He’s back in Scotland, a move he’s been keen to secure for a while. His partner has just given birth to their second child. He’s sharing a dressing room with two of his best friends. Life on paper has been very kind to Callum Hendry of late.
The initial move to ML1 didn’t quite go according to plan, with the striker spending a number of weeks on the sidelines after an early setback. But things have been looking up, and Hendry is just relieved to have a smile back on his face again.
“I’m really enjoying it so far,” Hendry explained.
“It was the right decision for me, and I’m glad I made it. I feel like I’m getting a lot fitter and stronger now. I haven’t played a lot of football in the last year after the move to MK Dons. The family is settled. My Mrs is from Glasgow, and we’ve got two kids now, so it’s worked out really well.
“On the pitch, I’ve enjoyed where we’re going. The boys are amazing. It’s a great club, and we’re in a good spot. It was a big call for me to come here because I wasn’t playing football, and I’m not at the age where I can sit and not play. I needed to try and get myself into a team.
“I want to play where I can do well, and I feel like I’m not far away from doing that now. I made some big sacrifices to get here, but I think it’s important to be happy off the pitch, as it makes your job, football, training and games a whole lot easier. There are no negatives right now. I’m the happiest I’ve been for quite a few years.
“I spoke to Liam [Gordon] and Elliot [Watt] loads on the phone. It’s important to hear from them because they’re in it and they know what it’s like. I spoke to them about the style and about the gaffer. They sold it a little bit, but there’s only so much they can do in a sense because we’re best pals, and they’ll obviously want me to come. I’d be doing the same thing if it was the other way round.
“They gave me a feel for it, but speaking on the phone to the gaffer was huge. I watched a lot of games before I came, and I didn’t expect to see such good football in possession. I watched the Rangers game and was blown away. I came up for the weekend to watch the St Johnstone game.
“I thought we were excellent. It didn’t need selling to me because as soon as I became available, the first club on the phone was Motherwell, and it’s important in football to feel wanted. I know this league, and I prefer living in Scotland. I know Motherwell; I’ve played against them numerous times and scored against them too! Every time I’ve come here I’ve always thought it’s a good club.
“And I’ve quickly realised since I’ve signed that the people in and around the club are top. I think it’s just a Scotland thing. You don’t come across too many bad people up here.”
Now happy in his new home, Hendry takes us right back to the early days of his footballing journey. Coming through the ranks at Blackburn Rovers, a place his father Colin had a long affiliation with, Hendry’s path was littered with obstacles from a young age.
At the age of 15, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament, which put him on the back foot from an early age.
“I was playing catch-up in academy football,” the striker said.
“Once I got back fit, I agreed with Academy Manager Eric Kinder that I should go out on loan, because I was big enough, but I was really lightweight and skinny, so I thought, ‘I don’t want to play catch-up in academy football because that doesn’t get you a job.’ We agreed I would go to Clitheroe in non-league.
“I loved it. Proper old-school football, just like the juniors up here. We’d meet up at night, and I’ll have had the day off, and these guys are coming straight from work or whatever. The games were massive for me. I didn’t realise how much work I had to do in the gym to be able to compete in the men’s game, let alone in a professional environment.
“But my time was cut short there because I did my ACL again. I got a tackle off a big meathead. Everyone knows what I’m like, and my dad shouts at me all the time for it, but I wanted to go in for the tackle with this big guy, and he’s munched me. That put me out for about 14 months or something.
“So it meant I missed loads of football growing up and loads of development, but that taught me a lot of lessons in the short time I was there because I realised if I’m going to get anywhere, I needed to get bigger. And that gave me loads of time in the gym. Physically it helped me because I was in the gym loads and had ample time with the strength coaches working on things that I needed to work on that weren’t ball-related.
“Technical stuff was never an issue for me growing up; it was the physical side of the game. And then, mentally, it made me realise what I had to do to have a career in this game. It’s hard and helped me never take it all for granted. I just want to play football; that’s why this move came about, really. I could have sat at MK Dons on a really good contract, something I thought I’d never have anyway when I injured my knee at a young age.
“When I did my ACL the second time at Blackburn, I thought, ‘I’m never going to have a big career, and I’m not going to make any money. But there is so much more to football than money. Coming up here and being happy again, my family being content, working with a great group every day – that’s what I want. The injuries were maybe the biggest lesson in my career so far, and they were over ten years ago.”
As much as football has taught Hendry harsh lessons, off the pitch in his personal life he experienced the toughest of all moments. At just the age of 12, Hendry sadly lost his mum. A turbulent moment that saw him take a break from football, something his father was keen for the youngster to do.
“My dad says it was such a tough period and that I’ve done so well to make a career in football given everything I’ve been through,” Hendry stated.
“But I’ve never thought of it like that. Sympathy is not something I’ve ever wanted. Some people don’t have any parents, so I was lucky to have a mum for 12 years as well as my dad. The year out from Blackburn was actually my dad’s idea, and as much as my memory is a bit blurry from that time, I just remember enjoying football again with my mates.
“Some mates were ones I went to school with, some I grew up with and some were playing Sunday league, and I was just enjoying the game again. The year out helped me a lot because of that age. It helped me realise, once I went back to Blackburn in the Under 14 age group, the setup I was in was incredible. I’d think about coming into the setup after school, and there would be physios, gym instructors and staff everywhere, and I’m getting all this at 14.
“Losing Mum and doing my knees, in a very weird way, put me in good stead for the future, and I know she’d be proud, so I’m content with how I’ve done so far. But I’m nowhere near done; in fact, I feel like this is just the start.”
With his contract up and departing Blackburn Rovers in 2017, everything was up in the air for Hendry. Departing Ewood Park, a place he’d grown up in, the future was uncertain for the forward, and a career in the game was hanging in the balance.
“I was going to pack football after Blackburn released me,” he explained.
“And then Callum Davidson rang my dad and said that St Johnstone would take me for a week on trial. Went up at the end of the season, done well and signed a one-year. I actually made my debut against Motherwell, and I remember coming on, and I got absolutely bullied by Cedric Kipre. We went shoulder to shoulder in the corner, and he sent me into the stand!
“I was in and out of the squads under Tommy Wright, who I owe a majority of my career to. I went on loan to Brechin City, although that didn’t last long because I broke my wrist on Raith Rovers’ plastic pitch. So I got recalled, and then Tommy kept me in January despite me thinking I was going to be going back out on loan.
“Then I ended up scoring my first senior goal against Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup. Continued to be a bit in and out but scored a couple. Under Tommy it was hard because I was chomping at the bit because I’d been doing well, and I kept asking him about starting, and he would always knock me back, saying I’d get the nod when I was ready.
“And he was right! When he did start playing me, I started scoring. When Callum Davidson came in, it got difficult because I’ve known him since I was a kid. But to be fair to him, he gave me a run of games, but I just went on one of those runs as a striker where everything I was hitting was getting blocked, saved or not going in. I ended up going out on loan in January to Aberdeen.
“I thought it was the right move at the time, to go up there and play some games. It was okay, but Aberdeen were in a really bad spot at the time, but they’re another great club. Good people all around it. I’d just moved up there with my missus, as we’d just started going out, and the people were so nice and looked after us. I only started a few games, and then Derek McInnes left for Stephen Glass.
“That loan taught me a few things. It maybe made me realise that chomping to go to a club like that so quickly can also halt your career because I didn’t play as much as I would’ve liked. So I returned to St Johnstone, and Callum [Davidson] said I was going to be his starting striker. I did okay, but the team were struggling. We didn’t win many games, and Chris Kane worked his way into the team, so I went to Kilmarnock on loan with Tommy Wright, and that was a bit like Motherwell. I found love for the game again.
“Another great club, but I don’t think you get bad Scottish people; that’s why I love living up here. Killie was good for me; I scored a few goals, and I went back to Saints thinking this is my chance to make a good career. I realised that I could score quite a lot of goals, and I had a purple patch after that. Everything I was touching was going in. We managed to beat Inverness in the relegation playoff, and that summer I thought that was probably a good time to move on.
“They’ve done so much for me and rejuvenated my career, even though it took longer than I wanted it to.”
And having scored nine goals from February to May, stock in Hendry was high as he looked for his next move. But with the 27-year-old looking for a fresh challenge, he returned to England for the first time since leaving Blackburn in 2017 to join up with Salford.
“It was exciting,” he laughed.
“Me and my missus were all for it, and I think with the benefit of hindsight, it was the right move. I loved my time at Salford. That first season we got beat in the playoffs to go into League One. Living down there was fun. Manchester was great, and I met Elliot there. Stevie Mallan, who was at St Johnstone, was there too. Scored some goals, played well, and the second year was similar.
“Karl Robinson came in, who I speak to all the time, one of the best in the game. He looked after me, and even after I came back from injury and did well, MK Dons came sniffing, and a few teams wanted to put bids in. He made sure that it was a good move for me. At the time, it looked like it was a perfect move for me.
“It started well, but results turned. My MK career quickly changed, but that’s football. I’ve got some close pals from there still, but I don’t have any regrets about moving back to Scotland.”
An incredible journey, with lots of highs and lows along the way, Hendry has learnt a lot about himself, the industry he is in and what is most important to him through all the adversity he has faced.
“The performances, the money, the fame and all that stuff comes if you’re happy,” Callum Hendry added.
“It doesn’t matter what level you’re playing at. If you’re not happy playing football, you’ll struggle to be happy doing anything else because the thing with us as footballers is we live and breathe the game, and if the game isn’t going well, you can put a face on, and as much as you should separate family from football, we’re all human.
“You have to be patient and keep working hard because you’ll get a break. It got to a point at St Johnstone where I started to wonder if I’d get a break because I was going to quit, signed for St Johnstone and started going downhill, and wondered if I should have just walked away. But it changes so quickly, and now I’m thinking why I would ever give all of this up.”
And even this fresh outlook is true for Hendry currently. Biding his time, he scored his first Motherwell goal against St Mirren after hitting the bar and seeing efforts cleared off the line in previous games. But despite the chances and goals, he is jostling with Apostolos Stamatelopoulos for a spot in the forward line.
But the patience and competitiveness with the Australian doesn’t deter the friendship between the pair, who have struck up a close bond off the pitch.
“Everyone wants to play football; that’s just how we all see it,” the Motherwell man stated.
“You back yourself every time. I’ve got really close with Apostolos since I signed. We’ve been out a few times up the West End together and spent good time with him. He’s a good guy, but if we’re only going to play one striker at the minute, that spot is up for grabs, and I feel like I’m getting close to 100%, and he’s done well too this season.
“If we’re both at it every day and every game, it’s the perfect headache for the manager, and hopefully that means we’re going to get results at the top end of the pitch. That’s what we want for each other and the club too. It’s healthy competition.”
