Johnny Haynes

Gardner James

Description

Johnny Haynes: Portrait of a Football Genius is the biography of one of England's greatest ever footballers - a player described by Pele as "the greatest passer of a ball I have ever seen." He was capped 56 times, 22 as captain, including the 9-3 hammering of the Scots at Wembley in 1961. He succeeded Denis Compton as the 'Brylcreem Boy'. When he became the first GBP100-a-week player it cemented his celebrity superstar status as the David Beckham of his day. Haynes only ever played for one professional club and finished his playing career in South Africa. He retired into relative obscurity and lived the last 20 years of his life in Edinburgh before tragically dying in a car accident in 2005. In his obituary, James Lawton wrote, "Haynes was still the beginning and end of how football should be played. He had the wit to change the way the game was understood and played in this country." His fascinating life story is told through his family, ex-team-mates, famous journalists and celebrities as well as his fans.

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 01 août 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785313479
• Langue: English

Extrait

Previous books by the author:
A History of the Brighton Workhouses
Sweet Bells Jangled Out of Tune; A History of the Sussex Lunatic Asylum
The Balcombe Tunnel Murder (Kindle only)
The First British Railway Murder (also in Kindle)
The Trail of the Serpent: The true story of a notorious Victorian Murder

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2017 Pitch Publishing A2 Yeoman Gate Yeoman Way Durrington BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
James Gardner, 2017
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A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 978-1-78531-304-2 eBook ISBN 978-1-78531-347-9
--- Ebook Conversion by www.eBookPartnership.com
Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Preface
Introduction
Chapter One: The Early Years
Chapter Two: Turning Pro
Chapter Three: Stardom
Chapter Four: International Recall
Chapter Five: A Rage for Perfection
Chapter Six: Sweden 1958
Chapter Seven: Redemption
Chapter Eight: Captain of England and the Maximum Wage
Chapter Nine: Chile 1962
Chapter Ten: Blackpool
Chapter Eleven: The Swinging Sixties
Chapter Twelve: Struggle and Decline 1963-70
Chapter Thirteen: South Africa
Chapter Fourteen: Edinburgh and Avril
Chapter Fifteen: Obscurity
Chapter Sixteen: 2004-05
Epilogue
Postscript
Appendix
Bibliography
Photographs
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the following people who kindly agreed to meet and be interviewed:
Jane Benfield, Fred Callaghan, Trevor and Margaret Chamberlain, George Cohen, Ken Craggs, Briony Hill, Sar Cassidy-Hill (niece), Andy Fyall, Bob Howes, Ken Jones, Jan Keetch, Hugh McIlvanney, John Mackay, Hamish More, Alan Mullery, David Pearce, Graham Preston, David Roodyn, Micky Stewart, Ron Sutherland and Melvin Tenner.
And also for phone interviews: Jimmy Armfield, Les Barrett, Mark Cassidy (stepson), Bobby Chalmers, John Fraser, Johnny Giles, Hamish Henderson, Cliff Jones, Marjorie Haynes, Kenny Lynch, Rodney Marsh, Dave Metchick, Ivan Ponting, Christine Tappin, Jimmy Tarbuck, Donald Trelford and Heather Wilson.
Thanks also to Peter Holme of the National Football Museum, Paul Warburton of the West London Gazette , David Lloyd (of TOOFIF) and Carmel Mifsud (Fulham FC). And to: Valerie Crosby of Haringey Museum s service and the staff at Bruce Castle Museum; Andrew Granath, the archivist at the Latymer School, Edmonton; Emma Halstead, the administrator of Latymer Old School s Association for her assistance in organising a meeting with Johnny s ex-schoolmates: Norman Hawkes, Ken Mitchell and Margaret Wood.
For Johnny s time in South Africa I owe thanks to Howard Buttery, Warren Green (nephew), Marjorie Haynes (ex-wife), Ross Paton (nephew) and to South African sports journalist Mike Tarr for his valuable research. Also to Brian Belton for allowing me to quote extensively from his excellent book Burn Budgie Byrne .
Additional valuable contributions: David Beavis, Phil Bennett, Len Bentley, Neville Boxer, Mike Chantry, Valerie Cotgrove, Peter Grosch, David Hamilton, Mike Hutchins, Stephen Jarrott, Phil Jesshope, Alan Lunn, Chris Mason, Claudette Micklem, Bill Percy, Morgan Philipps, Tony Rogers, Alan Skipp, Derek Sweetsur, Eric Wilton, Phillip Woodham and Nick Woodward. Also, many thanks to the supporter who sent me a copy of Johnny s 100-a-week contract. Apologies for not remembering your name. And to renowned Fulham photographer, Ken Coton, for the use of his photos.
At Pitch Publishing a big thank you to Paul and Jane for their support, Graham Hales, Derek Hammond, Margaret Murray, Duncan Olner, Dean Rockett and to Mark Turley for his excellent editing skills.
Special thanks to Avril Haynes for her support in this project and for lending me valuable material. Also many thanks to Sir Michael Parkinson for his interview and splendid foreword and also to his PA Teresa Rudge. And to David Crowe, Mike Liardet, Don Pynches and Amber Qatramiz for comments on the manuscript. Finally my brother, Steve Gardner, who accompanied me on many of the interviews, read the manuscript more times than he cares to remember, and for his constant encouragement. Without him there would have been no book.
James Gardner, April 2017
NOTE
Once there was a small boy, born in north London in the 1930s, who grew up to be captain of the England football team. For a period, he was the most famous sportsman in the land. His international career covered the last days of Stanley Matthews and the first days of Bobby Moore. He played for only one professional team and when he retired, he disappeared into obscurity. In his later years he occasionally surfaced in newspaper interviews conducted by some of the country s finest sports journalists. They did not forget him. Neither did his fans.
Much has been written about Johnny Haynes, the fabulous footballer, but this book also has another purpose. Through those who knew him well, it seeks to know the man and to show the impact of his achievements.
Johnny Haynes was English football s first true icon.
Foreword
M ANY years ago, I was asked to write a series of articles about my favourite footballers. The brief was not those I thought the best but those who gave me most pleasure and defined my love of the game. George Best was on the list, John Charles, Tom Finney, Johnny Haynes and one or two folk heroes of my youth like Skinner Normanton and Syd Bycroft who played for Barnsley and Rotherham, whose job it was to remind opponents that football was not a game for the faint-hearted. Of all that list of favourites Johnny Haynes is the one who has been the least recognised, the man rarely spoken of, the least appreciated of them all. And yet I can close my eyes and see him in the white shirt of Fulham and England persuading, cajoling and, more often than not, bollocking his team-mates into a performance they didn t know they had in them.
He was the master of dictating play, the rhythms, the surges, the cavalry charges, the pulse of his team. He possessed a stern and critical personality. Like all great players, he made the mistake of believing that the game was easy, that is as easy as he found it. He was unhappy with footballers who were denied his great gifts, falling short of his expectations. His relationship with Tosh Chamberlain created one of the great comedy duos of a game which nowadays often forgets it helps to have a sense of humour. Chamberlain s great strength was the ability to take abuse without flinching and a belief that football was a simple game best played by simple-minded people. He was aided and abetted in this theory by the precise and wondrous passing of Haynes, maybe the best distributor of the ball I ever saw. Too often when Haynes created a space for Chamberlain to head for goal, Tosh would do something silly like fall over his own feet or miss the ball altogether or create a danger to shipping by blasting the ball into the River Thames at Craven Cottage. Once on the halfway line he decided to pass back to the keeper Tony Macedo who had to produce one of the best saves of his career by tipping over the bar a wonderful strike towards the top corner. This brought Tosh a bollocking of such ferocity from his captain and team-mate that you would be afeared for his wellbeing. As it was he and Haynes were the best of friends, all part of the rich tapestry of talents and attitudes that in those days made up a football team.
Johnny was serious about his gift but sadly never given the recognition he truly deserved. He was an impresario of the game and at times controlled Fulham and England like a master technician, while on other occasions looking on in wonderment as players like Tosh Chamberlain demonstrated the adage that humour is the difference between man s ambition and his actual achievement. The great thing about Johnny Haynes was the way he treated his eminence and the fame it brought. He didn t change from playing the part he defined for himself which was that, for all his gifts and talents, he was never arrogant or boastful. All he sought was the respect of his audience and his fellow pros. That is what he achieved, quietly and undemonstratively, assured of his place as a formidable talent who would never talk about it. But if you ever saw him play - you d know.
Michael Parkinson April 2017
DEDICATION
To my brother Steve Gardner for inspiring this book.
Preface
I HAVE been a Fulham fan since I was seven. I am now 63. I blame my grandfather, George Sainsbury, who would constantly talk about one player - Johnny Haynes. George himself was no mean player and had declined an offer to play for the club in the 1920s as the wages were so poor.
He took me to my first league game at the beginning of the 1962 season. From a small boy s perspective, the purposeful walk to the ground in a converging sea of people, with the echoing yells of rosette and newspaper sellers, seemed to go on forever. Although my grandmother asked him to get me a seat near him in the stands, instead he put me in the standing enclosure (which was cheaper) and told me to meet him outside afterwards. The crowd was over 27,000 and there was much excitement at the return of Bobby Robson who had left for West Bromwich Albion six years earlier. I remember the great roar when the teams emerged on to the pitch. At half-time a uniformed brass band provided entertainment.
Thanks to two goals from Scottish international Graham Leggat, Fulham beat a ver