|
|
|
Interested in soccer trivia? Visit the newest and best soccer trivia website at www.soccertrivia.org.uk
|
Johnny Haynes English inside-forward, who became England's first
£100-a-week footballer in 1961. Fulham's greatest ever player he was noted for
his exceptional passing skill and ability to read a game. Pele described
him as the "best passer of the ball I've ever seen". Johnny Haynes was born in Kentish Town, London, in October 1934. Haynes began his career with Fulham in 1952 and subsequently played a major role in winning the club promotion to the First Division in 1959. He scored 158 goals for the club between 1952 and 1970. Haynes made his debut for England in 1954 scoring in a 2-0 win over Northern Ireland. He replaced Billy Wright as the captain of the national side in 1960 and a year later led England to the Home International trophy, after a 9-3 drubbing of Scotland at Wembley. In his 56 England appearances he scored 18 goals although a serious knee injury sustained in a car crash two years later brought his international career to a premature end. Loyal to Fulham, he resisted lucrative offers to move to Italy or to Tottenham Hotspur among other clubs and was rewarded with an annual salary of £5,200 at Fulham - to the outrage of many critics who objected to footballer's earning such unheard of sums. His decision to stay with Fulham meant that he never
won any of the top honours in the game. He finally left Fulham in 1970 and
joined South African club Durban City. Haynes died in October 2005 at the age of 71, following a car crash. Alan Mullery, another former Fulham and England great, added: "He was the only reason I went to Fulham as a young boy of 15 leaving school. He was my hero, the captain of England and Fulham. "The word great rolls off the tongue quite easily these days but he really was. He was the best passer of a ball I have ever seen - I don't know anyone who could pass a ball as accurately. |
