ON THIS final day of the season, Fulham could drop out of the Premier League. Through shortsighted commercial greed, the club recently turned its back on something as precious, perhaps even more so, than the loss of £50m annual television income.

Last Wednesday in a nearby pub that has the same name as the club’s Craven Cottage ground, friends and contemporaries of Johnny Haynes met at the launch of a book commemorating his devotion to this one club. He was more than a player, and the book is more than a nostalgic reflection of a man who, in his style, his loyalty, and his ability to pass the ball, was Fulham.

Yet Fulham’s new retail company, Just Sport Pro Club, had played such hardball with the authors that they wanted 60% of the price to put Johnny Haynes – Maestro on the shelves of the club shop. Even at that, they wanted only 40 copies.

The maestro in the title is significant. It is the word Mohamed al-Fayed, the owner of this once quintessentially English club, used when Haynes died after a car crash in Scotland in 2005. Fayed said that Haynes would be remembered forever as Fulham’s greatest son.

Haynes is recalled by those who played with him as the finest user of a football in English history. He could lose opponents three at a time, yet find a mate in space 30 yards or more away. Bobby Moore, who replaced him as England captain, said: “Once you got used to watching that perfection, you realised the rest of the secret. John was always available, always hungry for the ball, always wanting to play. I loved watching the player, and later I learnt to love the man.”

Another tribute in the book comes from Pele, who said he never saw a better passer of the ball. What a travesty the Fulham shop is passing on the maestro.

Portsmouth v Fulham, 11 May, Setanta Sports 1, 2.30pm, kick-off 3pm