MOVING to a new club heralds a fresh start for any player, though for Alex Henshall signing for Darlington not only represents a new beginning, it comes at a time when his life is changing significantly for the 24-year-old.

The winger joined in the summer, looking to put an injury-ravaged year behind him and turning to part-time football for the first time in his career having previously spent time with Manchester City, Ipswich and Kilmarnock, among others.

Of more significance to him, however, was that his partner Amy was heavily pregnant at the time, and she gave birth to their first child on Tuesday night, less than 24 hours before Darlington’s match with Blyth Spartans.

That led to a sleepless night, no doubt the first of many for the young family, but Henshall still played against Blyth.

It was a game Darlington drew 1-1, Henshall making his third start as he builds match fitness.

“The gaffer did text me to ask how I was feeling about playing,” said Henshall, who is originally from Swindon but has now moved to the North-East. “I had to ask the Mrs about playing and she said ‘yeah, go and play’, because her mam and sister are up here with us.

“It all happened quite quickly. She was six centimetres dilated when we got to the hospital, so they were glad we came when we did.

“We had him at 11:25pm, and after that it was a waiting game. I didn’t get home until 5am on Wednesday and didn’t get much sleep.

“But I’m glad I played and we played really well. I felt a tired in the second half, but before then I’d had a burst of energy. Because I’d been stuck in hospital it was just nice to get out and play football, but we should’ve won.

“We played really well and carried on our form from last Saturday, and now we’ve got to build on it and take it to Kidderminster.”

Though Henshall is one of Wright’s seven former Nuneaton players, he is not in the Midlands car school that travels each week on Darlington duty as he and his partner have moved to a house in Bishop Auckland.

The winger is not averse to living in different parts of the country for football, most notably with City having turned down Man United aged 16, walking out of Sir Alex Ferguson’s office having had a change of heart when seconds away from signing a contract.

Henshall said: “I had the pen in my hand, everything. Then something in my head just said, ‘Don’t do it’ so I walked out.

“I just put it down on the table and walked out without saying anything. I was only a kid and just didn’t know what to say.”

His has since been a nomadic experience, signing for City and playing on loan for Chesterfield, Bristol Rovers and Blackpool, as well as having short stints elsewhere before ending up under Wright’s wing at the beginning of last season at Nuneaton, but he soon became hamstrung.

He became embroiled in a dispute with Nuneaton’s chairman over a hamstring injury sustained in pre-season and his final game - at any level until signing for Quakers this summer - was against Darlington last October.

“I had to play when I didn’t want to because I was injured, my recovery was too soon and I was getting rushed back,” he explained.

“It was mild tear at first, but as I was playing it was getting worse. I was at St Georges for a while doing my rehab, I got in there with the PFA and they had a good rehab programme, but I’m glad to be back in football and thankful to the gaffer for giving me this opportunity.

“He has been really good with me, he’s been building up my minutes and bringing me off before the end. It’s a case of building my fitness back up.

“I spoke to him a long time before I signed, he wanted me to come sooner but I wanted to get fit first before I did anything. I had a positive summer getting my hamstring as strong as I can.

“I feel like I’m getting better, I’ve got to take it game by game.”