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Football freestyler Andrew Henderson shattered his leg when he was 16 but is now the world’s best
The five-time world champion has performed at the World Cup final and alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar
ANDREW HENDERSON is the world's best football freestyler.
A five-time world champion, Henderson has performed at World Cup finals, in front of Royalty and alongside superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar.
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But his journey to the very top of the sport started with considerable pain.
Rather than coming from a football background, Henderson was actually a promising rugby player as a teenager - a number of his team-mates have gone on to become pros - before a horrible leg break changed the course of his life.
"My story is a bit different to most," the freestyler tells SunSport at Leyton Orient's Breyer Group Stadium.
"Unfortunately, in one of the games I broke my leg in five places, leaving me in hospital for a long time and facing a long recovery period.
On the pitch with the world champ
Oh boy.
There's no clever editing in the video above, I really am that bad at tricks.
Let me qualify it by saying I have been, and always will be, an average Sunday league centre-back - I'm not supposed to be doing an around the world!
I kick people and kick it away. That's it.
Andrew is absolutely incredible, mesmerising to watch and he does everything at unbelieveable speed.
If his skills are the famous Nike airport advert, then I'm the Peter Kay John Smith's advert.
Ave it. Oh yes.
By Tom Sheen
"It was really tough, I was told I might never play sport again, may not even be able to walk again.
"As a 16-year-old it was devastating really. I shattered my leg and shattered my dreams."
Henderson reveals he got into freestyling by watching adverts and YouTube videos.
While he was still in a cast, and bored sat at home, he picked up a ball at home "just out of wanting to pass the time".
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He adds: "I learned how to balance on my head, on the side of my head, even on my shin where the cast was on.
"It really helped my recover, it strengthened my mind knowing that you can always find something else to work on.
"One thing I struggled a lot with as a kid was confidence, I was a very shy kid, I was kid who if I got asked to speak in front of a class I wouldn't be able to do it.
"Through learning skills with the ball I've got so much confidence. It helped me with everything in life, being able to talk in front of people, being comfortable in whatever situation.
"Freestyle has really changed my life."
Andrew is the most successful freestyler of all time, having won five world championships out of the last seven.
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His success has come through "a lot of hard work, practice, dedication", with his training regime seeing him practice for three to five hours a day, six times a week.
He has a massive online following on YouTube and Instagram, where his videos regularly pick up millions of views and have allowed him to star alongside some of the world's best players.
The Cornwall native, who now lives in London, has struck up a close friendship with Leicester City star Christian Fuchs in the last couple of years - and the pair are now putting on the
While the entertainment side of football freestyle is blowing up, the competition side has been sorely lacking and Henderson and Fuchs are out to change that.
"We just sat down and realised things weren't right in the UK scene for our sport and that things need to be developed for the competition," he says.
"Last year's UK Championships was on a beach in Bournemouth on a small stage.
"It was windy and rainy, the worst conditions a freestyler can imagine, with no crowd there.
"There were problems that needed to be addressed.
"So now we have a Premier League winner in Fuchs, he understands it and has got a passion for it.
"Maybe he can bring the mass audience from football over to freestyle and myself as kind of an ambassador for the sport, being a five-time world champion and the current UK champ - giving away the title - we come together to make it the best comp the UK has ever seen."
Sunday's competition will see the UK and Ireland's finest go head-to-head in one-on-one battles.
With three minutes on the clock, one player will do a trick and then their opponent has to do a skill back at them, with judges deciding the winner on who has shown the most style, control and creativity.
Football and football freestlye are two very different sports but we put Andrew on the spot and ask him who is the best freestyler he's come across out of the world's best players.
"If you asked me a year ago, it would have been between Neymar, Ronaldo and Pogba," says Andrew.
"But right now Christian is going up the ranks. Marcelo has stepped up his game a lot, to me he has the most skills - he's got that flair as well, the Brazilian spirit.
"But if you were to ask me again in a year's time I'd hopefully say Christian Fuchs because he's got that dedication, you need to be dedicated to it as the sport is evolving fast."
Andrew also mentions Leyton Orient winger James Dayton, who has been a star for the O's during their unbeaten 10-game start to the season.
Dayton was on the pitch with Andrew and was blown away by what he saw.
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"Growing up I was into it but it was never that big," says Dayton, whose team face a top of the table clash with Harrogate Town on Saturday.
"It was all about the Brazilians. Ronaldinho and Carlos and the Nike adverts. I used to love it and do it at home in the garden.
"But the tricks have just come on leaps and bounds and what I'm seeing him do is unreal, I don't know how he hasn't hurt himself.
"He's an athlete. He does it at speed, he chucks his leg round the ball four times on the bounce.
"You've got to have speed in you and be powerful. He's doing handstands, balancing the ball on the back of his foot..."
Andrew's skills have taken him around the world, where he's been given standing ovations by Prince Charles and Prince Harry and left Neymar gobsmacked at what he can do with a football.
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But his favourite memories are much less grand.
"For me, honestly, the best thing is being able to share the skills that I've worked so hard on to kids and motivate them to follow their dreams.
"When I started freestyle and I was on the side of the tennis courts at my school, people judged me and said, 'What are you doing? Why are you doing skills, you'll never be a pro, that won't help you on the pitch, you'll never make a living from that.'
"Everyone is different and has their own passions, so to be able to know that there's a place for everyone, that's what's great about freestlye.
"My most amazing memories are when I've been sharing my skills with kids.
"I went to the Favelas in Brazil, went to the townships in South Africa, saw people in slums.
"To share with them and then come back two or three years later and see they are training in the skills, they've got confidence and they're performing in their local area, making a living from it.
"That's something I'm very proud of."
- The UK Freestyle Football Championships hosted by five-time world champion Andrew Henderson, in association with #NoFuchsGiven and , take place at York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, this Sunday, September 23rd. For tickets visit official partner
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