Jordan Henderson and the 'heated' Roy Keane exchange that preceded his Sunderland first team debut

Former Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson has recounted the “heated” exchange with Roy Keane that preceded his first team debut for the club.

The England international is a graduate of the Black Cats’ youth academy, and racked up 79 appearances on Wearside across three senior campaigns before leaving to sign for Liverpool in 2011.

Henderson would be handed his official first team bow in November 2008 by Keane, a little over a month before the Irishman would leave the Stadium of Light. But prior to that Premier League outing, the promising talent had been involved in a 1-0 pre-season friendly defeat at the hands of Ajax - who he know plays for - and in an appearance on a podcast back in 2023, Henderson relayed the story of a nerve-shredding encounter with his boss prior to his first taste of senior action.

What did Jordan Henderson say about his early Sunderland career under Roy Keane?

Speaking on the High Performance podcast, the 34-year-old said: "We had a game, it was a friendly, Sunderland Under-21s or Under-23s away at Gateshead, about half-an-hour or so from Sunderland. Wasn't great at all, didn't play very well as a team, I don't even think Roy went to the game, I think it was his staff that went - really bad day let's put it that way.

"Anyway, we're getting the coach back and our coaches have said to us that everybody has to go to the training ground when we get there because the gaffer is getting there - Roy - to see you. Everyone's face was white. I must've been 18. We all go in, we're waiting in this room, Roy comes in - we're scattered around the room - he starts off with something along the lines of, ‘This ------- sums you lot up, ------- here, there, get together.' So we scurry together, in half a semi-circle and he's at the front.

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"He literally goes round everybody, I think somebody had just signed and said, 'We've just paid whatever for you... who the ---- do you think you are?', blah, blah, blah, going around talking about the game - not good enough. He went around, it was heated.

"I'm just stood there thinking, ‘If he comes to me...’ I was just dripping with sweat. Anyway, he gets to me and says, ‘Do you think you can play for the first team?' and just my response, I don't know how or why, was, 'Yeah'.

"And he went, 'Good because the staff said you were the only one running around,' or something along them lines and then he moves on and I'm like [deep breaths]. It was intense, I suppose in that moment, my self-belief was, 'Yeah I do [believe]’."