Another one bites the dust? From the Rymans' website :

QUOTE:
HENDON FOOTBALL CLUB

The Board of the Ryman League has been working with Hendon Football Club Limited and representatives of the Hendon FC Supporters Trust over the last two months to enable a continuation of the Club.

The Board was disappointed this week to receive a letter from a Director of the Company closing the ground with immediate effect and explaining the reasons behind the decision.

The Company wishes to transfer its membership of the League to the Supporters Trust but the League is not able to deal with that until the Company has satisfied The Football Association and the League itself in relation to the transfer of membership. The Board wishes to enable the Club to continue to play football while negotiations are ongoing; to that end the Board will allow Hendon FC Limited to play its home matches on suitable alternative grounds until the end of the current season.

The League requires the Company to deposit with the League within 7 days a sum of £10,000 as a bond to be held against any indebtedness of the Company to the League.

The League will charge the Company under League Rule for failing to keep its ground in good playing condition and amenities in good working order throughout the Playing Season.

The Board expect the Company to resolve the transfer of membership by the end of the current season; otherwise the Company's continuing membership of the League may be in doubt.

Looks like the Stones' victory last Saturday was the last ever match at Claremont Road. And I missed it. Bugger.

They'll have to change the annoucements on the 189 and C11 buses.

Shame, that was my nearest club for a while. Mind you, I never went to see them so I was no help

I thought they were on Clitterhouse Lane?

They were here.

Shit. Shit shit shit.

The rumours were doing the rounds last weekend that their match last Saturday was to be their last one at Claremont Road. Very good of the owners to not even give them the opportunity for one final match there. I thought that there was something not quite right about that proposed ground-share at Vale Farm.

Bugger! The biggest of the small fry. When I was a kid watching Hitchin it was always about Enfield, Barnet and Hendon, other clubs had their moments but, season-by-season, they were the big matches. We all went up from the Athenian to the Isthmian League together and each of us proved we could take it as easily as where we'd come from. Enfield v Hendon games were especially massive because they were derbies, one of the biggest in non-league football back then. Now they're gone forever.

I think there's no doubt that Hendon FC will start again. The supporters trust is pretty well organised. But this is a terrible time of year for this to happen - I would be very interested to know the reasons behind the decision to evict them with no notice. I wouldn't mind betting that it begins and ends with "because we can".

Although the outlook is bleak, Hendon aren't dead and buried yet. Their FA Cup replay against Dulwich Hamlet is set to go ahead at Harrow's Earlsmead ground, as far as I can tell. And the Supporters' Trust EGM is set to take place tomorrow, maybe there'll be more information forthcoming after that on where they hope to be able to play out the rest of the season.
If nothing else, the bonus payment for a win against Dulwich would provide some much-needed cash...

The match against Dulwich is at Harrow.

I'm interested by the Ryman League's attitude towards this - they seem to be doing everything that they can to help them out. I have been wondering whether this is anything to do with their length of membership in said league. The problem that Hendon have is that so many of the other grounds that would have been within touching distance of them (Enfield, Wealdstone, Edgware) have all gone. Also, despite the noises that their ST have been making, I'd be amazed if Vale Farm didn't require considerable work to be done to it in order to bring it up to scratch.

Vale Farm's not that bad. Wembley were in the Isthmian 2nd earlier this millenium.

I've not been there for at least fifteen years, to be fair to them.

Final score from Earlsmead:

Hendon 2-1 Dulwich Hamlet

According to their messageboard, the next FA Cup tie (against AFC Telford) will be played at Wembley.

Been lurking for a good while now, but being a Hendon fan I thought this was a good time to join the fray.

Although I couldn't make tonight we apparently did OK for our first game away from Claremont Road.

AFC Telford in the next round, so hopefully we can turn them over as well and get a few more quid in the bank, as we are going to need it.

There was a poor crowd at Earlsmead on Wednesday according to the (not-at-all-biased) Wealdstone forum...

I recall Hendon coming to Great Yarmouth for an FA Cup tie in the early 90's.

Hendon bought a sizable contingent and unusually the majority seemed to postion themselves on the Chicken Run side of the ground. I guess they spent much of the day admiring the view of the Grandstand from over there.

Although my memory of the actual game is much more hazy, my recollection is that Hendon played a very good passing game but despite all their posession and fancy play the game ended in a draw.
Hendon naturally won the replay, but in subsequent years as their manager made his way through the managerial ranks I often remembered this game and felt that first game summed up much of his career, his name Peter Taylor.

I was at that game. We drew 3-3 and I think we won the replay 4-1.

At the time I was living in Hemel Hempstead and it took ages to get to get to Great Yarmouth. The traffic was a right bastard. In fact I think I got to the ground late and missed our first goal.

Peter Taylor scored our equaliser to make it 3-3 and you're quite right at the time we did pass it around all fancy like. He didn't last and went to Southend followed soon out the door by our chairman who went to Stevenage, Victor Green.

We went out in the 3rd qualifying round that year to Cambridge City after spending 90 minutes pissing around doing little passes to each other without actually having an attempt on goal.