Andy Hessenthaler

Non-League career

As a teenager, Hessenthaler played for the youth team of his local club Dartford. He later joined Fawkham-based amateur team Corinthian, but Charlton Athletic took him on in 1983 on a non-contract trial basis. He failed to secure a contract with the club, however, and returned to playing on a part-time basis while working as a builder. In 1986, he was spotted by Dartford manager Peter Taylor while playing in a Kent Senior Cup match. Hessenthaler signed for his hometown club on a wage of £40 per week, the first regular income he had ever received for playing. Hessenthaler spent four years at the club, during which time Dartford reached the semi-finals of the FA Trophy on two occasions and finished twice as runners-up in the Southern League. In 1990, he was called up to the England National Game XI, the national team for semi-professional players. Later that year, he moved on to Redbridge Forest, where he spent one season and helped the team win the Isthmian League championship.

Watford

On the recommendation of Peter Taylor, who was by now assistant manager of Watford, Hessenthaler was signed by the Hertfordshire club for a transfer fee of £65,000 at the beginning of the 1991–92 season. He opted to make the move even though becoming a full-time professional player would mean taking a drop in earnings compared to what he was making combining semi-professional football with building work. His professional debut was against Blackburn Rovers at…

Shortly after his departure from Barnet, Hessenthaler was appointed manager of Dover Athletic of the Isthmian League First Division South. In his first season in charge, he played regularly, making over 30 appearances as he led the team to the championship of the division and promotion to the Isthmian League Premier Division. The following season, he led the team to a second consecutive championship as Dover won the Isthmian League Premier Division title to gain promotion to Conference South. In the 2009–10 season, Dover reached the play-offs for promotion to the Conference National, but lost at the semi-final stage to Woking. Hessenthaler, at the age of 44, announced his retirement as a player after the match. On 20 May 2010, Hessenthaler resigned as Dover manager, and the following day, he became the manager of Gillingham, who had just been relegated to Football League Two, for the second time. His contract was terminated at the end of the 2011–12 season after the Gills narrowly missed out on the play-offs for promotion to League One, although he was offered a seat on the board of directors and a "football development role". He left the position of director of football at Gillingham in 2013 with a view to returning to management. In July 2014 he returned to Gillingham as assistant manager under manager Peter Taylor, and was appointed joint caretaker manager, along with Darren Hare, Steve Lovell and Mark Patterson, following the sacking of Taylor on 31 December 2014. At the…

Hessenthaler's mother died in 1991, shortly before his first professional match. His father was an aspiring footballer and was at one time on the books of Arsenal, but never played professionally. He is married to Nikki and has a daughter, Jasmine, and a son, Jake, who also became a professional footballer, making his debut for Gillingham in December 2013. His brother-in-law, Darren Hare, has served as the youth team manager at Gillingham, while his nephew, Josh Hare, came through the youth set-up at Gillingham and went on to play professionally.

As a player

Gillingham

Football League Second Division play-offs: 2000 Hull City

Football League One runner up: 2004–05 Individual

Gillingham Player of the Season: 1996–97, 1999–2000 Named Gillingham's "Greatest Ever Player" in a 2005 fan poll and by the Professional Footballer's Association in 2007

As a manager

Dover Athletic

Isthmian League Division One South: 2007–08 Isthmian League Premier Division: 2008–09 Individual

Football League Two Manager of the Month: December 2010 National League Manager of the Month: April 2019