Like Ted Culver, Fred Dakin was a military goalkeeper, only he was in the Life Guards, when he came to play for Hayes just before Christmas 1960. He was a north-easterner and had previously played for Willington in the Northern League, and was loaned to Hayes while serving at Windsor. He made 17 appearances for Hayes in 1960-1 and also went on the Whitsun tour of Switzerland. He suffered a compound break of a finger while fielding a shot from Johnny Grondona in training at the start of 1961-2 and spent two days in Hillingdon Hospital. When he was fit again, Hayes had resolved their goalkeeping problem with the return of Joe Lewis, so Fred was allowed to join Aldershot, then in the Football League, and played for Redhill from October 1961. In January 1962 he was posted to West Germany until he was demobbed in the summer of 1962. At the end of the 1962-3 season he played for Finchley against Hayes.

Problems surround the identity of AE ‘Ted’ Davies, who was reported as returning to play for Hayes during the war-time 1939-40 season, having previously played for Hayes reserves and Southall. An ‘AE’ Davies certainly played at centre-forward and outside-right for Hayes 1st team, as well as the reserves, in 1933-4, while ‘DL’ played at wing-half, and once at outside-right, in 1934-5. An ‘EL’ Davies made two appearances at outside-right and centre-forward in 1935-6. It is possible that the appearance attributed to ‘DL’ at outside-right in 1934-5, and the two appearances attributed to ‘EL’ in 1935-6 should be attributed to ‘AE’. If we ignore this possibility, then Ted Davies made a total of 11 appearances, scoring 15 goals, including participation in the Middlesex Senior Cup-winning team in 1940.

No problems surround Barry Davies. He joined from Slough in January 1976, at the age of 29. He was a ball-winning midfield player, who started with Southall as a 16-year-old in the Athenian League, then went to Leatherhead for 6 seasons, before playing for Hendon, Wycombe and Slough. He lived in Hillingdon and worked as a telephone engineer. The highlights of his career were a semi-final for Leatherhead in the Amateur Cup at Bolton Wanderers’ ground, and three Welsh amateur international caps, where he played alongside Hayes team-mate Geoff Anthony. He made 57+1 appearances for Hayes, and scored 6 goals.  He left for Hounslow Town in January 1977, and was back at Leatherhead in 1980.

A late recruit prior to the start of the 2004/05 season was South African Kevin Davies. The former Aylesbury United and Sutton keeper fitted in well in the Missioners set up proving his quality time and time again over the three seasons he kept goal. With Hayes he made 138+1 appearances although his time at Church Road was to continue as he signed contract with the newly merged Hayes & Yeading United.

Barry’s brother, Roy Davies, joined from Torquay United in August 1981. He had started with Slough, turned professional with Reading, and was then transferred to Torquay. Wherever he played, he was the joker of the team. He stayed at Church Road until January 1982, when he joined Wealdstone, but returned to play most of the 1983-4 season. He made a total of 61+1 appearances and scored nine goals.

Colin Davison was a goalkeper who joined when Peter Rhodes resigned in 1963-64 and played against Exeter City in the FA Cup. He broke a leg at Finchley in March 1965 and then moved to Harrow Town in the summer of 1966 and to Uxbridge in 1970. Made 24 appearances.

Colin Day, known as ‘Daisy’, joined from local football at the age of 21 and worked at Thorn-EMI as an Assistant Production Controller. He made 90+13 appearances between 1990 and 1992, and scored 11 goals, including the first in the FA Cup victory against Fulham at Craven Cottage in 1991.

The epithet 'enigmatic' is the only one I can attribute to Gordon Day, because he always seemed to have an immediate effect when promoted from the reserves, and yet he was never a regular first-choice. Over a period of five seasons between 1956 and 1961 he made only 43 appearances, and scored 14 goals. He lived in the East End and scored twice on his début at Carshalton at the age of 18. At this time he was in the Army, so his appearances were restricted. He left Hayes in January 1960 and played for Kingstonian, but rejoined in October and once again scored goals when they were needed.

One of the most prolific families in the early days of the Botwell Mission was the Deamers with five brothers. In age sequence they were William (born 1891/2), Richard (1894), Charlie (1896), Harold (1897/8) and Ernest (ca. 1908).

William Deamer was a half-back who played for Botwell Mission from 1910 to 1913. He played at least 11 games, but the records are so sparse at this period that it could have been many more. In the Spartan League he often was the Mission’s linesman, when both clubs provided one official. Later he served as assistant trainer for many years, and was often photographed alongside trainer Charlie Cass. In September 1940 he was killed at the age of 48, together with his wife Mabel, in an air-raid, when a bomb fell on the playground of the school where they were both caretakers.

Richard Deamer, two years younger than William, played for the Mission over the same period, making at least nine appearances, and scoring at least two goals. Both William and Richard were in the Mission team which contested its first cup final, against Willesden St Martin’s in the Middlesex Minor Cup in 1911.

Charlie Deamer, while he was a member of the same Clayton Road (Hayes Council) School team of 1908 with, among others, Sonny Long, Reg and Percy Knight, and Alf Sceeny, is not known to have played for the Mission for sure – but it seems a fair bet that he did. A Deamer is pictured in the Hayes Athletic line-up of 1909 and, by a process of elimination, was probably Charlie. Like William, he was also a victim of enemy action, when he was killed in February 1944, when one of the last German bombers over London, apparently dumping its bombs in order to escape, hit Longmead Road and, incidentally, Wakefield Hall, killing him and his brother-in-law, Harry Timms, who were carrying out fire-watch duty.

From a Botwell Mission standpoint, Harry Deamer was the most significant brother. A member of the Clayton Road School team which won the Daily Telegraph Trophy for Middlesex schools in 1911, he first played for the Mission in the abortive 1914-15 season. When peace returned and the Mission entered senior football, Harry became an almost ever-present, firstly at inside-forward and then at outside-left. He was reported by a Newbury newspaper of 1920 as having played for Brentford, presumably the reserves. A pen picture in one of the early Botwell Mission programmes of 1920 calls him “Speedy Deamer”, with a heart like a lion, and “just as likely to send a six-footer down with a fair shoulder charge as he is to trick a man with that delightful footwork and ball-control that only comes from a perfect football brain”. He made at least 71 appearances, scoring 33 goals, but from 1921 to 1927 made only 5 appearances, scoring once. In the 1946 Electoral Roll he was recorded as living at 12 Drenon Square.

The youngest, Ernie Deamer, also went to the Clayton Road School and was a member of the 1921-2 team (pictured aside, standing second left).  He made his début against Egham in 1928, but played mainly for the reserves, totalling only five appearances over five seasons. He played at half-back or inside-forward. He later

We move forward 60 years for Andy Dear, a centre-back, who joined in August 1992 at the age of 26 from Kingstonian, with whom he had been for over three years and made over 150 appearances. Previously he had played for Wimbledon youth, Epsom & Ewell, Leatherhead and Walton & Hersham. At Hayes, his only north-of-the-Thames club, he became club captain and made a further 90+1 appearances, scoring
4 goals, before joining Dorking in 1994.