Dean Henderson speaks out on family tragedy before FA Cup final

Dean Henderson has watched on as part of losing squads in all three of his major finals at Euro 2020, Euro 2024 and in the 2020/21 . He suffered the greatest loss of all last summer when his father, Dougie Henderson, passed away at the age of 57.

On Saturday, Henderson, finally, won't be watching from the sidelines. He will be centre-stage as Crystal Palace meet Manchester City in the FA Cup final. Oliver Glasner's squad are one win at Wembley away from entering the history books as the players who lifted the first major trophy in Palace's history. Not many of them are as crucial as Henderson.

Palace are entering their third FA Cup final, having suffered heartbreak to City's rivals, Manchester United, on the previous two occasions, most recently in 2016.

City, who have reached this stage for a third successive year, are undoubtedly the favourites.

But as Pep Guardiola's side learned against the underdogs of Erik ten Hag's United last May, that means very little in a match of this magnitude.

As he prepares to compete under the famous arch, Henderson is confident he will harness power from his late father to contribute to a famous day.

"I always look up and he's always there in my corner. He will be kicking every ball with me," Henderson explained ahead of arguably the biggest day of his career yet.

"I'm looking forward to seeing what power he can give me on the day. He passed away a couple of days after the Euros, so luckily I got home to see him, which was nice.

"He'd have been delighted to see me in the FA Cup final. I actually got a message before the semi-final from a neighbour laying red and blue flowers at his grave, and she sent me a video of it.

"That was a big motivation. That was great. It didn't sink in until the next day, really. It would be phenomenal to go and tell him about it."

Henderson shared the news of Dougie's passing by posting eight pictures of the pair together over the years, including during his time at Palace.

The 28-year-old heralded him as his "best friend", "first coach" and "role model" and remembered their "journey from the bottom to the top".

Further back, in 2019, Henderson claimed he "couldn't do anything" in life and his career without Dougie and his mother, Yvonne.

In the 144th FA Cup final, he will make his parents proud no matter the result. But Henderson and his Palace team-mates have their sights firmly set on a historic scalp.