Only the legendary Ron Greener made more league appearances for Darlington than Brian Henderson, the defender having pulled on a black and white jersey 423 times during the 1950s and 60s. Brian, from Allendale, was a no-nonsense right-back who once played on for six weeks despite breaking an ankle, stuffing cotton wool inside the bandages to deaden the pain.

Among Hendy's games were an FA Cup victory against Chelsea in front of 15,150 at Feethams in 1958 as well as a League Cup win over West Ham, also at home, when there were over 17,000 packed inside the ground. He did not score many, in fact he notched only three goals in the 12 seasons he played for the club. But his final goal for Darlington came nearly 52 years ago, on October 12, 1963, in a 3-1 defeat at Barrow. Just three months later came his final match when he suffered a broken leg in a clash with Tony France when playing against Stockport County. Speaking in the Farewell to Feethams book, Brian said: “The ball bounced in the corner of the pitch and I connected so well that it flew out of play on the opposite side. As my leg went up, his came down on mine. You could hear the crack all over the ground. I was still angry with him decades later.”

In total, Brian made 463 appearances, 423 in the league, 32 FA Cup and eight in the League Cup.