Tony Henry (footballer, born 1957)

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.[1]

Tony Henry
Personal information
Full name Anthony Henry[1]
Date of birth (1957-11-26) 26 November 1957[1]
Place of birth Houghton-le-Spring, England[1]
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1976–1981 Manchester City 79 (6)
1981–1982 Bolton Wanderers 70 (22)
1982–1987 Oldham Athletic 190 (25)
1987–1989 Stoke City 62 (11)
1989–1991 Mazda
1991–1992 Shrewsbury Town 40 (7)
1993–1994 Witton Albion 19 (0)
1994–1997 TNS Llansantffraid 34 (6)
Total 494 (77)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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.[1] He spent two seasons at Burnden Park scoring 20 goals in 70 matches for the "Trotters".[1] 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".[1] 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.[1] He was again a regular in 1988–89 playing in 48 games as Stoke finished in a disappointing 13th.[1] 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.[1] 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:[12]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester City 1975–76 First Division 0000001010
1976–77 First Division 2000000020
1977–78 First Division 1000000010
1978–79 First Division 150000010160
1979–80 First Division 324101000344
1980–81 First Division 272307400374
1981–82 First Division 2000000020
Total 7964084209310
Bolton Wanderers 1981–82 Second Division 39132000–4113
1982–83 Second Division 3191032–3511
Total 70223032007624
Oldham Athletic 1982–83 Second Division 1110000–111
1983–84 Second Division 4241020–454
1984–85 Second Division 4032021–444
1985–86 Second Division 4070020–427
1986–87 Second Division 366201030426
1987–88 Second Division 214005010274
Total 19025501214021126
Stoke City 1987–88 Second Division 2252000–245
1988–89 Second Division 406302010466
Total 62115020107011
Shrewsbury Town 1991–92 Third Division 407004010457
Career Total 441711702978049578
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Scottish Cup, Football League play-offs Football League Trophy and Full Members Cup.

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