Today marks the 50th anniversary of club chairman Simon Lawrence's first game watching Hendon Football Club.

On 27th August 1970 he went to Claremont Road for the first time, taken by his brother Jeremy, to watch the Greens take on St Albans City. Two goals from Peter Anderson and a penalty from David Hogwood led to a 3-1 win for Hendon and from that moment Simon was hooked.

For the last 15 years of this half century, Simon has been at the forefront, with a handful of others, of keeping the club alive. When it became clear that the Arbiter Group were actively looking to discontinue their ownership of Hendon Football Club and our days at Claremont Road were increasingly numbered he became the first chairman of Hendon Supporters Trust.

When ownership of the football club was finally transferred into the hands of the Supporters Trust, Simon was appointed chairman of the Football Club, a position he has held ever since.

In that time he has overseen two appearances in the FA Cup 1st Round, two Isthmian League Play-Off finals, four cup victories and a further two final appearances - with another to come - and maintained the club's survival at Step 3 against the odds, all the while walking a financial tightrope.

Of course, it hasn't been all plain sailing, there have been three close brushes with relegation including two final day survival bids and for the first time last year had to make the painful decision to part company with a manager for the first time.

On behalf of everyone connected with Hendon Football Club, we'd like to congratulate Simon on becoming the latest supporter to reach this milestone and thank him for his continuing service to the club as chairman.

We hope he continues to enjoy supporting the club for many more years to come.