Rochdale’s Ian Henderson to realise childhood dream by playing at Wembley

Ian Henderson will realise his childhood dream by playing at Wembley – and this time Eric Cantona cannot ruin it.

Henderson scored his sixth goal of Rochdale’s brilliant FA Cup run as League One’s bottom side engineered a remarkable 2-2 draw against Tottenham in the fifth round to force a replay.

And, with Spurs’ new ground still being built, that means a first chance in the 33-year-old’s career to play at the national stadium.

“I’m so excited,” said Henderson. “It’s actually my dream come true playing at Wembley. As a little kid, you’re like ‘I’m scoring at Wembley’, when you’re playing Wembley doubles or playing against people on a rec pitch. I’m buzzing. I’m excited personally and I know all the players are as well.”

The boyhood Liverpool fan’s first memory of the national stadium was not a happy one as he watched Cantona score a late winner for Manchester United in the 1996 final, but he remains optimistic Rochdale can continue to defy the odds.

Henderson said: “Eric Cantona shattered my day when he scored that volley from the edge of the box, amazing technique and finish. That was my earliest (Wembley) memory.

“It would be nice (to write some better memories). I’m going to go into it confident and so are the other players as well. If I score I’ll probably run off with my shirt off swinging it round my head. You’ve got to dare to dream.”

This is only the third time Rochdale have reached the fifth round and, by forcing a replay, they have already achieved the best FA Cup result in the club’s history.

This was arguably Dale’s biggest ever match and a sold out Crown Oil Arena was treated to a classic cup tie.

Henderson deservedly put Dale ahead just before the break, finishing off a superb move, but it looked like their dreams had been dashed when first Lucas Moura equalised and then substitute Harry Kane converted a penalty with only two minutes of normal time remaining.

But improbably Dale created a final chance in the third minute of injury time and Steve Davies finished it with aplomb.

“We do run the club on a low budget for League One and for the fans, the board of directors, the management staff and us as players, this was special,” said Henderson.

“You got that sense as we walked out for the warm-up, it was just an amazing buzz around the place. Then the game kicked off and it had that sense of something special was going to happen.”

Henderson has only failed to score in one of Dale’s FA Cup matches this season and leads the competition’s scoring charts alongside Wigan’s Will Grigg.

He missed two good earlier chances but showed no hint of nerves when Andy Cannon played him in to finish an incisive counter-attack.

“I snatched at the one previous to that,” said the former Norwich and Colchester forward, who considered leaving football to study dentistry before signing a contract at Dale in 2013.

“I remember Callum Camps lofting the ball over and I tried to hit it on the outside of my boot into the far corner, but I knew I’d get another chance because I make those runs in and around the box and fortunately enough I chose the right technique at the right time.”