Former Celtic and Hibernian midfielder Liam Henderson will be playing in Serie A next season after helping Hellas Verona win promotion.
They defeated Cittadella 3-0 on Sunday after recovering from a 2-0 first-leg defeat, as they finished fifth in Serie B in a stunning turnaround.
The result means Henderson becomes only the fourth Scottish player to play in Italy’s top flight after Joe Jordan, Denis Law and Graeme Souness.
Clearly thrilled with the result, Henderson posted a picture on his Twitter account, which shows him standing on the pitch with his proud family, along with the caption; “Serie A baby!!!!! What a day, what a team, God bless.”
It has been quite an 18-months for Henderson, who was deemed surplus to requirements under Brendan Rodgers, before heading to the second division in Italy.
The Livingston-born player signed for Celtic in 2008 and made his first-team debut in December 2013, aged 17 against Motherwell.
He would remain with the club until he was sent out for the first of two loan spells in 2015, Rosenborg in Norway and then Hibernian.
However, he had clearly impressed and was rewarded with a three-year contract at Celtic.
But under new manager Rodgers, Henderson hardly featured, but did make the required ten appearances in the league to clinch a winner’s medal, before completing a move to Bari, for a reported fee of £115,000.
Having only joined them in January 2018, Bari would be declared bankrupt, forcing Henderson to be on the move yet again, this time to Verona.
And such was his impact, World Cup winner and former Italy defender Fabio Gross, now manager of Verona, praised Henderson for his early performances.
“He has great quality,” Grosso told Sky Italia in February of last year. “In training he seems like he’s been with us for a long time. He has great commitment and quality.”
In his debut campaign with them, Henderson ended with three goals and five assists from 30 matches in a central midfield role.
Promotion to Serie A is just reward for a player who took a gamble and came to Italy, when it would have been just as easy to remain in his comfort zone.
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