Monday, January 17, 2011

17 January 1970 - Haynes Makes His Fulham Farewell

On 17 January 1970, Fulham icon Johnny Haynes played his last match for the London club, a 1-1 home draw with Stockport County.

Dubbed "the Maestro," Haynes started his professional career with Fulham in 1952. Before his departure in 1970, he made a club record 658 appearances and scored a then-record haul of 158 goals (later surpassed by Gordon Davies in 1991). Haynes, however, preferred creating goal opportunities to scoring them and was once described by PelĂ© as "the best passer of the ball I've ever seen." He broke yet another record in 1961 when Fulham made him the first player in England to earn a weekly wage of £100.

Fulham were in the Second Division when Haynes joined the club. He helped them earn promotion to the top flight in 1959 on the heels of his 26 league goals, a career best. But after 9 seasons in the First Division, they suffered back-to-back relegations and played Haynes' last season in Division Three.

After leaving Fulham, he spent five seasons in South Africa before retiring. After his death from a brain hemorrhage in 2005, Fulham renamed a stand a Craven Cottage in his honor and also retired his number 10 shirt. Three years later, the club unveiled a statute of Haynes outside the stadium.

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