HOOP DREAMS
Basketball ace Murray recalls joy of seeing dad Rab in action for Celtic Now he’s hoping to stand tall and reach new heights for Glasgow Rocks
Murray Hendry is scaling new heights. aiming upwards, focusing on lofty ambitions, desperate to reach the big stage in a sport filled with giants. and it’s all thanks to the ‘wee man’.
a large grin appears whenever the son of former Celtic and Scotland goalkeeper rab Douglas boasts that he now dwarves his father.
This relationship between a professional footballer and the new addition to the Glasgow rocks basketball team is stronger than ever. But who looks up to who, exactly?
‘I’m 6ft 8in,’ says 22-year-old Hendry. ‘My dad hates that I’m taller than him now. He’s 6ft 4in. He has never been called “wee man” before!
‘It’s weird being taller than my dad. For all my life, I’ve always looked up to him. Now he looks up to me when I talk to him. He’s really proud of what I’ve achieved.’
Hendry meets Sportsmail in the Emirates arena after his latest training session with the rocks. Sitting across the road from the stadium where his dad enjoyed five years of success, while wearing a dark blue Dundee FC hoodie, the Dumfries-born youngster won’t let go of the memories he has shared with Douglas.
It has been an eventful upbringing. after Douglas and then-partner Linzi MurrayHendry split, Hendry moved to Holland with his mother when he was just three years old before heading to Canada seven years later.
During high school and college in Ontario, Hendry discovered basketball. But that didn’t stop him travelling thousands of miles to watch his dad.
Very much looking up to Douglas, who was never far away from silverware during the Martin O’Neill era, there is one occasion which stands out.
May 21, 2003. Baking in the heat of Seville, Celtic’s 3-2 defeat after extra-time against Jose Mourinho’s Porto in the uEFa Cup final may still hurt but the memory brings comfort to Hendry, who now realises how special it was for a young boy.
‘In Seville, I sat behind roy Keane,’ says Hendry of the former Manchester united and republic of Ireland captain.
‘It was brilliant. He was my childhood hero. I spoke to him — I had to. But I can’t tell my dad Keane is my childhood hero!
‘He said “Hi” and he didn’t know who I was at first, but I told him robert Douglas was my dad. He said: “That’s brilliant, let’s cheer for him together”.
‘It was a monumental time. I didn’t truly appreciate it but now I’ve grown up it is still one of my fondest memories. I can remember the game quite well. ‘I got sunburn while I was wearing my dad’s shirt, so I had “Douglas” sunburned on to my back. That was the worst! I got a lot of pictures and autographs from the Celtic players.
‘They had always been brilliant with me. I was a bit heartbroken at the end. It didn’t quite work out the way we wanted. But it was a brilliant atmosphere.’
Douglas departed Celtic in 2005 but a three-year spell in England with Leicester City, including loans at Millwall, Wycombe and Plymouth argyle, meant Hendry had new destinations to reach.
However, the sight of that hoodie is proof the time his father spent at Dens Park is special, too.
‘My dad had been hinting about coming back to Dundee, then they had the Dee-fiant season,’ says Hendry, recalling the 2010-11 campaign when the First Division club went into administration but remarkably clawed back a 25-point deduction to avoid relegation.
‘I came back to Scotland for six months, so I went to every home game and most away games. Thankfully, every game I was there they didn’t lose. We won or drew. Should I go back now? Tell me about it...’
While the current crop on Tayside could do with a few players to stand tall, Hendry — who plays as a forward — is determined to make an impression at the rocks.
Signed after an open trial this summer, he knows he must be patient but is happy to take a gamble, revealing: ‘I was confident because I only bought a one-way ticket. It was Glasgow or bust.’
There will be no rash decisions, though. Not if 46-year-old Douglas, who was still on the books at arbroath last season, has his say.
‘He has always made a huge effort to be a part of my life,’ says Hendry. ‘I remember living in Holland and he flew out in the off season to spend time with me. In Canada, he did the same. He has always been there for me.
‘The moment I got my contract at the rocks, he was the first person I thought of to read it. He has been with big teams and had big contracts. The advice he gives me on a dayto-day basis is brilliant.’
Following that advice will be key if Hendry is to break into the rocks team, who lost both games this weekend in England against Bristol Flyers and Plymouth raiders in the British Basketball League.
However, he knows where to look to settle nerves, whether it’s down at the ‘wee man’ or across the road.
‘When my dad was playing, I got a fair bit of abuse but lots of people were very kind and always wanted to know how he was doing,’ adds Hendry. ‘Now, being around the Parkhead area, there are a few diehard fans who remember me being a boy at the games. It’s nice meeting people again.
‘We have a brilliant view of Parkhead from the office. It’s like an odd sense of comfort. I can’t complain.’