Liam Henderson (born 25 April 1996) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Serie A club Empoli.
He spent time on loan at Norwegian club Rosenborg, winning the 2015 Norwegian league and cup double, and whilst on loan at Hibernian he appeared in the 2016 Scottish Cup Final supplying 2 assists from corners as the Edinburgh side ended a 114 year wait to lift the trophy with an unforgettable 3-2 victory over Rangers.
[7] He played pre-season at home versus Ukrainian side Sevastopol, beside higher profile debutants Virgil van Dijk and Amido Balde.
[13] Manager Neil Lennon commented "He's been absolutely excellent", and "His attitude to work is fantastic and there's certainly a willingness on his part to get better".
[14] He substituted Stuart Armstrong on 75 minutes to assist John Guidetti's 93rd-minute equaliser in the 3-3 Europa League first leg home tie versus Inter.
[18] However, on the 31 March last day of the Norwegian transfer window, he gave up that medal opportunity and instead signed a 3 month loan deal with Rosenborg.
[4][23][24] After 9 league and 4 cup appearances and scoring 4 goals, Henderson left Rosenborg at the end of June 2015.
[25] He was positive about his time in Norway stating, "it was a great experience, playing in a different league and in a foreign country.
[33] He debuted for Hibs the next day, subbed on in 69 minutes for Dan Carmichael in a 1–0 home league win over Morton.
He delivered both corner kicks to assist Anthony Stokes' equalising 2nd goal, and David Gray's stoppage time 3-2 winner.
Under new Celtic manager, Brendan Rodgers, Henderson made his first starting appearance of the season on 15 October 2016 in a 2–0 league win over Motherwell.
[4] By January 2018, his only competitive first-team football of the 2017–18 season was 23 substitute minutes at home to Dundee in October.
[46] Aged 21, Henderson after a successful trial signed for Italian Serie B club Bari[46] on 17 January 2018.
[49][50] On 24 February, he scored his first goal for Bari, the opener in a 2–1 win over Ternana, and provided the assist for Luca Marrone's second half winner.
[56][57] Manager Fabio Grosso praised Henderson's versatility and the "timing of his runs into the [penalty] box".
[4] Henderson played in Verona's opening match of the 2019–20 Serie A season, a 1–1 home draw with Bologna.
However Baker was only eligible due to international football rules at the time for his country of birth, England, where he lived for the first six weeks of his life.
[60] Hence, that game v Bologna made Henderson the fourth Scot to play in men's Serie A after Denis Law (Baker's 1961/62 Torino team mate), Joe Jordan and Graeme Souness and the first since Souness played for Sampdoria 33 years before in 1986.
[62] He scored his first Empoli goal with the equaliser on 1 February 2020 in a 3–1 Serie B home win versus Crotone.
[66] Empoli lost that Sassuolo game 5–1, conceding three goals after Mattia Viti's 60th minute sending off.
[18] On 9 October 2022, he joined Souness as the second Scot to reach 50 men's Serie A appearances, when Empoli drew 1–1 at Napoli.
[18] Aged 27, on 28 August 2023 Serie B Palermo announced Henderson signed on loan from Empoli, with an option to buy.
[71] Palermo finished that season 6th in Serie B, qualifying for the promotion play-offs preliminary round in which he subbed on at home defeating Sampdoria 2–0.
[18] In the absence of Alberto Grassi and Ardian Ismajli, Henderson deputised as Empoli captain in the Coppa win in Torino.
Subbed on after 65 minutes, this was Empoli's first competitive first team game of the season Henderson didn't start.
However, Scotland unbeaten in all 6 games they played at the two levels, were eliminated by Austria's late winner against Italy.
[84] On 13 November 2015, Henderson played for Scotland under-21s in a 2-2 draw, European Under-21 Championship qualifier versus Ukraine at St Mirren Park, Paisley.