In this series at Everything Orient, we take a look back at ex-Orient players and see where their careers have taken them since their departure from Brisbane Road.
Player Profile
Darius Henderson, who was once worth £2 million, was part of an Orient team that were relegated from League One, and has played for 13 teams in his career - including 8 Premier League and Championship sides.
Where Have They Been?
In 2000, Henderson was promoted to the Reading first team where he made his debut playing in Division Two. He was a Reading player for 5 seasons, where he scored 15 goals in 83 games, including two seasons in Division One.
Henderson moved to Division One side Gillingham in 2003 where he played two seasons, scoring 9 goals and also included short loans to Brighton and Swindon Town. At the start of the 2006/07 season, Darius joined Watford for a fee of £450,000. He was a key part of Watford’s promotion to the Premier League, scoring 14 goals including a penalty in the Play-Off Final.
Henderson’s next two seasons at Watford saw him return to the championship, and in total scored 15 goals, becoming a popular player at Vicarage Road. In July 2008, Henderson signed a 4-year contract with Sheffield United, costing them £2 million. In his three seasons at Sheffield United, Henderson scored 20 goals in 72 appearances in the Championship, however, was very injury prone and often suffered long term injuries.
Following Sheffield’s relegation to League One, they sold Henderson to Millwall for an undisclosed fee in 2011. He had two successful seasons at the Lions, scoring 26 times in 56 games. In January 2013, Henderson agreed a short term deal with Nottingham Forest after Millwall couldn’t afford to keep him.
His contract was extended another season as he scored 10 goals in 45 appearances in the Championship. It was announced in August 2014 that Henderson had signed a three-year contract with Leyton Orient, where he allegedly earned £9,000 a week that included a signing-on fee of £150,000.
In his only season at the O’s, he made a total of 23 appearances in League One, scoring 8 times however this wasn’t enough to save them from relegation to League Two. Following the relegation, Henderson joined Scunthorpe United in 2015, not scoring a single goal and moving on to Coventry City in January where he also didn’t score.
In 2016 Henderson Joined Mansfield Town but only managed 1 goal in 13 appearances, leading him to a move to Eastleigh in 2017.
Where Are They Now?
Henderson only managed to make 3 appearances for Eastleigh in the National League, and in April 2017, he retired age 37. In his career, Henderson scored 119 goals in 441 games. Darius now works as a consultant for AFC Bournemouth.
