His substitute appearance against Yeovil Town came just a day after his 40th birthday and our record goalscorer came close to marking it with another Rochdale goal, only to be thwarted on two separate occasions.
Unsurprisingly, it also makes Hendo the fifth oldest player to present the club, at 40 years and one day. As featured in Saturday’s edition of The Voice Of Spotland, here are our five oldest players throughout history.
5th – Ian Henderson – 40 years and one day
Hendo’s appearance on Saturday was his 459th in a Dale shirt, cementing his second-place spot in our all-time list even further. With the legendary striker calling time on his playing career at the end of this season, an appearance on the final day of the league campaign would take him to 40 years and 101 days, keeping him in fifth place.
4th – Aaron Wilbraham – 40 years and 138 days
In fourth place, and the most recent of those players to appear at the age of 40 before Henderson, is Aaron Wilbraham. The striker, who will be the guest speaker in our hospitality lounge for this Tuesday’s game against Boston United, played his first game as a 40-year-old in a 2-0 win over MK Dons in October 2019. He would make his final appearance in our 3-1 win over Rotherham United in March 2020, which was our final game before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
3rd – Harry Hubbick – 40 years and 174 days
Harry Hubbick was the first Dale player to appear at the age of 40, when he played in a 2-0 defeat at home to Rotherham in November 1950. The full-back made 92 appearances in total for the club, with the last of those coming in a 0-0 draw at home to Darlington in our final match of the 1950/51 campaign.
2nd – Jack Warner – 41 years and 196 days
The first player to make his debut for the club at the age of 40 was Jack Warner, who was just 29 days short of his 41st birthday when he played in a 1-0 home defeat to Crewe Alexandra on the opening day of the 1952/53 season. The Welshman, who had made over 100 appearances for Manchester United earlier in his career, spent just one season with Dale, playing 22 times, the last of which came in a 2-0 defeat at home to Chesterfield in April 1953.
1st – Tony Ford – 42 years and 173 days
The oldest man to feature for Dale is Tony Ford, who also made his debut for the club at the age of 40 on the opening day of 1999/2000 season. Whilst with Dale, he made his 1,000th career appearance in an Auto Windscreens Shield (now EFL Trophy) tie against Carlisle United and made the last of his career appearances in a 2-0 win over Torquay United in November 2001. He combined his playing duties with an Assistant Manager role to Steve Parkin, with Ford following Parkin to First Division side Barnsley shortly after his final appearance.
And rounding off the top ten oldest Dale players…
6th – Richard Jobson – 39 years and 359 days
7th – Neil Redfearn – 38 years and 359 days
8th – Charlie Briggs – 38 years and 225 days
9th – Ted Burgin – 38 years and 225 days
10th – Ernie Moss – 38 years and 201 days
