A tribute to Johnny Haynes

It’s hard to believe that two years have passed since the Maestro was taken from us. When I recall the shock of reading the tragic news on a newspaper website, it still invokes in me a pang of deep sorrow. I can remember hoping that the story referred to another “Haynes”, but knowing this was unlikely to be the case.

For me, and thousands of other Fulham fans, it was a real ‘Diana’ moment: Pride in his achievements, mixed with sadness and anger that they weren’t more widely acknowledged. It was an injustice I found hard to swallow. At a time when MBEs and Knighthoods are handed out like confetti, the fact that Haynes was overlooked is nothing short of a national disgrace.

Sadly, our own great club is not immune from criticism here. Talk about erecting a statue outside the Cottage has so far come to nothing - and although there is encourating talk on the main site's messageboard about the issue being discussed with the planning authorities, progress has been painfully slow. And while I am pleased they renamed the Stevenage Road stand in his honour, I still feel it happened years – if not decades - too late. The fact that only fans with match tickets in that area received the commemorative Johnny Haynes T-shirt was also a bit of a PR disaster for the club in my book. Much better to have given every season ticket holder a shirt or even sell them and give the proceeds to a charity nominated by the Haynes family.

Hopefully the shortcomings reference the statue will be rectified so that new fans and old can pay tribute to a man who will be forever linked with the club.

Like many other second and third generation Fulham fans, his death held a particular resonance with me because his was a name that I had grown up hearing about. From an early age I can recall my dad, for whom Haynes had been a football idol, telling me about the accuracy of his passes and his barely-concealed irritation when less gifted team mates failed to live up to expectations.

I also had the pleasure of interviewing the man himself in early 2001 for a newspaper article (click here to read it) I was writing about Fulham’s climb up the divisions. After being given his home telephone number, I cold-called him expecting to be given the brush-off, but he couldn’t have been more gracious and willing to help. That 20 minute chat will remain one of the undoubted highlights of my life.

At that time he was very excited about the prospects for Tigana’s young team, looking forward to our clash that weekend with Manchester United in an FA Cup tie, and confident that we could clinch promotion back to the top division that season. I remember being particularly impressed with his refusal to make comparisons between his generation and the modern day stars, particularly considering the number of ex-players who are only to happy to state how much better it was in their day. “Fulham has always had the reputation of being a special club,” he told me. “In the 1950s and 60s the stars of stage and screen used to go there. When we had dodgy times, they switched to Chelsea. It will be interesting to see what happens if we get into the Premiership. This side is very, very good and I wouldn’t say it’s completely down to money. Tigana has a lot of experience and he has done a fantastic job.” After our chat he kindly offered to sign a book for my dad.

To my immense regret, time moved on and I never got round to sending it through to him. Ironically, only just before his accident, I remembered again and vowed to do so. Sadly, I didn’t act quickly enough, and thinking about my failure to get this done for my dad is enough to bring a lump to my throat as I write these words because I feel that I really let him down.

Of course, being born in the seventies meant that I never had the privilege to see the great man play in the flesh – and in some ways this makes me feel a fraud for writing such a tribute - but he was a hero of the FFC family to which I’m proud to belong so I hope you will indulge me. We miss you Maestro; may you rest in peace.

If you want to read some of the tributes that appeared at the time of Johnny's passing, then please follow the links: The Times, The Independent, The Telegraph and Football Poets.

* Our grateful thanks to Ken Coton for allowing us to use his photographs.