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The sudden departure of Hendon FC manager Frank Murphy last week stunned Hendon players, officials and supporters. He left by mutual consent after a meeting on May 15th with club Chairman Ivor Arbiter and Vice-chairman Andrew Landesberg.
Mr Murphy replaced Neil Price having turned around the fortunes of his previous club, Dulwich Hamlet. He spent 4 years, 2 months at The LOOT Stadium, the longest continuous spell a first-team manager has been in charge of Hendon for at least 40 years, and whilst he did not bring the club the sort of success enjoyed in the 1960s and early 1970s, his record stands up to the closest inspection.
Hendon played 181 Isthmian League matches, with a record of 79 wins, 34 draws and 68 defeats. In cups, Hendon won the Middlesex Senior Cup in 1999 and the Puma (Isthmian League Full Members) Cup in 1998 and 1999. The cup record was played 74, won 47, drawn 6, lost 21, making the Green's overall record under Frank Murphy was: played 255, won 126, drawn 40 and lost 89.
After pulling Hendon clear of relegation in the spring of 1997, the club finished 5th (the best for 11 seasons), 13th, 8th and 12th, without ever being in any danger of the drop after 3 seasons of hovering in or near the league danger zone.
But the real triumphs came in cup competitions. In the FA Cup, Hendon recorded only their second ever victory over Football League opposition, when Leyton Orient succumbed at Brisbane Road in 1997. It was also one of two 2nd round proper appearances and Hendon were rather unfortunate not to overcome Notts County a year later, losing in a replay after having much the better of the first game. Indeed only Dagenham & Redbridge in 2000 denied Hendon a 5th straight competition proper appearance.
In the FA Trophy, Hendon reached the last 16 for the first time in 20 years, losing to Nationwide Conference champions-elect Cheltenham Town in 1999. The defeat at the hands of Tiverton Town in January 2001 was the only time a team from a lower position in the FA pyramid got the better a Murphy-managed Hendon team in a national competition.
The London Challenge Cup was an unmitigated disaster, with nothing of note to report and the Isthmian League Cup was little better after the first round. Drawn away in the first round for the last 4 seasons, Hendon recorded wins 8-1 at Staines, 4-1 at St Albans, 2-1 at Gravesend and 4-3 at Arlesey, but failed to go much further in any season.
However, the Full Members Cup was a different matter. In 1997, the team produced some magnificent performances, none more so than in the final when 4 second half goals left Basingstoke overrun at Chesham. A year later, the cup was retained with a 1-0 victory over Worthing at Sutton. In 2000-01, the Dons played a full reserve side to beat Division 1 Harlow Town's first team in round 1 and lost a thriller 6-5 after extra time against Heybridge's second string. In fact, Hendon have lost only twice in 90 minutes in the Full Members Cup since 1992-93.
Also in 1999, a 12-year Middlesex Senior Cup drought was brought to an end with a penalty shoot-out victory over Wembley at Enfield, following a 2-2 draw after extra time. In the minor competitions, however, all too often teams from lower divisions caused upsets.
Mr Murphy made some important signings when he joined the club and centre-half Richard Nugent scored vital goals in the final 15 games of the 1996-97 season. The former Barnet star reached double figures for goals in the following season.
Another player who signed on in that relegation battle still remains with the club. Goalkeeper Gary McCann made over 180 appearances, despite missing the equivalent of almost a complete season in the past 15 months. The leading appearance maker for the club in Mr Murphy's time at Hendon was defender Simon Clarke, who ended just 3 short of 300 first-team appearances for the club since joining in August 1995.
Stability may have been the keyword of Murphy's tenure and no less than 14 players made 100 appearances between 1997 and 2001:- Steve Bateman, Simon Clarke, Jon Daly, Gary Fitzgerald, Steve Heard, Matt Howard, Freddie Hyatt, Tony Kelly, Junior Lewis, Gary McCann, Curtis Warmington, Marvyn Watson, John-Simon White and Paul Whitmarsh. Only Clarke, Kelly, Lewis, White and Warmington were at the club when Mr Murphy joined.
Another facet of Hendon for which Murphy must take great pride is the way he has nurtured young talent. Although much credit must go to reserve team managers Andy O'Brien, Cecil Collins and Alan Rolnick, Murphy had the confidence to give them run-outs in the first team. Three seasons ago, Steve Brady and Matt Maran rose from the reserves to regular first-team appearances; two seasons ago it was Matt Bartholomew, Marvyn Watson and Dale Binns; in 2000-01, Paul Johnson, Pat Sappleton, Richard Dee, David Boateng, Dave Stewart, Ike Obiji and Nathan Edwards all started Ryman League matches.
| Murphy's
record - Season by Season |
| 1996-97 |
Murphy arrived on 6 March 1997
and his first game was at home to Chertsey, when temporary boss
Andy O'Brien selected the side. John Ugbah's second half goal was
enough to give Hendon a 1-0 victory. The club finished with 8 wins,
a draw and 6 defeats to pull clear of the drop.
|
| 1997-98 |
As well as the win at Leyton
Orient in the FA Cup (Cardiff won 3-1 at Ninian Park in Round 2)
and the Full Members Cup triumph, a fantastic unbeaten run at the
end of the season saw Hendon rise to 5th in the table, the best
finish for 12 seasons and win the Puma (Full Members) Cup with an
exhilarating display against Basingstoke in the Final. A feature
of the 13-game unbeaten run was a 630+-minute spell without conceding
a goal.
|
| 1998-99 |
Ludicrously made pre-season
favourites for the Ryman League title, due to the previous seasons
late run of form, Hendon came close to beating Notts County in the
FA Cup, but failed dismally to mount a championship challenge. The
final position of 13th was only made bearable by a repeat success
in the Puma (Full Members) Cup - 1-0 over Worthing at Sutton - triumph
in the Middlesex Senior Cup - on penalties over Wembley at Enfield
- and a last-16 place in the FA Trophy. Paul Whitmarsh became Hendon's
leading scorer for 30+ years with 43 goals and Junior Lewis chipped
in with 28.
|
| 1999-2000 |
A nearly season saw Hendon finish
8th in the Ryman League. The FA Cup again brought near glory with
victory over Bath City in round 1 and a very unfortunately 2-0 defeat
at 2nd Division Blackpool, the winners enjoyed the windfall of a
3rd round tie at Arsenal. The club did get some great publicity
with the signing of former Bulgarian World Cup semi-finalist Bontcho
Guentchev and his full debut was marked by a spectacular overhead
scissors kick goal.
|
| 2000-2001 |
A season blighted by bad weather.
Hendon, among 9 out of 88 Ryman League clubs to fail to fulfil their
League fixtures, only managed only 40 of the 42, whilst no less
than 23 out of 57 scheduled matches were postponed (2 unplayed),
many on more than one occasion. Hendon had only 3 home matches on
Saturdays in 2001 (13 January v Tiverton, 24 February v Purfleet
and 28 April v Enfield) and even switched a home FA Trophy tie with
Worcester City to St Albans to get the game played. Pretty much
everybody ended the season disillusioned, but enough victories were
obtained to ensure a 12th place finish. Top scorer was 19-year-old
Dale Binns, who blossomed into one of the most dangerous players
in the League.
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