Chris Henderson

Early career

Henderson, older brother to Sean Henderson and younger brother to Pat Henderson, attended Cascade High School in Everett, Washington. In 1989, he was awarded the Gatorade Player of the Year. He played a single season with the Seattle Storm of the Western Soccer League earning first team All-Star honors and 1989 Rookie of the Year. Henderson played two years of college soccer at UCLA, where he helped the team win a national championship his sophomore season. Upon graduating from college, Henderson played for 2. Bundesliga club FSV Frankfurt during the 1994–95 season. After the end of that season, he moved to the Norwegian league for Stabæk prior to 1996. He was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.

Major League Soccer

Henderson returned to the U.S. and on March 11, 1996, the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer (MLS) named Henderson as a Discovery Player. He immediately stood out by starting 29 games, scoring three goals and eight assists, and being named the Rapids' Team MVP. Henderson spent the next two seasons with the Rapids, registering nine goals and 22 assists over 51 games. He then moved to the Kansas City Wizards for the 1999 season, where he started 29 games, scoring three goals and six assists. Henderson was scoring champion for KC in 2000, registering nine goals and nine assists in the KC Wizards team that won the MLS Cup and MLS Supporters' Shield. He moved to the Miami Fusion for the 2001 season, where he scored…

Henderson earned 79 caps with the U.S. national team throughout the 1990s, beginning with a call-up while still at UCLA. He started in a victory over Iceland and quickly established himself on the national team, seeing time in nearly every game leading up to the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He was on the U.S. roster at the 1990 World Cup – and the tournament's youngest player at 19. Henderson was a member of the U.S. team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.He was a key player in the US Men's National Team's first Gold Cup Championship in 1991. Henderson was the first player to score a goal for the United States Men's National Team in Copa America in 1993 in Ecuador. Henderson continued to play with the national team until 1998. His last game in the 1990s came in a February 25, 1998 loss to Belgium as the U.S. prepared for the 1998 FIFA World Cup Henderson earned his next cap on October 25, 2000. His final cap, came on September 1, 2001. Over his 79-cap national team career, Henderson scored three goals and ten assists for the United States Men's National Team and three goals for the USA Men's Olympic Team.

Following his retirement as a player, Henderson rejoined the Kansas City Wizards as an assistant coach for the 2007 season. On January 24, 2008, it was announced that Henderson would be joining the front office of the Seattle Sounders FC as the technical director. Under Henderson, the Sounders reached the playoffs in 12 consecutive years starting with their expansion season in 2009. They have won four U.S. Open Cups, one Supporters' Shield, and two MLS Cup championships since joining the league. Henderson was named the chief soccer officer and sporting director of Inter Miami CF on January 18, 2021. In 2023 Inter Miami CF won Leagues Cup and in 2024 they won MLS Supporter's Shield.