As a tribute to Tony Jennings who passed away yesterday, we are jumping in our Green & Gold series to number 44.

Tony is one of the very few to have won both FA Amateur Cup and FA Trophy winners medals, and he won the former as a Hendon player.

Tony Jennings's career was one of the most decorated in non-league football. Not only did he win the Amateur Cup with Hendon, he was captain of Enfield and England Non-League (now England 'C'). He was still only 20 years old when he arrived at Hendon in the summer of 1971, signing from Leytonstone. Brought in to replace a combination of Mickey Cooper and Dave Hogwood, both Claremont Road stalwarts, Tony was a tough-tackling right-back. Not tall, even for those days, he was defensively very sound and linked well with Bobby Childs in front of him. John Evans built his teams from the back and the quartet of Jennings, Gary Hand, Alan Phillips and Peter Deadman - in front of John Swannell - was, for almost three seasons, one of the most dominant in non-league history. Tony's debut came on the opening day of the 1971-72 season, a 1-1 draw away to Sutton United. Tony made a total 57 appearances during the campaign and played in every one of the Greens' 22 cup-ties. Although there was no FA Cup glory, a fourth-qualifying round replay exit against Barnet, in the other three competitions, Hendon went all the way - and met Enfield in the latter stages too.

In the Middlesex Senior Cup, it was the semi-final, and Tony scored his first cup goal for the Greens against the Es, in a 2-0 victory - his first two goals had come in a 4-0 win over Corinthian–Casuals in October and the only goal to beat Hayes in March. Hendon's cup success came at the expense of the Isthmian League and in the three months, December to February, inclusive, the Greens played only twice in the league - a win and a draw against Enfield. In April 1972, Tony lined up against the Es at Wembley Stadium in the Amateur Cup Final, and ended up with a winners' medal after a 2-0 victory. There was another winners' gong in the Middlesex Senior Cup – a two legged victory over Hampton - but Enfield avenged their Amateur Cup by beating the Greens in the London Senior Cup Final.

The following season, Hendon dominated the Isthmian League in a way that few teams have ever done. It took until the 39th match for the Greens' colours to be lowered, by which time the championship had long been decided. Take out the first game and the last five, and Hendon's Isthmian League record was played 36, won 32, drew 4, but maybe even more astonishing was the defence's achievement of conceding only 18 goals in 42 games - none from corner kicks. The cornerstone of John Evans and Jimmy Quail's teams - Quail replaced the Bogota-bound Evans in the new year - was continuity. Tony was one of 10 players who missed 10 League games or fewer in the season; he missed four games. Tony collected three winner's medals: the League, Middlesex Senior Cup and the Barassi Cup, the Anglo-Italian Amateur Cup-winners Cup. The first match was at Claremont Road, and the Greens won 2-0. In the return in Italy, Hendon achieved a 1-1 draw to claim the Cup 3-1 on aggregate.

Tony was called up for the England Amateur squad in the final season of the amateur game, where he was joined by team-mates Swannell, Deadman and captain Rod Haider.
Hendon enjoyed their best-ever FA Cup run, reaching the third round proper. Tony's free-kick, midway through the second half, was headed on by John Baker and knocked into the net by Haider as Hendon achieved a 1-1 draw away to Newcastle United. The replay was lost 4-0, and Newcastle went on to lose in the Final. Favourites to retain their league title when the season started, the cup success played its part in the second-place finish, as did the mid-March departure to Enfield of Derek Baker, Phil Fry and Tony. The Greens ended up runners up by two points behind Wycombe, who beat them 2-0 at Loakes Park on 30 April, when there were still seven League matches to play.

At Southbury Road, Tony's career thrived. He was England semi-professional captain for a dozen matches and he won just about every medal imaginable, including in 1982 when he lifted the FA Trophy. After retiring as a player, Tony spent a few months as Hendon coach, but living out in the wilds of Essex, the commute was too much for him. He did, however, become the first man to captain and coach the Non-League team and also was manager of Dagenham. As England Non-League manager, Tony gave Hendon defender Phil Gridelet his first international caps.

Born: 17 August 1950
Joined Hendon: Summer 1971. Left Hendon: March 1974
Appearances: 155 (all starts). Goals: 7
Winners medal won: FA Amateur Cup 1971-72, Barassi Cup 1972-73, Isthmian League 1972-73, Middlesex Senior Cup 1971-72, 1972-73