Golcar United’s new left-back Leon Henry is 34 but he insists there’s plenty left in the tank.
Henry has been a part of two promotion-winning sides. And now he’s aiming to gain more promotions with Golcar before he hangs up his boots.
He said: “I’ve had two promotions in my career so far and I want to have more with Golcar. I want to be there when it happens, I want to be a part of history.
“I don’t know how long I’ll go on for, I’ll probably stop when my legs can’t do it anymore. However, at the moment I’m feeling great. I’d like to carry on as long as I can simply because I love playing.”
Dad-of-two Henry, who lives in Netherton with girlfriend Catherine, 28, has had a rollercoaster career.
The self-confessed Manchester United fan has always played football from a young age.
He said: “I just started playing in the park like any kid really. Then when I got into like year 5 I got into the school football team. After playing locally for a few years I got scouted by Halifax Town.
“I was only at Halifax for a few seasons and then they went bust. They couldn’t afford to keep the younger players on so I had to leave. I then went to the Huddersfield New College football academy set up.
“From there I went to Ashton United where I made my first semi-pro appearance. I was really excited to make my debut, they were in the UniBond Premier Division then so it was a decent level to play at.”
READ MORE: Here’s our archive of Golcar United stories
After leaving Ashton, Henry went to Brighouse where he would become a club hero. Henry scored the winning goal that won the North Counties East League in 2014.
On that moment he said: “Someone put a great ball through to me. I rounded the keeper and slotted it in. Knowing I’d scored the winning goal to get us promoted was just an unbelievable feeling.
“I moved to Brighouse and I knew their manager Paul Quinn because I’d played with him previously. Paul rang me one day to see if I wanted to join them. I was at Ossett Town at the time, we were in the league above Brighouse. However because I knew Paul I agreed to move. We had a really young squad but I loved my time there overall.
“Paul made me captain too after the original captain got injured. That season for me personally went really well. I scored lots of goals.”
“I’d moved a league down to play for them so to help get them promoted was great. Plus it meant I was back to playing at Evo Stik level.”
Having spent a few years at Brighouse and having played for a few other sides, Henry decided to move closer to home and play for Golcar United.
On signing for the club, Henry said: “I knew Ash Connor (Golcar manager) personally. We are both from Huddersfield and I played with him at Ossett.
“He asked me to join a few years ago but I was still playing a few leagues above so I didn’t come.
“Then he asked me at the start of this season and I just thought ‘why not?’ I can see the club is going places, it’s a good set up. I knew a few of the players already so it made sense.
“I am from Huddersfield and I want the local teams to do well. We haven’t got many semi-pro clubs in Huddersfield. There is Emley but I’d say they are going more towards Wakefield way. Golcar hopefully can take over from Emley and be the main semi-pro club for the town.
“I went to my first training session and felt immediately at home at the club. We are building a strong squad for this season and I really think we can do well next year.”
READ MORE: Joe Skarz on life at Golcar United
One player in particular that Henry has enjoyed playing with so far at Golcar is Joe Skarz.
“I love playing with Joe at the back because I play left-back and he is left centre-back. We have created a really good partnership already. He knows when I’m going to bomb down the wing and attack and I know when I need to cover him.
“I just think that our communication already is outstanding and we’ve only played four games! To play with someone who has played at such a high level and over 500 football league games is just brilliant.”
