BEFORE the kick-off, and before the crowd stood in absolute silence for a minute in tribute to Johnny Haynes, who died last week aged 71, floral tributes spelling out his name were carried on to the field and left on the edge of the centre circle by “Tosh” Chamberlain, his friend and partner in so many Fulham games, and two representatives of the supporters’ club.

David Hamilton, the disc jockey who was once the announcer at Craven Cottage, and who was among the numerous showbusiness people who would congregate before matches in the long corridor beneath the old stand, gave yesterday’s address. To tremendous applause, he called Haynes “the greatest player in the history of Fulham football club” with “a left foot which was so sharp he could open tin cans . . . Johnny Haynes will never be forgotten. A fitting memorial to his memory will follow. The fans will have the opportunity to choose.”

“The Maestro; our hero; simply unique,” read the manifold tributes on the main gates among a mass of bouquets and photographs. One tribute emphasised the fact that though Johnny Haynes lived in Edmonton, so close to Tottenham Hotspur, it was with Fulham that he spent the whole of his 17-year career in the English league. (It might be added that as a boy he plastered the walls of his room with photographs of Arsenal players.) For Haynes was the prodigy who emphatically trained on. The whole football world knew about him when, as a tiny 15-year-old in the spring of 1950, he enraptured not only the crowd at Wembley watching England schoolboys play their Scottish equivalents, but the television viewers who were shown the game. Haynes then was a tiny figure whose assured technique and flair belied his physical appearance. Who knows why, among all the clubs that wanted him he should choose Fulham, picturesquely situated but never a power, rather than one of the giants of the English game.

Looking back on one’s match reports, one finds rich testament to his abilities. Perhaps in emulation or competition, rival playmakers sometimes surpassed themselves at Craven Cottage. Thus, in October 1959, one saw him inspire Fulham, returning to the team after a long absence, to a 4-3 win over Newcastle, for whom George Eastham was the outstanding inside-forward on the field. Yet one celebrated “a magnificent goal from Haynes . . . Chamberlain beat two men competently and gave Haynes the ball. The inside-left turned it at an angle which seemed far

too narrow and drove a magnificent right-footed shot into the far corner of the goal along the ground”. A month later, Jimmy McIlroy was unquestionably the star of the show for Burnley, “giving a performance of complete technical mastery”. Afterwards, in Burnley’s dressing room, he remarked that Haynes seemed the sort of player who even as a boy wasn’t keen on beating opponents. Yet in Fulham’s training, Haynes reportedly did dazzling things and in that game, when he lobbed down the middle, Jimmy Hill neatly headed in.

Haynes and “Tosh” Chamberlain were chalk and cheese — impatient perfectionist and left-wing erratic. One afternoon, when Chamberlain bashed a perfect pass from Haynes over the bar, Haynes showed his displeasure. (“Much hands-on-hipping,” once wrote the journalist Bob Ferrier.) “Ain’t he a ******* bighead?” cried Chamberlain. Mervyn Griffiths, the Welsh referee, ran up to him. “What did you say?” “Don’t be a ****, referee,” responded “Tosh”. “He’s on our side!” That December, there was a game against Spurs in which Haynes and Hill “rampantly” overplayed Tottenham’s Tommy Harmer and John White. Hill was endlessly smart and energetic.

“Haynes, in a moment of sheer instant clairvoyance, split the defence with a beautiful through-ball from his own half and Hill cantered on to score.”

In February 1961, the famous Haynes met the incomparable Stanley Matthews, still playing for Blackpool at the age of 46. One saluted “the cunning of Haynes, the transcendent artistry of Matthews”. Fulham won 4-3.

And in October 1961, Haynes dominated West Ham’s Phil Woosnam, “with his absolute poise, his crisp facility of execution, his cross-passes and reverse passes, pulling the Fulham team above its natural level”.

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