Few players have made as big an impact on Hendon FC starting as few matches as Bontcho Guentchev. On paper, his statistics don't suggest he was anything more than an ageing former professional star playing out the end of his career; the reality could not be more different. Talk to any Hendonplayer who was coming through the ranks in the late 1990s and appeared with him and there is almost hero worship, because Bontcho left such a massive impression on them, not just with his achievements, but with his personality.

The story started with a summer's afternoon in the Hendon FC offices at Claremont Road in 1999, when a representative of Bontcho Guentchev approached club secretary Graham Etchell. It is not unusual for players and/or their agents to make such an approach, though normally their tales of stardom in this country or the other and their international experience belong in novels.

Not with Bontcho: he did win the Bulgarian League title (with Etur), he did play in a World Cup semi-final (Bulgaria v Italy, 1994, replacing Hristo Stoichkov after 78 minutes - check the FIFA website, we did), he did play in the Portuguese top division (for Sporting Lisbon) and he also played in England for Ipswich Town and Luton Town. Why Hendon? The answer was simple, when people say they "live down the road," it can be a couple of miles; in Bontcho’s case is was a few hundred yards, on Claremont Road, where he had moved on joining Luton. He had moved back to Bulgaria, but his two children, Lubomir and Iavor, and wife Sylvia, stayed in England with the boys at a Premiership club's academy, and Bontcho missed them.

Nine months after scoring for CSKA Sofia in the UEFA Cup against Atletico Madrid, Bontcho made his Isthmian League debut, away to Slough Town, a 1-1 draw memorable for a "Freddie Hyatt special" free-kick. His home debut came a week later at home to Canvey Island and Bontcho celebrated it with an overhead scissors kick after five minutes. The keeper never moved as the ball flew into the roof of the net.

The Greens reached the FA Cup second round proper in 1999-2000, and Bontcho was named as a substitute in every tie until the 2-0 defeat at Blackpool. He came off the bench three times, most effectively when he scored the second goal as Hendon ended Bath City's record as the last unbeaten team that season in English senior football. At Bloomfield Road, a match the Greens were within an inch or so of winning, Bontcho started and hit the underside of the crossbar with an effort that would have gone down as one of the most spectacular goals in FA Cup history, then saw Tony Caig make a miraculous save from another thundering volley.

A year later, Bontcho played 45 minutes in goal when Richard Wilmot broke his arm (he played for 15 minutes knowing the seriousness of the injury) after half an hour at Carshalton. In the dressing room, Bontcho told manager Frank Murphy "I played in goal in Bulgaria," so he was given the gloves instead of the regular stand-in keeper Simon Clarke. Trailing 1-0 Bontcho was brilliant marshalling the defence, though his chest control, turn and dribble past a Robins forward was pure show-boating. Nonetheless the Greens came back to win a memorable game 2-1. The 2000–01 season was not a happy one as the weather and Claremont Road pitch ensured we played only 40 of 42 matches. Bontcho put his hand up more than most in that crazy spell, starting nine of 15 matches in 33 days and making four substitute appearances (he scored five goals too).

After a spell at Carshalton, Bontcho played with London Bulgaria before returning to Hendon in 2006 as player-coach under Gary McCann. He made 11 appearances in 2006-07, aged 42 and scored his final goal in a 2-1 Middlesex Senior Cup defeat against Hayes at Claremont Road (the Club's final County Cup tie at our old home). He did have the rare experience of playing with both his sons - though there were never three Guentchevs on the pitch at the same time in a competitive match. Work commitments meant he spent much of the following season back in Bulgaria. The family has returned to Bulgaria, with Iavor and Lubomir now playing for Bontcho's old club Etur.

[career stats>
Born: 7 July 1964
Joined Hendon: Summer 1999
Left Hendon: Season 2008–09
Appearances: 83 (36 starts, 47 subs)
Goals: 12
Winners’ medals: none