Brian Wells was discovered playing in Sunday football at Shepherds Bush and was introduced to the club by fellow goalkeeper John Pratt towards the end of the 1964-5 season. He was understudy to Pratt during all of his Hayes career and spent most of the second half of 1965-6 in Aden, working as a plasterer on a sheikh’s palace. After making 20 appearances, he joined Maidenhead United in the summer of 1966. In 1968 he joined Uxbridge and played for the Reds against Hayes in both Athenian League Cup matches in 1969-70. He was still at Uxbridge in May 1971, when he played in that club’s centenary match against an FA XI.

When Mortimer Miller set about building a team for Hayes’ inaugural season in the Athenian League in 1930-1, one of his earliest recruits was Tommy Welsh, a forward from London Caledonians. But he did not make his début until the end of November. This may have been due to business commitments; for on one occasion it was remarked that business took him to Malaya, where he gained considerable football experience. But when he did play, he did so with considerable success. A hat-trick against Cheshunt in the league, and four goals against GWR in the Middlesex Senior Cup were impressive, but his goals against Wimbledon and Northern Nomads in the 3^rd and 4^th rounds of the Amateur Cup were more valuable. In 1931-2 he made only one more appearance, bringing his total to 19, with 12 goals scored.

RV ‘Reg’ Wenham came to Botwell Mission from Crystal Palace in 1919, at the start of the club’s career in senior amateur football. His first games were at centre-half, but he was then switched to inside-right and centre-forward, before reverting to his preferred position for the last game of the season. During this time he made 10 appearances and scored four goals. He then joined Southall, the senior club in West Middlesex, in the close season and remained there well into the 1920s. He was centre-half in the Southall team which reached the final of the Amateur Cup at Millwall in 1925, but was beaten by holders Clapton. The team photo shows him as a dapper, moustachioed man. Some authorities record his name as ‘Harvey-Wenham’, while others inexplicably list Southall as having 12 players, with half-backs ‘Harvey’ and ‘Wenham’. The reason for this discrepancy was explained by Southall President Bob Fowler in 1980. Apparently, when he was asked his name by a journalist before the match, he said it was ‘RV Wenham’. The journalist misunderstood this as ‘Harvey Wenham’ and, assuming that this was his surname, added the hyphen. In fact his full name was ‘Reginald Victor Wenham’. Reg came to a nasty end in August 1937; he was electrocuted at Willesden Power Station, when he came into contact with live wires.

The club has had four players with the surname ‘West’. The first of these was right at the beginning of Botwell Mission, when H West (we don’t know what ‘H’ stood for) made several appearances at inside-left, outside-right and even left-back in 1910-11. He seems to have played only during the first half of the season and did not participate in the run to the final of the Middlesex Minor Cup. We even have a picture of him in the earliest known Botwell Mission photograph.

The better known Jack West was an outside-left, who joined Botwell Mission at the start of the 1912-13 season. We do not know if he was related to H West. Known as the ‘Botwell Flyer’, He became club and was selected for the Middlesex Junior team in January 1914. In the same month he signed on for Uxbridge reserves, and he was selected for the Uxbridge & District Junior League team against the Dauntless League in April 1914. Jack made the last of his  appearances for Botwell Mission in November 1914 in the abortive Hounslow & District League. During World War I he was excused military service because of an arm injury sustained on the football field. He returned to the Mission in 1919, but, when selected for the Great Western Suburban League match against Uxbridge reserves, failed to turn up and his team was obliged to play an entire game with only 10 players, the only time that the club has done this. He was obviously torn between the Mission and Uxbridge and, after making two more appearances for Botwell, joined Uxbridge for good in January 1920 and went straight into their first team against Hampstead Town, although he was also listed for Botwell Mission against Uxbridge reserves again. He made one more appearance for Botwell Mission as a guest in their midweek friendly against the Home Office in September 1920.

The next two players of the name both played in the 1960s and often lined up in the same team, causing untold confusion. The first to arrive was Bobby West, who joined from Redhill in October 1961, having previously played for Wimbledon, Dulwich Hanmlet and Kingstonian, where he gained Surrey county honours. He was an inside-forward and was a clever ball-player, as well as a regular goalscorer, and gained Middlesex county honours with Hayes. He stayed nearly four seasons until February 1965, when he asked to be left out for domestic reasons. But before the end of the season he was playing for Hampton in the Spartan League, and joined Chesham United in the summer of 1965. Next season he played for Leatherhead. In his time at Hayes, Bobby made 139 appearances and scored 68 goals. Outside of football he was a builder and decorator.

Phil West joined Hayes in December 1961, only two months after Bobby. He came from Leatherhead, having previously played for Redhill and Harrow Town. He was a stocky, bustling centre-forward and scored 18 goals in only 25 games, before joining Wealdstone in autumn 1962. During his brief stay at Lower Mead, he scored a last-minute equaliser at Highbury in a London Challenge Cup tie, before moving to Uxbridge in December 1962, scoring twice with his first two touches of the ball. True to form, he was ;eading scorer at Uxbridge for 1963-4.

The last player of this name was Greg West, another forward, formerly of Harrow youth, Wembley and Hillingdon Borough, who joined from Whitstable Town in February 1985. Well balanced and skilful, he was more of a creator than a scorer, and scored only five goals in 41+18 appearances before leaving in summer 1986 for Hounslow.

Roy Westgarth was one of a group of three players who joined Hayes from Viking Sports at the end of the 1960s – the others were Alan Bugh and Paddy Coburn. A full-back, Roy had also played for West Ham United juniors. At Hayes he made 50+5 appearances and scored two goals before joining Ruislip Manor in February 1971.

When Terry Brown became Hayes manager, he brought several players whom he had coached at Wokingham Town. One of them was Gary Westwood, a goalkeeper. Born at Barrow in 1963 and an England youth international, Gary had previously played for Ipswich Town and Reading, where he made 30 first-team appearances, before deciding to go part-time and joining Wokingham in 1988. After Brown left Wokingham, Gary went briefly to St Albans City. But, at the start of the formative 1994-5 season Brown brought Westwood to Hayes, where he played a full season of 49 appearances, and was instrumental in Hayes’ excellent season. He was voted Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year. During the summer of 1995, Gary announced his unavailability, owing to business commitments, and Russell Meara was obtained in his place. Gary decided to return to football with Wokingham in March 1996.

On only three occasions has a Hayes player scored a hat-trick on his début. The first of these was George Wharton, known as ‘Babs’, who came from Wakefields FC, the Castrol works team. George was a former pupil of Townfield School and an ex-Botwell Wanderer. He scored his trio in a Great Western Combination match at Slough in February 1940. He scored another hat-trick in Hayes’ 12-1 demolition of AEC (Southall) in the quarter-finals of the Middlesex Senior Cup, equalling Hayes’ highest score, and went on to collect a winner’s medal against Finchley in June. He also played in the only match of the 1940-1 season, after which Hayes disbanded for the duration of the war. He joined Hayes Wasps and played for them for the next two seasons and then went into the Army. He made a total of 16 appearances for Hayes and scored 13 goals.

Finally, Micky Whillock was recruited from Barnet by 'Jock' Weir in November 1955, shortly after playing for the Bees against Hayes, together with Jimmy Taylor, brother of the more famous Ernie, after Hayes had suffered their worst-ever start to a season - no wins and only four points from the opening 11 league fixtures. plus elimination from the FA Cup in the preliminary round. It obviously worked, for Hayes won their first match of the season and won five of the next six, including a demolition of Wealdstone by 7-1. After a run of 14 more or less consecutive games, Micky slipped into the reserves and did not play another match for the first team, although he stayed at Hayes for several more seasons.

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