Hendon F.C. Explained

Clubname:Hendon
Fullname:Hendon Football Club
Nickname:The Greens, The Dons
Founded:1908
Ground:Silver Jubilee Park, Kingsbury
Capacity:1,990 (298 seated)[1]
Chairman:Cyrus Cooper
Manager:Lee Allinson
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Hendon Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Kingsbury in the London Borough of Brent. They are currently members of the and play at Silver Jubilee Park in Kingsbury.

History

The club was established as Christchurch Hampstead in 1908. They joined the Third Division of the Finchley & District League, which they won at the first attempt, earning promotion to Division Two.[2] At the start of the 1909–10 season the club were renamed Hampstead Town and they went on to win Division Two at the first attempt, earning promotion to Division One.[2] For the 1911–12 season the club entered teams into both Division One of the Finchley & District League and Division Two of the London League.[2] [3] They won the Finchley & District League title, and a fourth-place finish in Division Two of the London League saw the club promoted to Division One.[2] [3] They subsequently entered a team into the Middlesex League alongside the London League team.

In 1912–13 Hampstead Town were runners-up in Division One of the London League, earning promotion to the Premier Division (Amateur);[3] they also won the Middlesex League. The following season saw them win both the Middlesex League and the Premier Division (Amateur) of the London League. This success saw the club admitted to the Athenian League for the 1914–15 season.[3] However, the league was abandoned after two games due to World War I. After the war they played in the United Senior League in the 1918–19 season and won the league,[4] before returning to the Athenian League when it restarted in 1919. The club was renamed Hampstead in 1926. They were Athenian League runners-up in 1928–29 and again in 1932–33, before being renamed Golders Green in 1933. They reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time in 1934–35, losing 10–1 at Third Division South Southend United. In 1946 the club was renamed again, adopting its current name, that of a club that existed in the 19th century.

Hendon were Athenian League runners-up in 1947–48, 1948–49 and 1951–52 before winning their first Athenian League title in 1952–53, a season which also saw them reach the first round of the FA Cup again, losing 2–0 at Northampton Town in a replay. In 1954–55 they reached the final of the FA Amateur Cup, losing 2–0 to Bishop Auckland at Wembley. They went on to win the Athenian League title again in 1955–56, also reaching the second round of the FA Cup, beating Halesowen Town 4–2 in the first round before losing 6–2 at Exeter City in the second. The club won their first Amateur Cup in 1959–60, defeating Kingstonian 2–1 in the final. A third Athenian League title was won in 1960–61. In 1963 the club switched to the Isthmian League. They were runners-up in their first season in the league. In their second season, 1964–65, the club won the Isthmian League and Amateur Cup double, defeating Whitby Town 3–1 in the final.

Hendon reached the final of the FA Amateur Cup again the following season, but lost 3–1 to Wealdstone. After winning their third Amateur Cup with a 2–0 win against Enfield in 1971–72, a second Isthmian League title was won in 1972–73. The following season they reached the third round of the FA Cup, where they drew Newcastle United; after holding them to a 1–1 draw at St James' Park, Hendon lost 4–0 in a replay played at Watford's Vicarage Road. In 1975–76 the club defeated a Football League club for the first time, beating Reading 1–0 in the first round, before losing to Swindon Town in the second round.

In 2003–04 Hendon finished fourth in the Isthmian League Premier Division but declined to join the new Conference South.[5] Having remained in the top division of the Isthmian League since joining it in 1963, Hendon finished in the relegation zone at the end of the 2005–06 season, but were reprieved after Canvey Island's resignation from the Football Conference. During the summer of 2010, the club was bought out by the Hendon FC Supporters Trust, an Industrial and Provident Society.[6] In 2014–15 they were Premier Division runners-up, qualifying for the promotion play-offs; after beating Metropolitan Police 2–1 in the semi-finals, they lost the final 1–0 to Margate. The 2017–18 season saw the club finish third in the Premier Division. In the subsequent play-offs, they defeated Folkestone Invicta 4–0 in the semi-finals before losing the final 4–3 on penalties to Dulwich Hamlet. The club were placed in the Premier Division South of the Southern League for the 2018–19 season as part of the restructuring of the non-League pyramid.

At the end of the 2023–24 season Hendon were transferred back to the Premier Division of the Isthmian League.

Ground

The club moved to Claremont Road in Cricklewood in 1926. The first match was played on 18 September, an FA Cup game against Berkhamsted that Hendon won 4–3.[2] The ground was also briefly used by rugby league club London Broncos.[7] In the mid-2000s the ground was sold to property developers and it was initially planned that the club would move to Barnet Copthall.[8] [9] However, the proposed move fell through and although Hendon had initially expected to leave in 2006, they were still at the ground in 2008; the final match at Claremont Road on 20 September 2008 saw local rivals Wealdstone win 4–1.[2]

After leaving Claremont Road Hendon played at Northwood's Chestnut Avenue, Staines Town's Wheatsheaf Road for the remainder of the 2008–09 season. They then moved to Wembley's Vale Farm before relocating to Harrow Borough's Earlsmead ground in 2013.[10] In 2016 they moved to Silver Jubilee Park in Kingsbury, groundsharing with Edgware Town.

Coaching staff

PositionStaff
General ManagerIan Allinson
ManagerLee Allinson
Assistant ManagerMarc Charles-Smith
CoachesCaolan South
Physiotherapist Chad Smith
Source: Hendon F.C.

Honours

Records

See also

External links

51.5767°N -0.2542°W

Notes and References

  1. http://www.edgwaretownfc.co.uk/index.php/venue Venue
  2. http://www.hendonfc.net/History History
  3. http://nonleaguematters.co.uk/nlmnet/Regmet/LoL10.html London League 1910–1928
  4. http://www.historicaldons.com/index.php?od=5&yd=1912 1918–19
  5. http://www.wsc.co.uk/the-archive/101-Non-League/2028-pyramid-schemes Pyramid schemes
  6. Web site: Hendon FC - Club History. 18 July 2016.
  7. http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/london-broncos-move-ealing-rfc-9743560 London Broncos to move to Ealing RFC
  8. http://www.pyramidpassion.co.uk/html/snapshots__hendon_.html Snapshots - Hendon FC
  9. https://web.archive.org/web/20150424164844/http://www.supporters-direct.org/faqs/hendon-fc Hendon
  10. http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/harrowborough/news/hendon-to-ground-share-at-harrow-borough-659019.html Hendon to ground share at Harrow Borough
  11. http://www.hendonfc.net/Honours Honours
  12. Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2016) Non-League Club Directory 2017, Tony Williams Publications, p334