by Chris Dunlavy
WITH Gary Lineker for a team-mate and Terry Venables in the dugout, Ian Hendon couldn’t have asked for a better education in the game.
“Looking back, you think ‘Wow, what a place to grow up,’” says the 44-year-old, who joined boyhood heroes Spurs as a ten-year-old and made the first of his four top flight appearances in 1989. “But at the time it was just my life. I wish I’d appreciated it a bit more!”
The full-back didn’t quite make the grade at White Hart Lane but that didn’t stop him playing almost 500 games for Leyton Orient, Notts County, Northampton and Barnet.
Manager of Orient until his dismissal in January, Hendon has recently completed his UEFA Pro Licence and is eager for a return.
In the meantime, however, he recalls those old days at Spurs, playing with Paul Gascoigne in his prime and the “abnormal” winger who left him on a stretcher.
First Club
Tottenham. I joined them when I was about ten and I left when I was 21 – I should have had a testimonial!
I didn’t actually start playing football until I was about nine, but someone from Spurs just happened to be watching me on a park pitch one Sunday afternoon.
I got offered professional terms by Terry Venables on my 17th birthday. I was proud because not many schoolboys lasted the distance.
When I made my debut we had Gazza, Gary Lineker, Gary Mabbutt, Paul Allen. It all happens so quick at that age – it’s only when you look back that you realise what an opportunity it was to play in that team. I just wish I could have done it more often.
Best manager
Big Sam Allardyce at Notts County. He was meticulous, he was organised. Even then he was ahead of the game. We had a physio, a strength and conditioning coach.
At that time – especially in League Two – nobody went to the gym. Everyone did press-ups, sit-ups and circuits but weights sessions were completely new.
Some players embraced it, others thought ‘What’s he on about? This is rubbish’. But when we’d won the division by the middle of March, everybody was convinced.
Funnily enough, me and Ian Richardson went through that entire season with double hernia problems. We’d play games, recover, barely train, then play again. The day after we got promoted, we went in and had our operations one after the other.
The other thing with Sam is that he’s a very good rapport with the players – everyone knew where the line was. I worked under him as a coach at West Ham and he was the same with his staff. He knows how to treat people.
Best team-mate
It has to be Gazza at Spurs. I trained with him more than I played with him but I was incredibly lucky to witness his best years close up.
Everybody remembers his ability but his arms and his upper body strength were what really defied belief. When he got those elbows out to protect the ball, you couldn’t get near him.
I remember on the 1991 FA Cup run, we played Oxford at home. He took the ball off the right back on half-way, ran through their whole team, rounded the keeper and scored from a ridiculous angle. And that wasn’t even unusual. He was a joy to watch.
First promotion
At Birmingham under Barry Fry in 1995. I was on loan from Orient, one of about 52 professionals that Baz had managed to get on the books!
That season, I’d been playing full-back or centre-half. But for that must-win game [at Huddersfield] on the final day, Baz put me in central midfield with Mark Ward. I’d hardly played there in my life, but thankfully I did a decent impression of a midfielder and we went up.
But that was Baz – everything was unpredictable, completely s*** or bust. If you weren’t playing well, he’d sub three people off at half-time, chuck three on and worry about injuries later. He’s a great character who I still talk to now.
Funniest player
Andy Hessenthaler, who is a very good friend of mine. I met him at Barnet and we got on instantly.
He’s got a bit of everything. Messing about, jokes, pranks. If the dressing room needed a lift, he’d start dishing out a bit of stick or telling a few anecdotes. He struck that perfect balance between being professional but knowing when people needed a laugh.
Funniest incident
I’ve had a lot of good times, many of which I can’t mention. But for craziness, I’ve got to say that famous half-time rant by John Sitton at Orient in 1995.
He sacked my mate Terry Howard on the spot and then challenged someone to a fight – all of it caught on camera for a fly-on-the-wall documentary.
If you go on YouTube, it’s got something like half a million hits. Those lines – ‘You can bring your dinner’ and ‘Bertie Big B******s’ – were just surreal.
You weren’t laughing but, looking back, John’s team-talks were the most extraordinary thing I saw in football. Chris Turner was joint-manager but if you watch the programme, 95 per cent is John. Did he play up for the cameras? A little bit. The sad thing was, he was a very good coach. But that programme destroyed him. I don’t think he’s worked in the game since.
Biggest achievement
I got capped for England Under-21, which I’m very proud of. But that’s eclipsed by keeping Barnet up in my first managerial job.
We’d spent so many years trying to get out of the Conference. I was desperate not to let that good work go to waste. I took over at Christmas when we had 19 points and we ended up safe with four to play.
Lowest moment
That came the following year. I’m not making excuses but I was picking up the pieces of that squad and I wanted to change a lot of players.
I survived that first year, then got to the end of the next one only to be sacked with two games to go. We had 16 players out of contract and we’d already done a lot of groundwork in terms of scouting players for the following year. Everything was ready to go but the chairman decided he wanted someone else.
I’m saddened by the way supposed friends can betray you. It’s ruthless and you need a thick skin.
Toughest place to go
The old Den, Millwall. It was a horrible, horrible place to play. For a young player, it was very intimidating, especially in the old days.
The crowd was so close and you can imagine what they did as you ran down the flank. There was all sorts of stuff coming your way. But fair play to those supporters – they knew how to give their team an advantage.
Toughest opponent
I played against Ryan Giggs a few times in the early days and, for a full-back, he was a nightmare.
But the one that sticks in my mind most is Stan Lazaridis, the old West Ham winger. He was abnormally fit – like a modern-day player transported to 15 years ago. He’d run all day. I remember when he was at Birmingham and I was at Sheffield Wednesday, I mentioned to Carlton Palmer that I hated playing Stan and he said ‘Just hit him hard early on and that’ll be him done.’
After five minutes, Stan got the ball and I went in so hard that I missed the ball, hit him and ruptured my medial knee ligament. I got booked on the stretcher and Stan just got up and jogged off.
Carlton said “I said hit him hard, not snap him in half.” Summed up my luck against Stan – I couldn’t even foul him properly!
Favourite place to go
White Hart Lane. I grew up a Spurs fan and I always looked forward to going back as a player and a coach with West Ham. The atmosphere was special. West Ham players used to say ‘We love going to Spurs,’ but that was probably because we beat them three times one season!
My best mate’s got a box there and my family are all still fans. You do worry it’ll lose that special feel when they move but the fact it’s staying in the same place should help.
Ambition
I want to get back into football and be a successful manager.
I’ve also got a couple of other business interests. I’ve got a building company that does everything from total rebuilds to refurbs and interior design.
We’ve done a lot of stuff for Versace, Louis Vuitton and Selfridges. It’s going really well.
But football is where I want to be. I was very disappointed how the Orient thing turned out.
It left a sour taste and the only way to get rid of it is by getting back in and proving them wrong.
