Henderson, Noel Joseph (1928–97), rugby player, was born 10 August 1928 in Drumahoe, Co. Londonderry. Educated at Foyle College, Derry, he later attended QUB and graduated B.Sc. He began playing rugby at Foyle College and was a brilliant schools player. It was with QUB that he won his first Ulster Senior Cup medal (1951) and began his playing partnership with his good friend Jack Kyle (qv). He later joined the Northern Ireland Football Club (NIFC) and won an Ulster Senior Cup medal with them in 1955. In 1949 he won his first international cap and went on to win forty caps over an eleven-year period, playing thirty-five times at centre and five times at full-back. He was part of the side that won the Triple Crown in 1949 and two years later won the International Championship. Although playing very little in 1950 due to injury, he was selected to travel with the Lions to Australia and New Zealand. He captained Ireland eleven times (1956–8), his most important match being in 1958, when he led the first Irish team to beat a major touring side, Australia, a game in which he also scored a try.
A lifelong member of NIFC, he captained the side and later became the club's president. He also represented the club on the Ulster branch and was elected president of the branch. From 1969 to 1972 he was an Ulster and Ireland selector. His interest in schools rugby led him to chair the schools committee of the IRFU in 1975. He served for many years on the IRFU committee, and finally (1990) was elected president. His athletic ability did not stop at rugby, as he also played representative badminton in the 1960s with his brother George, who later became president of the Badminton Union of Ireland. A good-humoured man, he was also a great singer and was known for his renditions of ‘The Glens of Antrim’. He was ill for over a year before he died in Belfast 27 August 1997.
He married Jack Kyle's sister, Betty, who was an international hockey player herself, winning twenty-five caps. They lived in Belfast and had four daughters.