Profile of Johnny Haynes on Famous Like Me

John Norman Haynes (October 17, 1934 - October 18, 2005), better known as Johnny Haynes, was an English footballer who played 658 games and scored 158 goals for Fulham Football Club between 1952 and 1970. An inside forward, Haynes is widely regarded as the greatest footballer ever to play for the London club, particularly noted for his exceptional passing skill and ability to read a game. An accomplished international, he appeared for his country on 56 occasions, including 22 as captain.

Biography

Johnny Haynes was born in the Kentish Town area of London.

After spells at amateur sides Feltham (in the Middlesex League), Wimbledon (Isthmian League) and Woodford Town (Delphian League), he joined Fulham as a professional in May 1952, at the age of 17. Unusually, and despite many offers from other clubs, he remained at Fulham for his entire professional career, until leaving for South Africa in 1970, where he played for Durban City FC.

Johnny Haynes was the first footballer to appear for England in every class of football available in his playing era - school, youth, under 23, `B` and full international level. His debut for the full senior side came on October 2, 1954, scoring a goal in a 2-0 England victory over Northern Ireland at Windsor Park, Belfast. An accomplished career saw him making 55 further appearances for the national side. He became captain of the side in 1960, and a year later led his team to a famous 9-3 victory over Scotland at Wembley Stadium. His final appearance, for England was on June 10, 1962 - a 3-1 defeat by Brazil at Estadio Sausalito in Viña del Mar, Chile. A car crash in the same year caused cruciate ligament damage which prevented him from playing for a year, and is widely regarded to have been the significant cause for the end of his England career.

His 658 appearances for Fulham, 594 in the Football League, remain unsurpassed by any other player. His total of 158 goals remained a club record until surpassed by striker Gordon Davies in 1991.

Haynes had a single spell in football management, taking charge of Fulham for a brief spell in November 1968 after the dismissal of Bobby Robson.

Long after his departure from Fulham, Haynes remained an immensely popular and respected figure at the club whose supporters had dubbed him "The Maestro". Unquestionably far more gifted than his colleagues in a relatively low profile team compared to the best of the day, he is fondly remembered for his tendency to fail to disguise his exasperation with his teammates and their frequent lack of understanding of his intentions and ideas.

On October 17, 2005, at approximately 2:55pm BST (1:55pm GMT), Haynes was driving his car in Edinburgh, Scotland, the city in which he lived, when it was involved in a collision with a light goods vehicle. On October 18, 2005, early afternoon reports on several major news sources, and the Fulham FC official website, suggested that Haynes had died, but these were retracted within an hour, with Haynes' condition subsequently described as "serious". At approximately 9pm BST (8pm GMT), it was confirmed that Haynes had died of his injuries, at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. His third wife, Avril, was also injured in the accident, and was described later in the day as being in "stable" condition.

First £100-per-week Player

Johnny Haynes, as one of the finest players of his era, was of constant interest to other football clubs, which contributed to the pressure which led to the demise of the £20-per-week maximum wage applied to the game until 1961. Shortly after its abolition, Fulham offered Haynes the wage rise that would famously make him the first English footballer to earn £100 per week.

Tributes

On the day of the death of Johnny Haynes, Alan Mullery, another high-profile Fulham and England player, made the following tribute: "He was the only reason I went to Fulham as a young boy of 15 leaving school. He was my hero, the captain of England and Fulham. The word great rolls off the tongue quite easily these days but he really was. He was the best passer of a ball I have ever seen - I don't know anyone who could pass a ball as accurately. Anyone who saw him will know what a great player he was."

The Fulham Supporters Trust stated: "His dedication, skill, professionalism, grace and charm - both in his playing days and in retirement - serve as a poignant reminder to many of today's footballers about what true greatness really means."

George Cohen, a World Cup winner for England in 1966 and a Fulham teammate of Johnny Haynes, stated: "I have a 100 individual memories of the beauty of John's play. One stands out for the sheer perfection of his skill. It was a charity match which, but for that one second, has faded completely from my memory. The ball came to him at speed on a wet, slippery surface but with the slightest of adjustments, one that was almost imperceptible, he played it inside a full-back and into the path of an on-running winger. I looked at our coach Dave Sexton on the bench and he caught my glance and shook his head as if to say 'fantastic'. Haynes could give you goose bumps on a wet night in a match that didn't matter."

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