Stéphane Henchoz

Stéphane Henchoz (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃ʃo]; born 7 September 1974) is a Swiss football coach and a former professional player who played as a centre-back, most notably for the English club Liverpool.^[3] He was capped 72 times and played for the Switzerland national team from his debut in 1993, and played at Euro 1996 and Euro 2004.

Stéphane Henchoz

Henchoz (foreground) in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Stéphane Henchoz[1]
Date of birth	(1974-09-07) 7 September 1974 (age 50)
Place of birth	Billens, Switzerland
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s)	Centre-back
Youth career
1989–1991	FC Bulle
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1995	Servette	5	(0)
1992–1995	Neuchâtel Xamax	103	(2)
1995–1997	Hamburger SV	49	(2)
1997–1999	Blackburn Rovers	70	(0)
1999–2005	Liverpool	135	(0)
2005	Celtic	6	(0)
2005–2006	Wigan Athletic	26	(0)
2006–2008	Blackburn Rovers	12	(0)
Total		406	(4)
International career
1993–2006	Switzerland	72	(0)
Managerial career
2008–2009	Blackburn Rovers (U18)
2009–2010	FC Bulle
2015–2019	Neuchâtel Xamax (assistant)
2019	Neuchâtel Xamax
2019	Sion
2020	Neuchâtel Xamax
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Early career

Born in Billens, Switzerland, Henchoz first came to notice playing in the German Bundesliga for Hamburger SV.

Blackburn Rovers

In June 1997, he turned down an opportunity to join Manchester United, instead signing for Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £3 million.^[4] Henchoz enjoyed a very successful debut Premiership season as Rovers finished sixth in 1997–98, although they were then relegated at the end of the 1998–99 season. Henchoz, however, remained in the Premiership, after being purchased for £3.5 million by Liverpool.

Liverpool

At Liverpool, Henchoz became a regular member of the first team during his five-and-a-half-year stay at Anfield. Henchoz proved to be an inspirational signing and was popular with the Liverpool fans. He formed an effective central defensive partnership with Sami Hyypiä. This partnership played an important part in Liverpool's historic cup treble in 2001, although it was Henchoz's clumsy challenge on Martin O'Connor in the 90th minute of the League Cup final against Birmingham City that led to extra time (the match itself was only settled on penalties).^[5] Henchoz is also remembered for inadvertently blocking a goalbound Thierry Henry shot with his arm in the 17th minute of that year's FA Cup final, Liverpool then went on to win the match with two Michael Owen finishes.^[6]

His last two seasons were interrupted due to spells of injury, but he still surpassed the 200 mark of games for Liverpool in 2003–04.

With injury problems and Gerard Houllier preferring Igor Bišćan at centre half, Henchoz became something of a bit part player appearing as an occasional right back. Eventually, the Henchoz-Hyypiä partnership was rekindled in 2003–04, helping Liverpool to fourth place in the league.

Celtic

When Rafael Benítez replaced Gérard Houllier as manager, his decision to try versatile English defender Jamie Carragher in partnership with Hyypiä spelled an end to Henchoz's Anfield career. Carragher, previously employed as a full-back, was a revelation at centre back and Henchoz consequently joined Celtic on a six-month contract in January 2005.^[7]

Wigan Athletic

Upon the expiration of his Celtic contract, Henchoz opted to move back to the Premier League, signing a one-year contract with newly promoted Wigan Athletic.^[8] He made 26 league appearances during the 2005–06 season as the club exceeded expectations with a top half finish. Henchoz also started for Wigan in the 2006 Football League Cup Final.

Return to Blackburn Rovers

Henchoz left Wigan after only a year, signing a contract until the end of the 2006–07 season with Blackburn Rovers. He was used sparingly during the season to fill in for injuries, but performed suitably. His second spell at Blackburn came to an end on 19 May, when he was released by Mark Hughes.

Henchoz ended his career on 13 October 2008.

International career

Henchoz earned 72 caps for the Switzerland national team from his debut in 1993. He played for the country at Euro 96 and Euro 2004. He was expected to play in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but due to health problems he retired from international football on 31 March 2006.

Coaching career

Stéphane Henchoz on the touchline for FC Sion

After retiring, Henchoz became manager of Blackburn Rovers's U18 team which he was until June 2009.^[9] He then became manager of FC Bulle for the 2009–10 season.^[10]

In December 2015, he was appointed assistant manager of Neuchâtel Xamax.^[11] On 6 February 2019, the club announced, that they had sacked Michel Decastel and Henchoz would take charge of the club for the rest of the season.^[12] At the end of March 2019, the club confirmed that Henchoz would leave his position at the end of the season.

On 27 May 2019, Henchoz was appointed manager of Sion for the upcoming 2019–20 season.^[13] He resigned on 4 November 2019 following a 3–0 loss to St. Gallen, which was the fifth loss in six league games.^[14]

In July 2020, he returned to Neuchâtel Xamax.^[15]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Servette	1990–91[16]	Nationalliga A	5	0			–		–				5	0
Neuchâtel Xamax	1991–92[16]	Nationalliga A					–		1	0			1	0
	1992–93[16]	Nationalliga A	35	0			–		2	0			37	0
	1993–94[16]	Nationalliga A	33	2			–				–		33	2
	1994–95[16]	Nationalliga A	35	0			–				–		35	0
	Total		103	2			0	0	3	0	0	0	106	2
Hamburger SV	1995–96[16]	Bundesliga	31	2	1	0	–		0	0	–		32	2
	1996–97[16]	Bundesliga	18	0	4	0	–		5	0	–		27	0
	Total		49	2	5	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	59	2
Blackburn Rovers	1997–98[17]	Premier League	36	0	4	0	1	0	–		–		41	0
	1998–99[18]	Premier League	34	0	2	0	3	0	2	0	–		41	0
	Total		70	0	6	0	4	0	2	0	0	0	82	0
Liverpool	1999–2000[19]	Premier League	29	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	–		33	0
	2000–01[20]	Premier League	32	0	5	0	6	0	10	0	–		53	0
	2001–02	Premier League	37	0	2	0	0	0	15	0	2[a]	0	56	0
	2002–03	Premier League	19	0	2	0	4	0	6	0	1[b]	0	32	0
	2003–04[21]	Premier League	18	0	4	0	1	0	4	0	–		27	0
	2004–05[22]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	–		4	0
	Total		135	0	15	0	16	0	36	0	0	0	205	0
Celtic	2004–05[22]	Scottish Premier League	6	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	–		8	0
Wigan Athletic	2005–06[23]	Premier League	26	0	2	0	4	0	0	0	–		32	0
Blackburn Rovers	2006–07[24]	Premier League	12	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	–		16	0
	2007–08	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	–		0	0
	Total		12	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	16	0
Career total			406	4	32	0	25	0	47	0	3	0	513	4

1. Appearances in UEFA Super Cup and FA Charity Shield
2. Appearances in FA Community Shield

Honours

Liverpool

• FA Cup: 2000–01
• Football League Cup: 2000–01,^[25] 2002–03^[26]
• FA Charity Shield: 2001
• UEFA Cup: 2000–01
• UEFA Super Cup: 2001

Celtic

• Scottish Cup: 2004–05

Wigan Athletic

• Football League Cup runner-up: 2005–06^[27]

Individual

• Credit Suisse Player of the Year: 2001, 2002^[28]

References

1. "Stéphane Henchoz". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
2. "Stéphane Henchoz: Overview". Premier League. Archived from the original on 28 March 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
3. "Henchoz, Stephane" (in German). kicker.de. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
4. "Rovers Grab Head Honcho". The Mirror. MGN. 17 June 1997. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
5. "Blues shot down as Liverpool lift cup". BBC Sport. 25 February 2001. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
6. "Owen shatters Arsenal in Cup final". BBC Sport. 12 May 2001. Archived from the original on 21 May 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
7. "Henchoz completes Celtic switch". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 29 January 2005. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
8. "Henchoz signs 12-month Wigan deal". 26 July 2005. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
9. How is Stephane Henchoz doing in charge of Neuchatel Xamax? Archived 8 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine, footballbh.net, 23 March 2019
10. Stéphane Henchoz à la tête du FC Bulle Archived 8 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine, rts.ch, 25 June 2010
11. Profile at Footballdatabase Archived 8 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine, footballdatabase.eu
12. Stéphane Henchoz remplace Michel Decastel à la tête de Neuchâtel Xamax FCS Archived 31 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine, xamax.ch, 6 February 2019
13. Former Liverpool defender Henchoz to coach Sion Archived 8 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine, usatoday.com, 27 May 2019
14. "COMMUNIQUÉ OFFICIEL DE STÉPHANE HENCHOZ" (Press release) (in French). FC Sion. 4 November 2019.
15. "Xamax setzt ab sofort wieder auf Henchoz". SRF (in German). 5 July 2020. Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
16. "Stéphane Henchoz » Club matches". worldfootball.net. 5 February 2019. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
17. "Games played by Stéphane Henchoz in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
18. "Games played by Stéphane Henchoz in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
19. "Games played by Stéphane Henchoz in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
20. "Games played by Stéphane Henchoz in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
21. "Games played by Stéphane Henchoz in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
22. "Games played by Stéphane Henchoz in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
23. "Games played by Stéphane Henchoz in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
24. "Games played by Stéphane Henchoz in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
25. "Blues shot down as Liverpool lift cup". BBC Sport. 25 February 2001. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
26. "Liverpool lift Worthington Cup". BBC Sport. 2 March 2003. Archived from the original on 15 February 2006. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
27. "Man Utd ease to Carling Cup glory". BBC Sport. 26 February 2006. Archived from the original on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
28. "Player of the year » Switzerland". World Football. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.

External links

• Stéphane Henchoz – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Stéphane Henchoz – UEFA competition record (archive) 
• Player profile at LFChistory.net
• Stéphane Henchoz at Soccerbase