Defender Archie Henderson, 16, of River, near Dover, joins Championship club Blackburn Rovers from Herne Bay

Teenager Archie Henderson has headed north in pursuit of his dream of becoming a professional footballer after he enjoyed a week to remember.

Championship club Blackburn won the battle to sign the sought-after centre-back, 16, after he featured in Herne Bay’s final two Isthmian South East matches last season.

Henderson, from River, near Dover, put pen to paper with the Lancashire side - a day after he got his GCSE results - last month in a whirlwind couple of days.

Dad Tony Henderson, who had been Deal Town’s physio until recently, said: “We had 19 clubs after Archie! It was unreal.

“It was quite difficult when he was 15 and looking for a club to allow him to play with the under-23s.

“He’s 6ft 6in so there’s no real point in him playing in his own age-group, or even under-18s, because he was too big for them. He was too good for that level.

“We know (player-manager) Liam Friend really well. Archie came over and played some friendlies because he couldn’t sign until he was 16.

“He then signed on his 16th birthday and started to play for their under-23s. Within a couple of weeks, he was training with the first team.

“The second to last game last season, he made his first-team debut against Deal Town and I was physio for Deal Town - so that was weird! I resigned after that game because you can’t really come up against your son, can you?

“The last game of the season, he played the full 90 minutes (in a 4-0 loss at Steyning Town Community).

"We have got a lot to thank Herne Bay for. They took a chance on Arch and helped him to progress to where he is now.

“We went back to pre-season with Herne Bay this summer.

"He played 45 minutes in most of the games throughout pre-season and West Ham, Crystal Palace, Arsenal, Millwall,