West Ham United have confirmed the arrival of Ian Hendon as the club's new Development Coach.
The 39-year-old was formerly assistant manager of Gilligham before being lured to the Boleyn Ground by new boss Sam Allardyce, whose backroom team is now beginning to take shape nicely.Speaking about his new role, Hendon said: "I got the shout to come and see the gaffer, went and had an interview with him and luckily for me he thought what I could bring to it was good I got offered the job.
"That all happened very quickly, in the last seven days to two weeks."
Hendon's playing career, which began at Tottenham in 1989 and ended at Barnet 20 years later saw him appear for ten clubs, mostly in the lower leagues - although he also made seven appearances for England under 21's between 1992 and 1993.
A right back by trade, Hendon also played in central defence and midfield. His first foray into coaching came shortly after his retirement when he joined Paul Fairclough's coaching staff at Barnett, the club for whom he had been playing at the end of his career.
In April 2009 he took his first management role, also at Barnet. However that was to end in disaster when Hendon was fired a year later with the Bees facing relegation.
Undeterred by that experience he was named manager of Dover Athletic the following month, but after just 18 days in charge at the Crabble Athletic Ground left to become assistant to Andy Henssethaler at Gillingham - where he remained until being offered his current post.
Sam's gang: the new-look backroom team
Manager: Sam Allardyce
Assistant Manager: Neil McDonald
First Team Coach: Wally Downes (joined in 2010)
Head of Sports Medicine: Andy Rolls (2009)
First Team Physio: Stijn Vandenbroucke (2009)
Fitness Coach: Eamon Swift (2010)
Development Coach: Ian Hendon
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