Few players make their senior debut, let alone a club debut in a cup final, but that was the first of countless achievements by Phil Gridelet. A former Watford junior, Phil, like his Princes Park FC team-mates Steve Newing and Danny Worley, graduated from Hendon's midweek youth team into the first eleven. The date was Tuesday 7 May 1985, and it was the early in the Middlesex Charity Cup Final when John Palmer collided with a Feltham player and went off with a broken nose. On came Phil, one week after celebrating his 18th birthday.

The injury to Palmer caused a reshuffle in Hendon's formation and Phil was used as a midfielder, as opposed to defender where he spent most of his first spell. His talent had been clear to see and his hair-trigger temperament had certainly been calmed down. But his talent to wind up opponents remained throughout his career and in the second half of the game, he wound up one of the Feltham players so much that he exacted revenge on the next green shirt he encountered; Paul Robinson was led from the field with a nose broken by a savage elbow, spotted the by the linesman, and the offender was sent off. Carl Zacchau of Yeovil, on the opening day of the 1986-87 season, in front of more than 1,600 home fans, lasted only 23 minutes before he was dismissed for retaliating to something committed by Phil - and, seven months later, the Dane was still bitter about it!

That was jumping the gun by a season, because Phil was one of the few consistent shining lights in the Hendon team which battled against relegation in 1985-86. Phil apart, another central defender, Andy O'Brien, and striker Colin Tate were the only two others of the 40-odd players used who appeared in more than 26 League matches that season, indicative of a team that is struggling. He scored his first goal in September, the second in a 2-2 draw with Worthing at Claremont Road, but he managed only eight in more than 250 starts in his career. Stopping the other team scoring, now that was a different story and Phil was one of the best. He and O'Brien were superb is stopping Les Ferdinand when Southall were beaten in the Middlesex Senior Cup final on Easter Monday 1986.

Hendon's 1986–87 season was the longest the club endured with 75 matches - including 33 cup ties. Phil played in 30 of them, bettered only by Dave Root's 31, a tribute to his strength and stamina. He also got his nickname in the first preseason friendly when a referee at South Bank booked him but wrote down Gripper – then a character in the children’s television series Grange Hill.

Phil's biggest attributes were his speed, strength and ability to read a situation quickly. Although he would make his name in the Football League as a midfielder, Ted Hardy couldn't find a better sweeper than Phil. The best examples of his talents came as he turned defence into attack single-handedly. Two runs he made stick in my mind: the first was against Worthing, on a desperately foul afternoon in quagmire conditions. He ran from inside his own penalty area and struck an unstoppable drive from the "D" of the Worthing penalty area. An offside flag ruled out the goal, but the home goalkeeper turned around and said, "That was a travesty. I will never be beaten by a better goal!" The next came in the FA Trophy at Fareham; again it was a lung-bursting run from his own box, but this time after the goalkeeper had saved Phil's shot, Iain Dowie scored the goal, taking the ball off Phil's toe.

In 1988–89, Phil received a call-up to play for England and made two appearances, the first in Italy, then at Kidderminster against Wales. After the end of the season, when he won the Supporters Association Player of the Year award, he moved on to Barnet - he had a trial at Nottingham Forest where Brian Clough was manager, before enjoying a long career in the Football League. He played for Barnsley, Rotherham and Southend before moving to Woking in 1998. Phil returned to play for Hendon under Frank Murphy in 2000. He was by now a veteran midfielder and still hard man to get the better of, if not to out-run.

Joined Hendon: Autumn 1984, Summer 2000. Left Hendon: Summer 1988, Summer 2001
Appearances: 264 (257 starts, 7 as substitute). Goals: 8
Supporters Association Player of the Year: 1988-9
Medals won: Middlesex Senior Cup: 1985-6; Middlesex Charity Cup 1984-5, 1987-8