Club History

Hendon are now into their eleventh season under the ownership of its supporters, following their takeover of the club in the summer of 2010. The 2020/1 season sees the club begin their third campaign in the Southern League having transferred over in 2018 after 55 years continuous membership of the Isthmian League

The new season sees Lee Allinson begin his first full season in charge having been appointed in November 2019 with the club rooted in the bottom 3 of the Southern League South Premier Division. In September 2020 he gained his first piece of silverware lifting the 2019/20 London Senior Cup courtesy of a 1-0 win over Brentford 'B'. Allinson replaced Jimmy Gray who had worked marvels keeping the club at Step 3 in 2018/9 after replacing the long-serving Gary McCann, who left after 13 and a half years, and having to build a squad from scratch.

The 2017-18 season saw the club finish third in the league, and ultimately lose on penalties to Dulwich Hamlet in the play-off final - the second time the club have lost a play-off final having been beaten by Margate three years earlier. However, 2018 did see some silverware as Staines Town were beaten in the Middlesex Senior Cup Final - a game that also ended in a shoot-out.

The club has an illustrious and proud history, and the club was formed in 1908, beginning its existence as Christchurch Hampstead. In the very first season, the club finished as Champions of the Finchley & District League Third Division. There was regular success in the early years, but not before the first of four name changes!

Ahead of the 1909-10 season, the club renamed itself as Hampstead Town, and immediately won the Second Division title, and the First Division title followed a year later. Further successes followed as the club entered sides in both the London and Middlesex Leagues, and on the back of this, the club was elected into the Athenian League in 1914, reaching the top end of the amateur game just 6 years into the club's existence.

Just 2 games were played in the 1914-15 season due to the outbreak of war, but in their eventual debut season in 1919-20, the club finished a highly creditable fourth. The club finished runners-up in 1929, 1933, 1948, 1949 and 1952, before eventually winning the title in 1953. Further titles followed in 1956 and 1961.

The second renaming of the club came in 1926, when the suffix Town was dropped and the club was simply called Hampstead, followed by a change of name to Golders Green in 1933. The final name change came in 1946 when the club became known as Hendon.

There was a previous club called Hendon that reached the quarter finals of the FA Cup in 1883, and in 1932 the old Hendon club met Hampstead in two friendlies, the second of which was to raise funds for the old Hendon club, which sadly ceased to exist a few years later.

In 1963, the club were accepted into the Isthmian League and this is where the club stayed until 2018, always playing in the top division. Success continued as they finished runners-up in their first season, followed by the first of two Championships a year later. A further title followed in 1973, with 1966, 1974 and 2015 seeing the club finish second. Indeed, in their first 11 seasons in the Isthmian League, Hendon never finished lower than 6th. Since the the club has had both good and bad seasons in the league, and in 2006 the club was reprieved from relegation due to Canvey Island taking a voluntary relegation of three levels from Conference National.

During the amateur era, the club reached the final of the FA Amateur Cup no less than 5 times, winning the final in 1960, 1965 and 1972.

FA Cup success has been enjoyed by the club throughout its history. There have been 21 appearances in the first round (the most recent at Aldershot Town in 2012), 6 appearances in the second round (most recently in 1999-2000 at Blackpool) and one appearance in the third round in January 1974 which saw the Greens draw 1-1 at Newcastle United before losing the replay 4-0 at Vicarage Road (the home ground of Watford FC).

The club has also seen plenty of success in county cups, winning the Middlesex Senior Cup no less than 16 times out of 28 final appearances, as well as winning the Middlesex Charity Cup 14 times. The London Senior Cup has been won on four occasions, with a further 13 appearances as losing finalists.

The club moved into its famous Claremont Road ground in 1926, with the first game being an FA Cup tie against Berkhamsted Town that took place on 18th September with Hendon winning 4-3. The final game was played 82 years later, almost to the day, on 20th September 2008 when local rivals Wealdstone were the visitors, and the Stones ran out 4-1 winners. Since then the club has groundshared with Wembley FC and Harrow Borough FC, before settling into the new home at Silver Jubilee Park in Kingsbury in 2016.

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