Jeff Hendrick

Derby County

Early years

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. 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.

2011 to 2013

Approaching the end of the 2010–11 campaign, Derby manager Nigel Clough stated his desire to give…

Youth

Born in Dublin, Hendrick was capped by Ireland at under-15, under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-21 levels. He was shortlisted for the Republic of Ireland under-17 level International Player of the Year award in July 2010. He played a key role in the U19s successful 2011 European Under-19 Championship qualifying campaign putting in a "string of impressive displays" as he featured in all three group matches and notched the only goal of the match in a 1–0 win over Poland U19s. In July 2011, Hendrick was named in the squad for the European Under-19 Championships. He started in all four of Ireland's matches at the tournament as they were knocked out in the semi-final stage to Spain. Upon his return from the tournament, Hendrick was called up to the Irish U21 squad for the first time. He made his debut in a 2–1 victory against Austria U21s on 9 August 2011.

Senior

In January 2013, it was reported that Ireland head coach Giovanni Trapattoni was watching Hendrick with the view to giving the player his first call-up to the senior side and later in the month Hendrick was called up to the senior squad to play in a friendly against Poland on 6 February 2013. Hendrick came on as a 71st-minute substitute for James McCarthy in the 2–0 win and provided an assist for Wes Hoolahan for Ireland's second goal in this match, showing great composure in doing so with a well-executed pass. Hendrick received his first Ireland start in his fourth cap, in a match…

Hendrick was known for being very hard-working, tactically aware and for his ability to pass the ball successfully. He was capable of playing as a central midfielder, out wide on the right of midfield or as an attacking midfielder behind the striker. His big strength was in winning second balls from aerial duels and keeping the attack going in advanced positions. Owing to his lack of proficiency in scoring goals, Hendrick's most frequent task was recycling possession high up the pitch to create chances for his teammates.

Growing up, Hendrick played Gaelic football for Parnells and has a close friendship with former Dublin county team goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton. He has twin brothers named Ross and Alan. In 2020, Hendrick started dating Scottish model Amanda Hendrick. The couple have one son together, Sonny, and he has a close relationship with Amanda's daughter Misha from a prior relationship with Australian metal band singer JJ Peters.