3/1 To Win
When you sit back and look at Jeff Hendrick’s career as a Ram, the midfielder enjoyed quite a journey.
A young chipper lad from Ireland, he moved over to Derby County in 2008, making the grade quickly in the reserves and breaking into the first team picture. He didn’t just get an opportunity, he took it and made in excess of 200 appearances, broke onto the international stage and starred at UEFA Euro 2016.
In short, Hendrick is arguably the greatest success story to come out of the Rams’ Academy set-up, particularly during the Pride Park era.
He may be a Premier League regular with Burnley now, but the 26-year-old doesn’t forget his roots and in this exclusive interview with dcfc.co.uk and The Ram, one of the first topics that was spoken about was his fondness for the club.
“As a kid, I had been on trial to a lot of clubs and I remember after my first time at Derby, the feeling was completely different from what I had experienced at any of the other clubs I had been at,” Hendrick said.
“It helped me that I had a few other Irish lads that were coming over at the same time, but the homely feeling I got off Derby County gave me something to build on.
“I got to play many games and the club helped me grow as a player and as a person – to a stage where I was playing for Ireland. It was just enjoyable.
“I had my ups and downs and there were times that I was in and out of form – that happens to players at a young age – but as I grew, that was something that I tried to put right.
“Even now, I always look out for Derby’s results every week, I’ve still got friends there that are playing or on the staff and it’s a club that I will always think fondly of.”
So how did it Hendrick’s story begin?
His talent was always evident. The midfielder was a key figure right through the age groups when he joined the club from Dublin-based club St Kevin’s Boys, but he was at a very different Derby County to the one we see today.
With Paul Jewell in charge, the Rams had a large bulk of players on the books off the back of a harrowing Premier League experience and Hendrick spoke about how he, and other young players breaking through the ranks, benefitted from training with what he called ‘the bomb squad’.
“When I signed Paul Jewell was the manager and there was a very big squad in place at the time,” he recalled.
“They had what they call nowadays a ‘bomb squad’. They are effectively players that are away from the first team and are left to train with the reserves.
“I was only a young lad at the time and on a personal level, I benefitted greatly from that. I was around those first team players from a young age and after a year of that, I was a bit older, a bit wiser, and I had the opportunity to be around the first team a lot more.
“The club wasn’t in a great position and was having to get rid of a lot of players to cut the budget, but in turn, it gave me and a few others a chance to be around the first team and get some game time in the end.”
Ironically, Hendrick’s first of over 200 Derby appearances came against the club where he’s now a key player, Burnley.
Towards the end of the 2010/11 season, the Rams trailed the Clarets 4-2 and were a man down. The pressure was off, and Nigel Clough threw him into the action with a simple message.
“He just told me to enjoy it,” he said.
“It was my first game and he knew that I was dying just to get on the pitch and play in front of the home crowd. Despite the result, he wanted me to just go out and enjoy it.
“I had been in and around the first team and training with them for near enough a year. I had travelled with the squad to games a few times too and managed to make the bench on the odd occasion.
“I was nervous at the start to be honest, but after being around them for so long I had got to a stage where I was just itching to get out on the pitch.
“It came late on against Burnley. We were getting beat and were a man down, but I’d had to bide my time for so long that I was just buzzing to get out on the pitch.”
Look out for the second-part of this exclusive interview on dcfc.co.uk this coming Sunday, where Hendrick discusses his best and toughest moments as a Derby player.
