Henshall Horace Image 2 Aston Villa 1912

Description

Hednesford born winger Horace Henshall joined Crewe Alexandra from Bridgetown Amateurs in 1905, before joining First Division Aston Villa in 1910, making his Villa debut against Notts County that December. He scored 11 goals in 50 appearances for Villa before moving to Notts County in the summer of 1912 for a then club record fee. He continued to play for Notts County for the next decade although his career was inevitably interrupted by the First World War. During the conflict he served in the armed forces,  returning to Meadow Lane on the resumption of peacetime football.

He was part of the team that achieved a 3-0 “giant killing” FA Cup victory over League Champions West Bromwich Albion in January 1921. He was also part of the Notts County team, playing in 7 cup ties, that went all the way to the 1922 FA Cup semi final before losing to eventual winners Huddersfield Town 2-0 at Turf Moor, although this proved his penultimate appearance in black and white stripes, as he had lost his place in the first eleven from the start of the new season. Henshall signed for Sheffield Wednesday in December 1922 after 29 goals in 180 appearances at County, and remained at the club until the following March, making 17 appearances scoring once. He finished his League career at Chesterfield where he was one of a number of veterans favoured by manager Harry Parkes at the time, scoring 3 times in 36 games during the 1923-24 season.

After retiring from playing he managed Lincoln City for 3 seasons from August 1924, before becoming secretary-manager of Notts County in June 1927. After they were relegated from the Second Division in May 1930, he led them to an immediate return winning the Third Division (South) Championship in 1930-31, thereafter continuing as manager for a further 3 seasons in The Second Division before leaving in May 1934.