The Kansas City Wizards announced today the hiring of MLS career appearance leader Chris Henderson as an assistant coach. Henderson, 36, played two of his 11 MLS seasons with Kansas City as an outside midfielder.
"Chris (Henderson) was a guy who always worked extremely hard in the profession to become the best he could be," Technical Director Peter Vermes said. "His knowledge of other players around the league, because he recently left the game, is a great asset to our club."
Still a fan favorite due to his work ethic and community involvement, the addition of Henderson shows a commitment by Kansas City to tie past glory to future accomplishment.
"He was a great community guy," Vermes sad. "He had a tremendous connection to the Kansas City metropolitan area. By the people's reaction at the season ticket holder party when they heard he would be hired, that was clear. It's great to bring former Kansas City players who were well liked by the community. It's a win-win situation on both sides."
Henderson likewise is eager to help the franchise get back to championship form.
"Coming fresh off of playing in 2006, I have a good understanding of the players in the league," Henderson said. "I think I can use this knowledge to help create a complete coaching staff."
"This is a team that can compete with any team in the league," he said. "The core of this team is a great unit to build upon. With a little tweaking and adding a few positive players, this is a team that's going to be able to compete every time we step on the field."
Having played under coaches like Bob Gansler, Glenn Myernick, Bora Milutinovic and Bruce Arena, Henderson has seen a multitude of systems and philosophies. He sees himself, though, as a coach who has his own distinct style.
"Having the opportunity to play under 14 or 15 MLS coaches and four national team coaches, I've had the chance to create my own style," Henderson said. "I've taken things from every one of them, both positive and negative, to develop my own way to think tactically as well as how to deal with players."
Henderson originally came to Kansas City in 1999 as a free agent and played on the left wing for 61 of 64 regular season games over two seasons. During the team's 2000 MLS Cup Championship season, Henderson had a career year posting personal bests in games started (30) and minutes played (2,694). His nine goals and nine assists (27 points) that year represent his second highest totals in both categories.
"I have some incredible memories from being part of the Wizards and the Kansas City community," Henderson said. "Some of my best times as a player came in those two seasons."
"During the 2000 season, we were a team that was driven," he said. "A lot of guys on that team were castoffs from other teams, so we had something to prove that season from the first game all the way through the MLS Cup."
Henderson's career started in Colorado, where he played for three seasons before joining the Wizards. After the 2000 season, he spent one season with the Miami Fusion before rejoining the Rapids for another 2+ seasons. He was traded to Columbus for the remainder of the 2005 season before joining Red Bull New York for 2006.
An original member of MLS, Henderson was a presence on the international stage long before the domestic league was formed. Beginning with the 1990 World Cup where he was the youngest member of the U.S. squad, Henderson represented his country for 11 years. His 79 career appearances currently rank 19th in United States Men's National Team history. He scored three goals for the national team and his 10 assists put him in a tie for 10th all-time. He was an alternate for both the 1994 and 1998 World Cups.
View Henderson's career MLS stats >
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Major League Soccer
2006: Started 29 of 32 games played for Red Bulls, scoring 3 goals and posting 1 assist. He led the team in games played and tied for fourth in goals scored... reached the playoffs for the 8th time in career playing in his 30th and 31st career playoff games.
2005: Played and started the first eight games of the season with Colorado, adding a goal and five assists, before being traded to Columbus for the rest of the 2005 season. While at Columbus, he started the rest of the 21 games for the club, adding two goals and three assists
2004: Started all 31 games for the Rapids, adding three goals and five assists. Helped the team advance to the post season for the third year in a row. Played every minute of every game for the Rapids in the past three seasons.
2003: Started 27 out of the 28 games, helping to add four goals and post six assists for the Rapids ... team advanced to the play-offs, playing two games until they were eliminated.
2002: Returned back to the Colorado Rapids, where Henderson had a stellar year. He notched a career-high 11 goals, and added seven assists. The team played in 33 games for the '02 season, advancing to the play-offs where Henderson played in every game. In the play-offs, he recorded two assists. Also played in the All-Star game in '02, where he posted three shots on goal.
2001: Signed with the Miami Fusion for the 2001 season ... helped the team by adding three goals and eight assists, while playing in 29 games of the regular season. Team advanced to the play-offs where Henderson played and started six games, tallying a goal.
2000: Posted ten goals and assisted on nine other goals ... played in career-high 38 games, starting 37 of them for the Wizards. Team advanced to the play-offs, where Henderson notched a goal and posted 16 shots in the seven games of post-season play.
1999: Signed with Kansas City ... tallied three goals and six assists ... appeared in 30 games. Recorded 22 shots on goal in first year with the Wizards
1998: Finished the season with two goals and nine assists, having played in 30 matches as he helped the Rapids advance to the playoffs.
1997: Played in 35 games for the Rapids, making 34 starts with the club. Tallied seven goals and assisted on 13 others. Team went on to play in the playoffs, where Henderson notched two goals and three assists in the playoff run. Played in the All-Star game in '97, where he started and played the full 90 minutes, tallying one shot on goal.
1996: Made his debut with Colorado, playing in 29 games starting each one ... finished the season with three goals and eight assists. Notched 29 shots on goal in the 29 games he played.
International
Member of the United States National Team ... multiple years of experience, having appeared in 79 games with 63 starts ... He has three goals and six assists for the national team ... at age 19, the youngest player on the 1990 U.S. World Cup team.
1997: Made a comeback to the national team after a two-year hiatus, playing in the historic 0-0 World Cup qualifying tie in Mexico City and scoring in the 4-2 qualifying win over El Salvador.
1994: One of the last players cut from the 1994 World Cup Team ... Known for his relentless energy up and down the wings, where he is often serving in crosses, assisting on goals.
1993: Holds the U.S. record for most games started in a season (26 in 1993) ... Holds the U.S. record for most assists in a season (5).
1992: Split time with the U.S. Olympic Team, playing in all of its 1992 Olympic qualifying matches before being named to the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team.
1989: Helped lead the U.S. National Youth team to a fourth-place finish in the 1989 Youth World Cup in Saudi Arabia.
College
Helped UCLA to the 1990 NCAA Championship while earning All-American honors and scoring five goals and adding five assists ... Tied for first place in assists his freshman year with seven ... In 1989 he was named to the Soccer America All-Freshman team ... Ranked second on his team with 66 shots, also in his freshman year.
High School/Club
Earned 1989 Gatorade National Player of the Year honors as well as two-year Parade All-American honors at Cascade High School ... Coached by his father his senior year.
Personal
Henderson and his wife, Dee, are proud parents of a son, Aidan, and a daughter, Annelise ... In 2004, he launched the Chris Henderson Foundation, which gives cash grants to aid underprivileged kids and to fight Leukemia ... He also sponsored "Henderson's Heroes," bringing needy kids to game ... He was also named the Sports Profiles Colorado Rapids Humanitarian of the Year while in Colorado ... One of the most giving members of the team, Henderson is active in a number of charitable endeavors during and after every season ... While in Colorado, he acted as a spokesperson for several charitable organizations. Red Bull New York named him 2006 Red Bulls' Humanitarian of the Year.
