Reg Lambourne, a scheming inside-forward, joined from Hornchurch & Upminster in February 1961 at the age of 27. He was signed to replace Johnny Willis, who had walked out on the club and played for Harrow under a false name. Living in Ilford, where he was an estate agent, he had previously played for Romford and was an Essex county player and Middlesex Wanderer, who had also represented the Athenian League. But his time at Hayes was not blessed with good fortune: for, after making his debut at Hornchurch in a 0-0 draw, he broke two small bones in a foot at Sutton in his fifth game and never played again for Hayes.  He appears to have gone back to Hornchurch and was manager there in September 1966.

Our next entry was a goalkeeper, who had the misfortune to break a wrist on no fewer than three occasions.  Cliff Langley, who worked as a hand engraver on periodicals, began with Watford and was selected for an England Youth trial, when he suffered a broken wrist for the first time. He then moved to Harrow, where he suffered the same injury, and then to Romford, where the same thing happened. After 24 months out of football with his wrist in plaster, he started playing at centre-half in junior football in Hertfordshire. Dave Bassett, who ran a Sunday side at Watford, persuaded him to don the goalkeeper’s jersey and brought him to Hayes towards the end of the 1968-9 season at the age of 25. But he could not settle and went to Wealdstone, before returning in October 1969 and making his debut against Hillingdon Borough in a Premier Floodlight League match, where he performed heroics in a 0-0 draw. But after only a month he broke a finger, which caused him to miss three months’ matches. But he regained his place in March 1970 and was first choice until November 1970, when he gave way to John Overton and joined Southall.  All told, he made 44 appearances for Hayes.

Peter Lavers was a meat porter at Smithfield market, who made one of the most spectacular debuts, when he scored all four goals, while on loan from Harrow, against Chesham United in the West Middlesex Hospital Cup. His goalscoring should not have come as a surprise, however, as he had hit 80 goals in two seasons at Harrow.  But what did come as a surprise was when he decided to join Chesham, when Hayes had been lining him up. But he played only six games for them before signing for Hayes. He had a successful season with Hayes, scoring 23 goals in 52 appearances; he boasted of never having missed a penalty, but he chose a crucial Amateur Cup quarter-final against Leatherhead to miss his first and Hayes went out to the only .goal of the game. At the end of the season he surprisingly joined Wembley, together with Phil Stanton and Bill Smith. Thereafter he played for Slough Town, Southall and Leatherhead, where he participated in the Glovers’ run to the 4th round of the FA Cup, before returning to Hayes in January 1976.  By then he had scored over 400 goals, but at Hayes the goals dried up and a further 40+5 appearances yielded only eleven and he was transferred to Dulwich Hamlet just before Christmas 1976 in order to make way for a certain Cyrille Regis.

Fred Lawson was a rugged right-back, who played for Wycombe Wanderers in the Amateur Cup final of 1957 against Bishop Auckland, the conquerors of Hayes in the semi-final at Newcastle.  He worked locally for Fairey Aviation and lived in Hillingdon and joined Hayes at the age of 27 in December 1959 from Finchley. He was a clever ball-player, who used his head to save his legs and was a difficult defender to get the better of. While with Hayes he was selected for the Athenian League against champions Hounslow Town in August 1960, but he hankered for a higher level of football and joined Kingstonian in January 1961, after playing 41 times for Hayes.

It is typical of a small club that players from the same family will play for it across generations. George Leather was an earlier full-back, playing mainly on the left, but also at inside-left and outside-right on occasion. He was another product of the Hayes Council School, for whom he played against Twickenham School in April 1911 in the final of the Daily Telegraph Cup for Middlesex schools, together with the likes of Jack Brooks, Ernie Deamer, Jack Springle and Reg Knight. He played for Botwell Mission reserves in the Hanwell & District League in 1913-14 and made his debut for the first team in the abortive 1914-15 season.  After the Great War he made sporadic appearances for the Mission, with a fairly full 1921-2 season, but reverted to playing for his employers, the Savoy Hotel, together with Brooks, AJ Lethbridge, and the Ramsay brothers, in 1923-4 and 1924-5, when their team reached the semi-final of the Middlesex Senior Cup, before bowing out to Southall.  The following season George played only eleven matches for the Mission, but scored two goals – his only strikes for the club. One of them must have been spectacular: ten years later, in 1936, the Sports Editor of the Hayes Chronicle recalled the goal which George scored against Southall in the Middlesex Senior Cup, which involved him running the entire length of the pitch without a Southall player touching the ball, before depositing it in the net. Next season, George played only once, but 1927-8 saw him play his fullest season, before he retired at the end of 1928-9.  In recognition of his 15 years of elapsed service, in which he made at least 123 appearances, he was awarded an inscribed watch at the AGM, held at Brotherhood Hall. But he appears to have died before reaching his 40th birthday, as the reminiscence of the Hayes Chronicle Sports Editor refers to him as ‘the late’.

If George was a long-serving member of the club, then his great-nephew, Reg Leather, puts him into the shadows.  Born at Hayes in November 1953, Reg went to Townfield School and came up through the Hayes Scouts team, which won the London Union Youth Clubs Under 14 Cup in May 1967 and then joined Yeading.  A defensive half-back, he first signed for Hayes in December 1975 as replacement for the departing Bobby Hatt and made his debut at Dulwich just before Christmas. This was the first of three spells for the club, during which he made, reputedly, 701 appearances in all games – my own researches show that he made 637+16 appearances, scoring 56 goals in competitive matches. During his first spell, he had trials with QPR in 1977-8, but he was placed on the transfer list in October 1978 after rowing with then manager Martin Hackett – throughout his career he was not afraid to stand up for what he believed in. He was transferred to neighbouring Hillingdon Borough for a paltry £1,500. But that was not the end of the story. When Roy Ruffell replaced Hackett, he bid £2,000 for Leather in August 1980, but Hillingdon sold him to Woking for that fee plus a player, valued at another £2,000. But he never really fitted in at Woking and, after a loan spell at Oxford City under Bobby Moore, he came to Hayes on loan in August 1981 as a replacement for Gary Smith and signed a month later for £1,500. But he stayed for only just over a year, before he was released by Ruffell in October 1982, together with Steve Wilkins and Rod Findlay. Again there was suspicion of an altercation. He joined Leatherhead under former Hayes stalwart Brian Caterer, under whom he had played at Woking. Next season he played for Southall, before returning to Hayes for his third and final (and longest) spell in August 1984, under George Goode. During this time he became undisputed captain and enjoyed some remarkable successes, including FA Cup wins against Cardiff City, on his 37th birthday, and Fulham (pictured below). He was voted Player of the Year in 1987-8, and became assistant manager to Clive Griffiths in August 1992. But he accepted this post on the understanding that he would continue to play, although Andy Dear was recruited to replace him. When Griffiths indicated that he wanted Reg to concentrate on his assistant managership, Reg stuck to his principles and resigned. He joined Leatherhead again, briefly, and then Wokingham (November 1992), Egham Town, Brook House (August 1994) and Ruislip Manor (January 1995). Finally he became player-coach at Brook House in 1999, although well into his forties. We can only speculate how many appearances Reg would have made had he not fallen out with management and left twice – almost certainly over a thousand. The regard in which he was held is indicated by Derek Goodall, who was of the opinion that he “would play for the shirt”. He has already been the subject of four pen portraits in the Hayes programme, in 1976, 1981, 1991 and 2002, and I cannot think of any greater epitaph than the words of Tennyson:

Men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever,
 And ever. Amen.