represented England at under-16, under-17, under-20, under-21 and senior levels. He was a member of the England under-20 squad that won the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and the senior team that were runners-up at UEFA Euro 2020 and UEFA Euro 2024.
Club career
Manchester United
Henderson joined the Manchester United academy aged 14, having spent six years at Carlisle United. He first joined the academy in August 2011.After progressing through the academy, Henderson was among 10 players to join the Academy squad for the 2013–14 season. He became a regular goalkeeper for the U18 team in the 2013–14 season.
In the 2014–15 season, Henderson continued to impress as a regular goalkeeper for the U18 team, as he made 25 appearances but sustained an injury towards the end of the season. Nevertheless, he was among nominees for the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award but lost out to Axel Tuanzebe. In August 2015, Henderson signed his first professional contract with the club.
2016: Loan to Stockport County
On 12 January 2016, he was loaned to National League North club Stockport County on an initial one-month loan. He made his Stockport County debut, where he played the whole game, in a 1–1 draw against Nuneaton Town on 16 January 2016.On 22 February 2016, due to an injury crisis, Henderson was recalled from loan and had his first call-up to a senior Manchester United game, sitting on the bench during a 3–0 FA Cup victory away to Shrewsbury Town. Henderson then returned to Stockport County to complete his loan spell. His first game after signing for the club for the second time was a 2–0 loss against North Ferriby United on 26 March 2016. He went on to make nine appearances for Stockport County and kept three clean sheets.
2016–2017: Loan to Grimsby Town
On 31 August 2016, Henderson joined League Two club Grimsby Town on loan until the beginning of January 2017. However, he started his Grimsby Town career as second–choice goalkeeper behind James McKeown. Henderson made his debut on 26 December 2016, in a 2–0 victory over Accrington Stanley at Blundell Park. After making his debut, his performance was praised by Manager Marcus Bignot. On 31 December 2016, Henderson had his loan at Grimsby Town extended until the end of January 2017. On the same day, he kept another clean sheet, in a 0–0 draw against Blackpool.It was then extended again on 25 January 2017, until the end of the 2016–17 season. However, Manchester United recalled Henderson from the loan spell on 3 February 2017, due to an injury to third-choice goalkeeper Joel Castro Pereira. By the time of his departure, Henderson made seven appearances and kept four clean sheets; he had become the first-choice goalkeeper.
2017–2018: Loan to Shrewsbury Town
On 10 July 2017, Henderson joined League One club Shrewsbury Town on loan for the 2017–18 season. Upon joining the club, Henderson was given a number 1 shirt ahead of the new season. Henderson made his Shrewsbury Town debut, in the opening game of the season, where he kept a clean sheet, in a 1–0 win over Northampton Town. He also kept another clean sheet in a follow–up match, in a 1–0 win over AFC Wimbledon. Henderson quickly established himself as the club's first choice goalkeeper and became the club's fan favourite. He has also helped the club win the number of matches to help them go to the top of the table. By September, Henderson reflected his time at the club so far, saying he enjoyed playing football there and playing Saturday/Tuesday is excellent for his development.By December, there were rumours when his parent club may recall Henderson in January. Later that month, Henderson kept three clean sheets in three matches against Blackpool, Portsmouth and Wigan Athletic. However, Henderson served a three match suspension after being involved in an altercation with an opposition supporter during a 3–1 loss against Blackburn Rovers on 13 January 2018. Initially the club made a decision to appeal, the club changed their mind shortly after. After serving a three match ban, Henderson returned to the starting line-up on 13 February 2018, in a 2–1 win over Fleetwood Town. By the end of March, Henderson kept 13 clean sheets for the team.
On 8 April 2018, he played at Wembley Stadium in the 2018 EFL Trophy final against Lincoln City, which Shrewsbury Town lost 1–0, and later that month was one of only three players not from Wigan Athletic or Blackburn Rovers to be selected for the League One PFA Team of the Year. The following month, in the League One play-offs, Henderson kept two clean sheets in a 2–0 win over Charlton Athletic on aggregate to reach the final. Henderson started in goal in the final when Rotherham United beat Shrewsbury Town 2–1 after extra time, and he saved a penalty from David Ball after nine minutes.
Henderson made two separate statements, expressing his gratefulness and admiration for the club, and his hope to one day return in the future.
2018–2020: Loans to Sheffield United
In June 2018, Henderson signed a two-year contract extension with his parent club, which was due to expire in June 2020. On 18 June, he joined Championship club Sheffield United on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season, helping them to secure promotion to the Premier League for the first time since 2007. During his season-long loan, Henderson won the club's Young Player of the Year Award, as well as the Championship Golden Glove keeping 20 clean sheets across the season. Following an impressive debut season in the championship, European giants Bayern Munich and Juventus had reported interest in the goalkeeper.On 25 July 2019, Henderson signed a new contract with Manchester United until June 2022 and returned on loan to Sheffield United. He made his Premier League debut on 10 August as they began the season with a 1–1 draw at AFC Bournemouth. On 28 September against Liverpool at Bramall Lane, he fumbled a shot from Georginio Wijnaldum for the game's only goal in the 70th minute. His manager Chris Wilder warned him that he would have to do better to succeed for Manchester United or England. On 7 March, Henderson made a triple save, labelled "heroic" by Sky Sports, keeping out a Norwich City goal in a 1–0 victory. Henderson received praise again during Sheffield United's first game following project restart where he kept his 11th clean sheet of the season, making six saves in the process. Following the match, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær confirmed that he sees Henderson as the club's future number one goalkeeper.
2020–2022: Manchester United first team
On 14 August 2020, Henderson was added to Manchester United's senior squad list for the first time. On 26 August, he signed a new long-term contract that would keep him at Manchester United until June 2025. He made his senior debut in September in the third round of the League Cup against Luton Town, keeping a clean sheet in the process during United's 3–0 win. He made his second appearance for United a week later in the fourth round of the League Cup, keeping another clean sheet in a 3–0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion. On 4 November, Henderson made his Champions League debut for United in a 2–1 group stage away defeat to İstanbul Başakşehir. Twenty-five days later, he made his league debut for the club as a substitute for the injured David de Gea in a 3–2 away win over Southampton.In March 2021, with first choice goalkeeper David de Gea away on paternity leave, Henderson was given the start against Crystal Palace on 3 March. Henderson started the following game, the Manchester Derby, which saw United win 2–0. Henderson created the second goal of the game with a halfway-line throw to Luke Shaw which saw Shaw beat his man, before a one-two with Marcus Rashford and scoring. De Gea returned to the UK ahead of United's next game against West Ham; however, pandemic quarantine rules and Henderson's good performances saw Henderson continue as starting goalkeeper. Henderson started all league games in April and alternated starts in May, as did most of the squad, due to United's fixtures congestion caused by the pandemic and the 2021 Old Trafford protests. Henderson made 25 starts and one substitute appearances in United's 2020–21 season.
During Manchester United's 2021–22 pre-season Henderson caught COVID-19. This developed into long COVID, and saw Henderson out of the squad until late September when he played in United's League Cup opener, where defeat to West Ham saw them exit the competition in their first game. Henderson's only other domestic appearances in the 2021–22 season was the club's FA Cup exit to Middlesbrough.
Failing to regain his starting place, at the end Henderson accused Manchester United of making him "sit there and waste 12 months", "not through with anything they told me", and refused to play under incoming manager Erik Ten Hag. He was loaned to Nottingham Forest the following season.