Henderson was born in Thornhill, Dumfries, and first played for the 5th Kirkcudbright Rifle Volunteers and then Rangers; he was a squad player in Rangers 1890–91 Scottish League-title winning season.
An inside forward, he was a consistent goalscorer in Arsenal's last season before they joined the English Football League; having been boycotted by other sides for their turn to professionalism, these mainly consisted of friendlies and FA Cup matches.
Henderson was a regular in Arsenal's inaugural season in the Second Division, and scored 18 goals in 27 first-class games, finishing as Arsenal's top goalscorer; they finished 9th that season.
However, the following season his goalscoring touch deserted him and he was released by the club in the summer of 1895, having played 47 League & Cup matches and scoring 30 goals in total.
This biographical article related to association football in Scotland, about a forward born in the 1860s, is a stub.