Why Jordan Henderson was fined at Liverpool after leaving team meal and refusing to join club tradition | OneFootball

Jordan Henderson gave the impression of being a model professional during his time at Anfield though one former player has made him look bad.

Stewart Downing exclusively told Ladbrokes (via CaughtOffside): “I didn’t have to do many initiations actually, throughout my career.

“I didn’t do one at Villa, I don’t know why. Maybe it was because I’d signed late on, so I’d got away with it.

“I did one at Liverpool – we’d gone to a restaurant and had a meal, and it was a couple of weeks in, so I’d already got to know the lads.

“We’d had a few beers, so I thought it was the best time to do it. When you know the lads, you’re a bit more relaxed about it, so I sang Penny Arcade – Charlie Adam was loving it, as a Rangers fan.

“I’ll always remember Jordan Henderson getting his wife to get up and leave the restaurant with him, because he didn’t want to sing.

“He just left us! He was that nervous – he hadn’t had a beer, so he was just adamant he wasn’t singing; he’d rather have paid a fine!

“I’ve heard stories of players not signing for clubs because they’ve been worried about initiations… honestly, just sing for thirty seconds! What’s the worst that’s going to happen?!”

It’s a tongue-in-cheek story from our former winger and shows just how timid the young midfielder was when we signed him from Sunderland.

Jordan Henderson was too nervous to sing in front of teammates

(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Given he recent fiery interviews with the press in the Netherlands, it’s safe to say that the now 34-year-old has come out of his shell.

We were once told too that Trent Alexander-Arnold was looking to follow in the footsteps of our former captain, though this no longer seems a priority.

Jordan Henderson went on to be an example in the dressing room though when he arrived in 2011, this was far from the truth.

Perhaps this atmosphere helped him grow into the amazing leader he became under Jurgen Klopp.

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