Johnny Haynes - A place in History

[LBNo11]

From The Offal:-


A Place In History
Thursday 26th May 2011

Last week we looked back at the history of Craven Cottage up to the end of the 1930's when attendances were at an all time high. We managed to find some historical images of the Johnny Haynes Stand as it is now known, and the iconic Cottage which has now stood for over 100 years.









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This week will we continue our journey through time and focus on The Johnny Haynes era, up until his Fulham career ended in 1970. Haynes' club career record of 158 goals in 658 games still stands and The Maestro is quite simply know as Fulham's greatest ever player.



"He was without doubt one of the greatest players this country has ever produced. He ranks alongside Wright, Matthews, Charlton, Finney, Lofthouse and Moore, great club men and international players. He loved the game and was a sensational player." Bobby Robson

"He's the best passer of the ball I've ever seen. It was as if he possessed his own internal guided missile system." Pele

"Any suggestion that he lives anywhere other than the Pantheon is an insult to anyone who saw him play." Michael Parkinson

"Forget David Beckham or Glenn Hoddle. Johnny Haynes was the best passer of the ball the game has ever seen." Jimmy Greaves 

A Place in History – Part 2
We pick up A Place in History in 1948. The team photo below shows the newly crowned champions of Division Two. A great run of form towards the end of the season saw Fulham draw one and win six out of their last seven games on their way to beat West Bromwich Albion to the title by a single point.

Interestingly, with goalkeeper Doug Flack injured for the final three games of the season, and reserve stopper Ted Hinton injured, Larry Gage stepped in to deputise and performed brilliantly in two wins and one draw. These three games were his only appearances for Fulham.



Fulham team photographed with their Second Division Championship trophy. (Back row, l-r) Eddie Perry (team manager) Harry Freeman, Len Quested, Doug Flack, Jim Taylor, Joe Bacuzzi, Pat Beasley, Frank Penn (trainer). (Front row, l-r) Ron Lewin, Arthur Stevens, Robert Thomas, Arthur Rowley, Sidney Thomas, John McDonald, Dave Bewley

On December 27th, 1952, the famous Johnny Haynes made his Fulham debut in a 1-1 draw, his first goal came at home against West Ham United in a 3-2 defeat. The rest, as they say is history. The next season Haynes, still only 18 years of age, scored 18 goals in all competitions. Pictured below is Johnny Haynes in 1950, aged 15 and stood in front of the stand which now carries his name.



Here is a selection of images of The Maestro playing at Craven Cottage in the 1950's and early 1960's, starting with a shot from 1955 in a match against Hull City.   



In the next shot Haynes, playing inside-left (white shirt), leaps above his marker against Yeovil Town to head the ball against the cross bar during the Third Round FA Cup tie at the Cottage in January 1958.



Another famous name from the 50s, Sir Bobby Robson, was playing for Fulham, signing in October 1950 from a team in County Durham called Langley Park. Robson had offers from both Sunderland and Newcastle United but opted for a move to London instead.

Alongside Johnny Haynes and Beddy Jezzard, the trio formed a great partnership up front, with Robson scoring 19 goals in 1952/53 and 23 goals in 1954/55. He left for West Bromwich Albion in 1956 for a fee of £25,000.

Sir Bobby returned to Craven Cottage for another five seasons before he ended his playing career in 1967 and remodelled his style to be a more defensive player. Sir Bobby is pictured below heading towards goal against Hull City in front of the historic Johnny Haynes Stand gable in November 1953.

Fulham won the game 5-1 with Robson and Haynes scoring two each and Jezzard netted the other. The three scorers that day scored 68 of Fulham's 98 league goals.



Bedford Jezzard scored a total of 154 goals in just 306 games for Fulham. He joined from Watford in July 1948 and made 30 appearances in the 1948/49 promotion season.

He scored 27 goals in the top flight for Fulham over three seasons but really thrived after Fulham's relegation to Division Two at the end of 1951/52. In two seasons between 1952 and 1954 he found the net an astonishing 74 times in just 84 appearances, his 39 goals in the 1953/54 season remains Fulham's best post 1945 total in one season.

He also played twice for England in the 1955 season. Bedford, nicknames 'Beddy' is pictured below trying to reach a cross in an FA Cup Third Round replay against Charlton in January1950.



Another famous name playing for Fulham during the 1950's was Jimmy Hill.  His professional playing days began at Brentford in 1949 despite a brief spell at Fulham juniors in 1943. He signed for Fulham in 1952 as a half back and moved further forward to fill the void left when Sir Bobby Robson signed for West Bromwich Albion in 1954.

He totalled 52 goals in 297 appearances for Fulham in ten seasons before being forced into retirement in 1961. He is pictured below beating Doncaster Rovers goalkeeper to the ball in 1956.





Keep an eye out for A Place in History Part Three next week, which will look towards the 1970's.
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Read more: http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2011/May/APlaceInHistoryPartTwo.aspx#ixzz1NS5bzXlV

[finnster01]

Great photos.  :clap_hands:

[epsomraver]

Very good feature Ed.

[LBNo11]

...happy to see a couple of photos I hadn't seen before in there - especially the one showing Johnny aged 15 in front of the stand that would be named after him - I wonder what he would have thought of that had he had foresight.

Next week - the seventies, now that should bring back a few memories...

[The Equalizer]

Great stuff Ed, I really enjoyed that.

[Porkopolis]

Thank you, that was very good stuff.

[CorkedHat]

Great Stuff - and to think I was at most of those occasions. 092.gif

[Peabody]

Wonderful stuff. As I have said before, Robson, Jezzard and Haynes, not forgetting Arthur Stevens and Charlie Mitten/Tosh Chamberlain on the wings, what a forward line we had. Goals, goals and more goals, only let down because we conceded goals as well.