Andrew Hessenthaler (born 17 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player who is head of recruitment at EFL League Two club Gillingham.

[3] 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.

[8] 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.

[14] He was one of the club veterans selected to represent Watford in the 2006 London Masters football event, where he was named "Player of the Tournament".

[15] At the end of the 1995–96 season, shortly after Watford's relegation from the First Division,[16] Hessenthaler signed for Gillingham for £235,000, a record fee at the time for the club.

[20] In his first season in this new role, he was once again a regular in the Gillingham team,[21] making a total of 47 appearances as the club recorded its highest position to date in the English football league system and best ever run in the FA Cup.

[24] Immediately after guiding Gillingham to promotion, Peter Taylor left to manage Leicester City,[25] and Hessenthaler was appointed player-manager.

[28] As the team continued to struggle at the start of the following season, club owner Paul Scally reiterated his confidence in Hessenthaler but brought in former Swindon Town and Wycombe Wanderers manager John Gorman to assist him.

[30] He remained at the club as a player but was rarely selected for the team,[31] and in January 2005, he went on loan to Hull City, where he was reunited once again with Peter Taylor.

[33][34] He returned to the Gillingham team at the start of the 2005–06 season and made a further 17 appearances, the final one in a 3–0 home win against Port Vale on 10 December 2005.

[42] Shortly after his departure from Barnet, Hessenthaler was appointed manager of Dover Athletic of the Isthmian League First Division South.

[44][45] 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.

[50] 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".

[55] In April 2016, he was promoted to the position of manager when player-manager Kevin Nolan was stripped of his managerial responsibilities,[56] however Hessenthaler was sacked in September of the same year.