PLAYER PROFILE – On February 28, Doneil Henry, the 6’2” centre-back, announced his retirement from international and club soccer. Henry has played professionally since 2010 with Toronto FC and ended his professional career with the HFX Wanderers FC in 2023. Henry also played a big role in the CANMNT qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in 36 years in 2022.
Doneil Henry: The CANMNT’s Influential Centre-Back
Childhood
Doneil Henry was born in North York, Ontario, Canada on April 20, 1993, but grew up in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Also, his parents came from Jamaica to Canada as immigrants. He began playing with the Brampton Youth SC and then the North Mississauga SC. He also played his youth career with the Toronto FC academy from 2008-10. In addition to soccer, Henry enjoyed playing both basketball and volleyball. His favourite player is Sergio Ramos, and his favourite team is Arsenal.
Source: Canada Soccer
This is what Beverly Henry (Doneil Henry’s mother) said about Doneil about his time playing soccer (Source: Mike Ulmer of Toronto FC):
“Doneil started soccer when he was about ten,” Beverly said. “We thought it would be good to find an activity for him so we enrolled him in house league soccer. When we spoke to the coach at the end of the year, he said he was glad to have Doneil but next year we should put him in rep.”
In the same Ulmer article, Doneil Henry praised his parents for giving him a sense of optimism through all the ups and downs:
“Just because one door closes, it doesn’t mean another opportunity won’t come true,” said Toronto’s newest player at the time. “I had to keep pushing for what I wanted.”
Henry kept pushing and finally got his chance to play for his hometown club, Toronto FC.
Doneil Henry’s Professional Club Career
Henry had played professionally for many different clubs around the world. This includes clubs such as Los Angeles FC and the Ottawa Fury FC. There were four clubs that stood out in Henry’s professional career, with the first one being Toronto FC.
Toronto FC (2010-14, 2022)
It is hard to imagine now, but in 2010, Toronto FC was the only top-flight professional men’s soccer team in Canada (by this time, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC were announced as an MLS franchise for 2011, and the Montreal Impact, now known as CF Montréal, was announced as an MLS franchise in 2012).
On what was Henry’s most fond moments with TFC, this is what Henry said (Source: Thomas Nef of the World Football Index):
In total, Henry made 71 appearances for the club, which is the most appearances for any club Henry played for. It is also the club Henry grew up wanting to play for.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC (2017-19)
With the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Henry had the most goals he had ever scored for a club team with four goals scored in 39 appearances. This is what the Whitecaps said about Henry, including his community ambassador role with the club (Source: Vancouver Whitecaps FC):
Henry was able to thrive with the South Korean club during his time there including scoring a game-winning goal for the club. He also stepped up in his debut for Suwong as mentioned by Peter Galindo, who said this about his debut: “In total, Henry won 11 of his 12 ground duels against Jeonbuk.”
Henry can make mistakes, but he had some stellar games for the club and the national team.
Suwon Samsung Bluewings (2019-22)
During Henry’s most important years with the national team for Canada, he was playing for Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the K-League. With that club, he played 39 games and scored three goals. Playing in South Korea was something Henry had to adjust to, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, it was an experience he thoroughly enjoyed (Source: Paul Neat of K League United):
Henry was able to thrive with the South Korean club during his time there including scoring a game-winning goal for the club. He also stepped up in his debut for Suwong as mentioned by Peter Galindo, who said this about his debut:
“In total, Henry won 11 of his 12 ground duels against Jeonbuk.”
Henry can make mistakes, but he had some stellar games for the club and the national team.
HFX Wanderers FC (2023)
Henry’s last club was with the Canadian Premier League side, the HFX Wanderers FC, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. This was a landmark signing for the league, as the CPL had a well-known national team member decide to play in the CPL.
This is what Henry said about playing in Halifax (Source: HFX Wanderers FC):
“It was an easy decision to come to Halifax,” Henry said. “I’m excited to be close to home, I know a few of the boys on the team, and I know Patrice (Gheisar), who is the reason I wanted to do this because he’s a coach I trust. I know him, and I talked to Kamal (Miller) and Dayne (St. Clair) about him too.”
Henry was not the only person excited about this transaction. Gheisar, who was Henry’s League1 Ontario head coach, said this about Henry:
“His presence in the locker room and being around the training facility will be felt immediately,” the Wanderers’ head coach tells The Coast. “You don’t get a guy like this every day. It’s been in the works, but we just needed to be patient… It’s a statement signing that we do have aspirations, and we want players who have aspirations.”
In what might be still considered the biggest CANMNT signing to date in the league, Henry played 13 games with Halifax. Unfortunately, after his time with Halifax, Henry did not play another season of professional soccer and officially retired in late February.
CANMNT (2012-22)
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Henry earned his first cap against Trinidad and Tobago in 2012. In this game, Canada won 2-0 over Trinidad and Tobago. Also, in that same year, he earned the 2012 Canadian U-20 Player of the Year. Henry’s lone goal as a Canadian national team player came against Cuba in the 2018-19 Concacaf Nations League A competition.
With the national team, Henry has stepped up for big games. This was especially true for FIFA World Cup qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He played really well on the road against Jamaica and had some other stellar games at the backline. Also, it seems that Henry was a fantastic teammate to be around, as former CANMNT head coach, John Herdman, said that Henry is “a dominant, outspoken leader,” both off and on the pitch (Source: Charlie O’Connor-Clarke, Digital Content Editor of the Canadian Premier League).
Henry made the difficult decision to not play in the FIFA World Cup. However, he was with the national team in Qatar to support his teammates and allowed another player the opportunity of a lifetime. This is what former CANMNT head coach, John Herdman said about that moment (Source: Canadian Press):
“Doneil put the team first … We could have tried to return him to play and had him later on in the tournament. But he knew it was the right decision to make, to allow another player that had earned that right and that was fully fit to come and take that opportunity,” the coach said at the time. “It was a big moment,” Herdman said. “It really shows the courage and what this brotherhood’s about when a man can sort of surrender his shirt and take that step forward to support the team in a different role.”
This shows the type of teammate Henry is to his national team. While the natural-born leader is not with the national team, many other players are emerging, especially in the past year with the rise of Jacob Shaffelburg, Moïse Bombito, and Ali Ahmed. He also played a major role in the national team making history and finishing first in the FIFA World Cup Concacaf qualifying tournament.
This is also what Scott Arfield, another former CANMNT player, said about Henry (Source: OneSoccer in 2022):
“In terms of personality, he is another one that bodes well for the team. He’s got friendship with everybody on that team so certainly off-the-field, Doneil is a no-brainer to bring that.” Arfield said. “On the field, after the last few years, you have seen how important he is to this country.”
This just emphasizes the point that Henry has been a key player on the field. His biggest influence though might be off-the-field, as he is the player that seems to get everyone together and united with the national team.
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Doneil Henry Announces Retirement and Plans Right Now
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On Friday, Henry announced his retirement from the game of soccer. He is currently the Sporting Director and Head Coach of the Simcoe County Rovers FC of League1 Ontario since 2024. Peter Raco, the co-founder of the club is very happy to have Henry with the club Raco said this (Source: Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press):
It is important for former players to find other ways to contribute to the national team after retiring from the game. This is something that is thankfully becoming less of an issue with the rise of professional and semi-professional clubs in Canada at both the men’s and women’s games. There is a rise in interest in soccer in this country, which is playing a big role in the soccer game becoming more popular now in Canada.
Men’s National Team Training Session
24 January 2022 – Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
Photo Credit: Canada Soccer Flickr Account
