Hendon boss Gary McCann celebrated a decade as manager on Monday and admitted it would have been easy to leave at times

The former goalkeeper passed the ten-year milestone on Monday, having been appointed on February 2, 2005. Charged with keeping Hendon in the Isthmian Premier Division, McCann won his first game 2-1 against Cheshunt and would eventually oversee an 11th-place finish in his first season.

A decade later and despite well-documented issues away from the field, most notably leaving their Claremont Road home in 2008, the Greens have cause for optimism. They are fifth in the Isthmian Premier Division at the time of writing and reached the quarter-finals of the Isthmian League Cup for the first time in 12 years on Tuesday evening.

Reflecting on his time with the club, McCann said: "There is a real affinity with the club. I demand a loyalty with the changing room from my players. The easy option on numerous occasions would have been to walk away.

"But I have dealt with everything head on and I believe there is no better grounding than dealing with big difficulties at a club. Most other managers have had it easy compared to me and we have still overachieved massively every year.

"I don't like to say overachieved, though, because it is derogatory to the players in the changing room. To be where we have been over the last ten years is a compliment to the changing room."

He added: "I think the club has stood by me. There have been a lot of difficult times but the difficult times have been forced upon me a little bit so the club knew I was doing the best I could.

"I have had opportunities to move on but I have always felt they were sideways steps. When you care so dearly about the club it is a difficult step.

"I have been completely committed to the club for ten years. There have been tough times; losing our ground and having financial problems, but we now see some light at the end of the tunnel."

McCann was appointed as Gary Farrell's successor following a 4-2 loss to Fisher Athletic of the Isthmian Division One South in the London Senior Cup on January 31, 2005.

A former goalkeeper at the club, McCann made 196 first-team appearances and was part of the 1997 team which beat Football League outfit Leyton Orient in the FA Cup before injury brought a premature end to his playing career.

When he replaced Farrell it was the then 32-year-old's first appointment in management. Ten years later and McCann is still going strong. Did he expect to be in this position 554 matches later? "No, I think I would lying to say I did," admitted the taxi driver. "It was meant to be short-term fix to start with, that was the plan.

"Did I think I was ready for the job? Maybe not. I was only two or three years into youth team football at the time.

"It was something that when I got my injury it was somewhere I wanted to go. My understanding of the game came from an early age; I was always a student of the game.

"It was obviously something I did reasonably well at and it has been enjoyable," he added.

McCann points to his two London Senior Cup wins (2009 and 2012) and the 2012/13 FA Cup first round proper defeat by Aldershot Town as the highlights of his time with the Greens but also lists more personal triumphs.

"I have spoken about games in recent times; the London Senior Cup and the two FA Cup first round appearances. And it was not just the appearances but the finances we have brought into the club which have been key - they have meant we have stayed afloat," he explained.

"But also the return of key players from serious injuries. Lee O'Leary had major problems with his knees and he is back playing a key part for us. Elliott Brathwaite has had two major reconstructions in his knee.

"Casey Maclaren is another one; he had major back problems but he is playing a key part too.

"We stuck by them, so to see them playing at the level they are again, they are major highlights for me. Other clubs would have cast them aside but not here."

Statistics courtesy of David Ballheimer.