Ian Henderson from Thetford is described as a fiery centre-forward. He is the younger brother of Tommy who was once also on the books at Carrow Road but died in a car accident in December 2000. "He's got a lot of qualities but in recent years Ian has added quite a bit to his game. His movement off the ball has improved and his goalscoring has improved. He's an aggressive front runner and our job is to take that aggression and focus it in the right manner." said Academy director Sammy Morgan.

Ian nearly became Norwich's youngest ever senior debutant when Nigel Worthington gave him a place on the bench for the home game with Coventry. A year later, he made his debut as substitute against Coventry, albeit at Highfield Road, in a 1-1 draw on 23rd October 2002. He was the first youth team product to debut for the Canaries since Robert Green. He scored his first goal for the Canaries in the 4-2 defeat at Wimbledon on 2nd November 2002. He was rewarded with a three year professional contract at the end of January 2003 and ended the season with 22 appearances to his credit.

As a result of a fine season, he was called up in May 2003 to the England Under-18 squad for a tournament in Lisbon against Portugal, Sweden and Spain. Ian was one of only three players in the squad to come from outside the Premiership. Ian played in all three games partnering Newcastle's Lewis Guy. Henderson had goals disallowed in the win over Sweden and the draw with Portugal but scored England's first in the 2-0 defeat of Spain that gave the Lisbon Trophy to the young England side.

Within weeks though, Ian was called up to the Scottish Under-19 side that would compete for the Northern Ireland Milk Cup 2003. Henderson is eligble for Scotland through his Scottish father and since he has not played a UEFA/FIFA-recognised competitive match, he is not yet tied to any particular national team. However as the Milk Cup takes place during Norwich's pre-season preparations, Henderson might opt to stay at home.

On 11th January 2007, he was loaned to Rotherham to gain match fitness and experience in a deal that was initially for a month but was then extended to the end of the 2006/7 season. Henderson made 18 appearances for the Millers, scoring once. At the end of the season, Henderson was released by the Canaries.

Ian signed for Northampton Town on 28th June 2007 in a double deal with Chestefield's Colin Larkin also signing for the Cobblers on the same day.