Tony Henry (footballer, born 1957) explained

Tony Henry
Fullname:Anthony Henry
Birth Date:26 November 1957
Birth Place:Houghton-le-Spring, England
Height:[1]
Position:Midfielder
Years1:1976–1981
Caps1:79
Goals1:6
Years2:1981–1982
Caps2:70
Goals2:22
Years3:1982–1987
Caps3:190
Goals3:25
Years4:1987–1989
Clubs4:Stoke City
Caps4:62
Goals4:11
Years5:1989–1991
Clubs5:Mazda
Years6:1991–1992
Caps6:40
Goals6:7
Years7:1993–1994
Caps7:19
Goals7:0
Years8:1994–1997
Caps8:34
Goals8:6
Totalcaps:494
Totalgoals:77

Anthony Henry (born 26 November 1957) is an English association football administrator and former footballer who played in the Football League for Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City, Oldham Athletic, Shrewsbury Town and Stoke City.[2]

Career

Born in Houghton-le-Spring, Henry began his career with Manchester City and made his professional debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1977.[3] As a young player Henry found it difficult to break into a side packed with more established young players such as Gary Owen and also internationals such as Dave Watson and Asa Hartford which had been consistently challenging for major honours.[3] It was not before March 1979 that Henry got an extended run in the side with the team had been struggling in the bottom half of the league table though progress had been made in the UEFA Cup where a 5–2 aggregate third round victory over AC Milan had set up a tie with Borussia Mönchengladbach. Though a 3–1 defeat sent City out of the competition Henry kept his place for the trip to Arsenal four days later and was to miss only one further game until the end of the 1980–81 season, making a total of 15 appearances.[3]

The style of football Malcolm Allison wanted to play suited Henry's ability as a utility player, being able to play across the midfield and also at full-back if need be, and his first goals for Manchester City soon followed as he scored both in a 2–1 League Cup replay win at home to Sheffield Wednesday in early September.[3] Two months later he got his first league goal for the club when he opened the scoring in a 2–0 derby match win over Manchester United, the goal for which he is best-remembered for by the supporters.[3] Three wins out of the last four games saw them finish in seventeenth place, Henry scoring in a 2–1 win on the last day against Ipswich to bring his tally to 4 goals from 32 appearances.[3] Henry lost his place in the team the following season as the poor league form from the previous term continued, Malcolm Allison was sacked and replaced by John Bond.[3] He immediately brought in a number of experienced players, with Henry losing his place in the team. In the League Cup he had hit a rich vein of form, helping the side reach the semi-final only to be defeated by Liverpool.[3] Henry played as a substitute in the 1981 FA Cup final.

Henry was sold to Bolton Wanderers in 1981 for a fee of £120,000.[2] He spent two seasons at Burnden Park scoring 20 goals in 70 matches for the "Trotters".[2] He then went on to Oldham Athletic where he enjoyed what was the most successful time of his career making almost 200 appearances for the "Latics".[2] In December 1987 Henry signed for Stoke City and instantly established himself in Mick Mills' first team playing in every match until the end of the 1987–88 season.[2] He was again a regular in 1988–89 playing in 48 games as Stoke finished in a disappointing 13th.[2] At the end of the season Henry decided to move to Japan to play for Mazda before ending his career with Shrewsbury Town and then Welsh League side TNS Llansantffraid.[2] During his spell with the club he was also manager, and was sacked by the club's chairman wearing a towel after a match.[4]

Scouting

After his retirement from football, Henry continued to work within the game as a scout. He was chief scout at Chelsea, Sunderland and then Everton, before taking up the role of director of player recruitment at West Ham United in 2014.[5] [6]

On 1 February 2018, Henry was suspended from his role at West Ham following a report in the Daily Mail. The report alleged that he had told agents that the club did not want to sign any more African players as they "cause mayhem" when they don't play, citing the recently departed Diafra Sakho as an example.[7] [8] A club statement confirmed the suspension "pending a full and thorough investigation".[9] The following day, the club announced that his contract had been terminated.[10] In July 2018, Henry was banned from football for 12 months by the Football Association after admitting misconduct.[11]

Career statistics

Source:

ClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester City1975–76First Division0000001010
1976–77First Division2000000020
1977–78First Division1000000010
1978–79First Division150000010160
1979–80First Division324101000344
1980–81First Division272307400374
1981–82First Division2000000020
Total7964084209310
Bolton Wanderers1981–82Second Division391320004113
1982–83Second Division31910323511
Total70223032007624
Oldham Athletic1982–83Second Division1110000111
1983–84Second Division4241020454
1984–85Second Division4032021444
1985–86Second Division4070020427
1986–87Second Division366201030426
1987–88Second Division214005010274
Total19025501214021126
Stoke City1987–88Second Division2252000245
1988–89Second Division406302010466
Total62115020107011
Shrewsbury Town1991–92Third Division407004010457
Career Total441711702978049578

A.  The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Scottish Cup, Football League play-offs Football League Trophy and Full Members Cup.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88 . Peter . Dunk . Queen Anne Press . London . 1987 . 274 . 978-0-356-14354-5 .
  2. Book: Matthews, Tony. The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. 1994. Lion Press. 0952415100.
  3. Web site: Tony Henry – Part 1. Sporting Heroes. 28 July 2012.
  4. Web site: Former Saints boss hits headlines . My Welshpool . 12 November 2021 . 1 February 2018.
  5. Web site: The transfer hunters: how Premier League scouting set-ups compare . The Guardian . 17 June 2017 . 1 February 2018 .
  6. Web site: 'Two or three signings will take us up a level' - Director of Player Recruitment Tony Henry . West Ham United F.C. . 22 May 2017 . 1 February 2018 .
  7. News: Hammers investigate racism claims surrounding director of recruitment. Belfasttelegraph.
  8. Web site: West Ham suspend Tony Henry over claims of club policy against signing Africans . BBC Sport . 1 February 2018 . 1 February 2018 .
  9. Web site: Club statement: Tony Henry . West Ham United F.C. . 1 February 2018 . 1 February 2018 .
  10. Web site: Club Statement. West Ham United F.C. . 2 February 2018 . 2 February 2018 .
  11. Web site: Tony Henry: West Ham's ex-head of recruitment banned for 12 months. 5 July 2018. BBC Sport. 6 July 2018.