Club Henderson played his club
hurling with the local
Fenians club in Johnstown. He was too young to play senior hurling when the club triumphed winning
county championship titles in the early 1970s, however, he did win county title and a
Leinster club title in 1974.
Inter-county By 1972, Henderson was a member of the
Kilkenny minor hurling team that won the
All-Ireland title. He later joined the county's under-21 side, winning back-to-back
All-Ireland titles in 1974 and 1975. By this stage, Henderson was also a member of the Kilkenny senior hurling panel. In 1976, he tasted his first senior hurling success when he won a
National Hurling League medal. Two years later, in 1978, Henderson had taken over from his brother Pat as centre-back on the team, and he won his first
Leinster title that year. Kilkenny were later defeated by
Cork in the All-Ireland final. In spite of this, Henderson's championship performance earned him his first
All-Star award. In 1979, Henderson captured a second Leinster title before later collecting his first
All-Ireland following a win over
Galway. Once again he was presented with an All-Star award, as well as claiming the
Texaco Hurler of the Year award. Three years later, Henderson won a second National League and a third Leinster medal, before winning a second All-Ireland medal following a win over Cork. Once again, his performance at centre-back earned him his third All-Star award. In 1983, Henderson captured another quartet of National League, Leinster, All-Ireland and All-Star honours. The following few years saw Kilkenny's hurling fortunes take a downturn. In spite of this, Henderson won a fourth National League in 1986, before adding a fifth Leinster title in 1987. Kilkenny were later defeated by
Galway in the All-Ireland final. ==References==