Johnny Haynes
Born Edmonton, October 17, 1934; died October 18 2005
Johnny Haynes will probably be best remembered as the first £100 a week footballer but this tag should not deflect attention from his special abilities as a footballer or the profound way in which he influenced the game in this country.
Haynes had appeared destined for greatness as a boy, being the pick of a fine England schoolboys side in 1950. Following this he would go on to represent his country at youth, under 23, “B” and full levels.
All the time these personal glories were coming his way Haynes continued to play his club football with Fulham and they would remain his only club right up until his retirement in 1969.
Staying loyal to homely Fulham denied Johnny Haynes the chance of club honours. He made his debut for the club in 1952 as they were relegated from division one and they would not manage a return until 1959, even then only as runners up to Sheffield Wednesday.
Although Fulham then managed to retain top flight status for nine years this was a time of continual struggle and then, in his last two years with the club, they suffered successive relegations.
There was no cup joy for him to enjoy either, the closest to Wembley the club coming being semi final appearances in 1958 and 62. Both these ties went to replays before firstly Manchester United and then Burnley shattered Haynes’s dreams.
It is possible, however, that staying with a lesser team helped Haynes achieve greatness. Although not quite an original Haynes played a style of football unusual and decidedly unfashionable at the time of his arrival.
Football then was dominated to a massive degree by Stan Matthews and Tom Finney. The genius of these two men persuaded most clubs that the onus of their attacking play should be on their wingers. The job of the wing halves and inside forwards was to get the ball to the flanks and let the wing men do the rest.
Johnny Haynes was different. An inside forward he wanted to direct operations himself, to set his own tempo, choose the passing options himself, in short to dictate. The range and accuracy of his passing, the like of which had probably never been seen before, allowed him to do this.
There had been players of a similar type, notably Eddie Quigley whose long passing style much resembled that of Haynes. In 1949 Quigley had moved from Sheffield Wednesday to Preston North End for a record transfer fee but his style had clashed with that of Finney’s and he was moved out of Deepdale within two years.
At Fulham, however, Haynes was king and the team was developed to suit his skills. By the middle of the 1950’s a new way of playing was becoming popular and the reason for this was simply Johnny Haynes, fast becoming not only his club’s most influential player but his countries also.
Haynes had just missed out on the World Cup of 1954 when only a reduced squad had been taken to Switzerland and he remained on official standby in case of injury.
His England debut came in the first game after these finals, a 2-0 win over Northern Ireland in which Haynes opened the scoring. After this Haynes would not be selected again for a year but when he was, again against the Irish, he would make a place his own.
By 1956 Johnny Haynes was a pivotal member of an England team which, particularly with the emergence of Duncan Edwards at Manchester United, held much promise for the next World Cup to be held in Sweden. The 3-1 victory this team achieved against West Germany in Berlin, in which both Edwards and Haynes scored, confirming the capabilities of this side.
Of course this team would not reach Sweden intact and the competition proved another frustration for Haynes who could not inspire a depleted side to success.
Likewise the 1962 competition in Chile proved another anti-climax although there was no disgrace in falling to the eventual winners Brazil 3-1 in the quarter finals.
A serious car accident shortly afterwards ended Haynes’s international career and leaving the highlight of his time with the national side his peerless display against the Scots at Wembley in 1961.
Scoring twice himself and shredding Scotland’s defence at will with his immaculate distribution which allowed Jimmy Greaves and Bobby Smith to run riot, England ran out winners by nine goals to three.
So in terms of medals and honours the career of Johnny Haynes remained, to the end, an unsatisfactory one but in every other way it was wonderfully memorable.
A player of incredible guile, comfortable with both feet though sublime on his left side and a regular goalscorer, Haynes offered magnificent service to his country for a decade and his club for two.
At least this quality and dedication to Fulham did bring Haynes a better financial reward than most of his era.
Haynes chose to sign for Fulham ahead of the capitals bigger, more glamorous clubs as a boy because of his friendship with Tosh Chamberlain and he resisted moves to Italy and Tottenham Hotspur, Bill NIcholson was especially keen to sign him in the early sixties, later on in his career.
The £100 a week salary which his club immediately granted Haynes after the abolition of the maximum wage was a fitting testiment to his influence as a player but also owed a lot to the extrovert nature of the clubs’ chairman, comedian Tommy Trinder.
Having repeatedly told Haynes that he would pay him £100 a week if he could, the player was straight round to see Trinder the day after the law was changed.
Johnny Haynes Career Stats
CLUB GAMES GOALS
Fulham 594 146
England
56 18
Total 650 164