Jeff Hendrick

Jeffrey Patrick Hendrick (born 31 January 1992) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Sheffield Wednesday on loan from Newcastle United, and the Republic of Ireland national team.

Hendrick spent his childhood years with boyhood club St. Kevin's Boys in his native Dublin.

He had a number of unsuccessful trials in England before joining Derby County's youth academy in 2008.

Hendrick joined Derby County as a youth player in 2008 from St Kevin's Boys in Dublin, having overcome Osgood-Schlatter disease, and played regularly for the club's academy side before breaking into the reserve team during the 2009–10 campaign.

He made one start and seven substitute appearances as the club's reserve side successfully captured the 2009–10 Central League Central Section title.

At the end of the season his first involvement with the Derby County first team came on 2 May 2010 as he was an unused substitute in a 2–0 victory over Cardiff City in the final match of the 2009–10 season.

A few weeks later, on 8 July 2010, he signed his first professional contract, alongside four other Derby County academy graduates, including fellow Republic of Ireland Youth international Ryan Connolly and future League of Ireland player Graham Kelly.

Hendrick played a more significant role in Derby's reserve side during the 2010–11 season, making 17 starts in all competitions and scoring 9 goals, including a hat-trick in a 14–1 victory over Shirebrook Town in the Derbyshire Senior Cup and a brace in a 5–0 win over Buxton in the final of the same competition.

Approaching the end of the 2010–11 campaign, Derby manager Nigel Clough stated his desire to give Hendrick a run in the first team: "(He's) progressed and done well this season...we would love to see him in the team for three or four games."

Hendrick was happy with his progression and knew he would have to sustain his form to nail down a spot in the first team: "It's why we all play football – to get in the first team, so I'm just hoping that I can keep pushing on and doing well."

He made his professional debut in April 2011 after impressive performances with the reserve team led manager Nigel Clough to include him in the senior setup.

Throughout the campaign, Hendrick impressed enough to earn a contract extension at Derby, which he signed in January 2011 to take him through until Summer 2012.

He made his debut in the following match on 23 April 2011, as an 80th-minute replacement for Robbie Savage in a 4–2 home defeat to Burnley.

Ahead of the 2011–12 season, Clough stated that Hendrick would feature in the Derby County first team squad more often.

He was allocated the squad number of 23.

Despite missing the majority of Derby's pre-season due to his call-up to the European under-19 tournament, Hendrick was involved in first-team duty from the start of the campaign, making substitute appearances in the season's opening two matches, against Birmingham City and Watford.

He then claimed a place in the starting line-up from the third match (a 1–0 win at Blackpool) onward.

He scored his first professional goal in his fifth start of the season, claiming the winner in a 2–1 victory at local rivals Nottingham Forest.

His performance earned him a place in the Championship Team of the Week and his rich vein of form followed into the next match, a 3–0 thumping of Millwall, in which Hendrick grabbed his first goal at Pride Park and secured a second consecutive Team of the Week place.

Hendrick's form saw him linked with switches to Premier League duo Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion.

The speculation saw Derby enter into contract talks with the midfielder over a new four-year deal.

However, both his and Derby's form tailed off badly over the subsequent six weeks with the team winning just once in nine matches although Nigel Clough told BBC Radio Derby he was not concerned by his side's slump.

He returned to the first team squad as an unused substitute in a 1–0 win against Coventry City on 14 January 2012, returning to playing action a week later in the 0–0 draw at Burnley as a 47th-minute substitute.

Hendrick became a mainstay of the Derby team for the remainder of the season after this fixture, displacing James Bailey in central midfield.

He scored his third goal of the season in a 3–2 home win against Crystal Palace on 24 March.

Hendrick's form throughout the season was rewarded when he won the club's Sammy Crooks Young Player of the Year award.

Hendrick began the 2012–13 season in the starting eleven but after poor performances and scoring only once in his first 16 matches, he was dropped for Michael Jacobs in the 3–2 victory over Birmingham City on 24 November 2012.

Since his senior international debut in February 2013, he has made over 75 appearances for Ireland and represented them at Euro 2016.

He quickly became a regular starter and appeared in the 2014 Championship play-off final where Derby missed out on promotion with a 1–0 loss to Queens Park Rangers.

He amassed a total of 214 appearances and 26 goals for Derby over six years.

The following month, the Dublin native signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract, extending his stay at the Pride Park club until the summer of 2015.

Hendrick missed Derby's Christmas and New Year programme of fixtures with an ankle ligament injury in a 1–0 defeat against Ipswich Town.

Hendrick joined newly-promoted Premier League side, Burnley, in August 2016, signing a three-year deal.

He was part of the team that finished in seventh place in the 2017–18 season which saw them qualify for the second qualifying round of the following season's Europa League.

This was Burnley's first taste of European football in 51 years.

Hendrick left Burnley in June 2020, having racked up 139 appearances and 10 goals across four seasons.

He joined fellow Premier League club Newcastle United in a free transfer on a four-year deal in August 2020.

After finding his playing time severely limited at Newcastle, Hendrick had a short spell on loan at Queens Park Rangers in the second half of the 2021–22 season.

He spent the following season on loan at Championship side Reading where he suffered relegation for the first time in his career.

Hendrick has represented Ireland at all youth levels.