As most Hendon fans know, the club underwent a number of name changes in its early years. The present Hendon FC has been named Christ Church Hampstead, Hampstead, Hampstead Town and Golders Green in the years before we became Hendon in 1946.
Research suggests that the present club was formed in 1908 as Christ Church Hampstead, but that the club dropped the "Christ Church" prefix after just one season, opting to instead go by the name Hampstead Town for the next few seasons.
It is unclear as to exactly when "Town" was dropped from our name - the Hendon Advertiser reported that it had been dropped mid-way through the 1919/1920 season, yet the Hendon Times continued to call the club "Hampstead Town" through to the end of the season and Athenian League tables show the club with the Town suffix up until the end of the 1925/26 season.
In 1933, as Hampstead, and a few years after we had left our Cricklewood Lane (Farm Avenue) headquarters in favour of Claremont Road, the club was clearly no longer in Hampstead and our new landlords, Hendon Borough Council, as it was then, were in favour with a name in keeping with the area.
In April 1933, the club decided that the name would change and so a meeting was held to discuss the options. The initially favoured one was Hendonian, but the F.A. refused to sanction it since there was an existing Old Hendonian's club. The next proposition was Cricklewood which was rejected out of hand without going to a vote. Three more names were followed into the ring: Hendon Borough, Hendon Central and Golders Green, The membership deciding in favour of Golders Green.
Even though the club colours at the time were blue and white, the nickname "The Green" or "Greens" resulted from the decision, with the playing strip changing to green in later years. Had the meeting been held just a little later, it is very likely that the name Hendon would have been proposed and adopted. There was a Hendon FC in the London League, playing at the Welsh Harp ground, West Hendon. However, they resigned from the league at the AGM that year and effectively closed down.
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