If he had been born 70 years later,  Jimmy Harmsworth would be hailed as a goalscoring genius. His record speaks for itself: at least 108 goals scored in around 128 appearances over a 7-year period; the first of only two players ever to score at least 30 goals in a league season for Hayes; seven goals in only his third appearance in a Botwell Mission shirt against a Staines Town side for whom previous goalscoring legend Freddy Knight scored all four goals. The accolades just go on and on – and yet he is almost forgotten and does not even appear in the Hayes Hall of Fame. Jimmy was a local lad and obviously well known around Hayes footballing circles, for his début in a Mission shirt for the match with Leagrave & District on 13 October 1928 was prefaced by an entry in the Middlesex Advertiser which read “It is announced that the centre-forward spot is going to be taken by an unnamed young player.  He is quite small but has boundless energy.”  That player turned out to be Jimmy Harmsworth. Even when Freddy Knight returned to Hayes the following season it was Jimmy who retained the number 9 shirt. And yet, when Mortimer Miller assembled the Wonder Team for the assault on the Athenian League and Amateur Cup in 1930, Jimmy played only four matches at the start of the season and did not return to the first team until the following October, when his goalscoring continued unabated. His prowess was recognised when he was selected by the Spartan League against the Isthmian League in September 1929 and against champions Chesham United in 1930. Although he continued to play for Hayes reserves in 1934-5, his last match in a Hayes shirt was for Hayes Past against Hayes Present in 1938, a match which brought together many of the grand old names from Botwell Mission days. Jimmy last appears in the Electoral Roll in 1946, living at Longmead Road.

How can someone fail as a manager with Hayes and yet assist a club as huge as Barcelona to the European Cup final? For such are the qualifications of Allan Harris. Like his younger brother, Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris, Allan started with Chelsea at the age of 15, and was transferred to Coventry City eight years later for £35,000. After two years he returned to Chelsea for £45,000, and played in the 1967 FA Cup final, before joining QPR, Plymouth Argyle and Cambridge United. He joined Hayes in the summer of 1974 as player-manager, when Roger Thompson resigned. He immediately started recruiting ageing Football League players whom he knew in the first season of ‘open’ football, including his colleague Bobby Ross from Cambridge United. But results went badly: no win until the 6th match of the season, only 6 league wins under his managership, and humiliating defeat in the 4th qualifying round of the FA Cup, to which Hayes had been exempted, by Southwick of the Sussex County League. Allan was carrying an injury and finally gave up playing to concentrate on management in October after making 13 appearances. Not surprisingly, he was relieved of his responsibilities at the start of March by telephone, after having taken a regular training session. The rest is history: assistant to Terry Venables during his progression to Barcelona; management of the Malaysian national team in 2003. Football is a strange game.

Unlike the two Gregories in 1947-8, and the two Gadsdens in 1948-9, who played for Hayes at the same time, there were two Jack Harrises in the 1950s and they were both defenders, but they did not overlap. The first, JE Harris, was a local boy, who went to Bishopshalt School and made his début in February 1950. Two months later he started his National Service, which limited his availability, and it was not until 1952-3 that he made the bulk of his total of 31 appearances. At the start of the 1953-4 season he signed on amateur forms for Brentford and promptly joined Yiewsley, for whom he became a regular during their rise in the second half of the 1950s.

The second Jack Harris was also a local, from Uxbridge, who made his début for Hayes in October 1954, not long after his namesake had left. Jack played mainly at wing-half at the start of his career, but was converted into a right-back and took over penalty-taking responsibilities. It was his spot-kick in the replay against Kingstonian which took Hayes to the semi-final of the Amateur Cup in March 1957 in front of 11,500 spectators at Church Road. But when he was dropped soon afterwards, on the return from injury of regular full-back Ian McKinlay, Jack resigned and played for Brighton reserves. He returned to Hayes, although still playing for Letchworth, and made his last appearance at Easter 1959. In all, he made 105 appearances for Hayes, scoring 11 goals. He was still playing, for Uxbridge, in September 1961.

John Harrison was one of several players who joined Hayes from Dartford in the 1978-9. He was a tiny striker cum winger, and had previously been on Charlton Athletic’s books. He was quite successful at a time when goals were hard to score and managed a total of 15 goals in 60+1 appearances. He was sacked in August 1980 for disciplinary reasons, and went on to play for Walthamstow Avenue and Barking.

John’s namesake, Mark Harrison, played in the Hellenic League with Ruislip Manor and had a brief spell with Harrow Borough, before joining Hayes and progressing through the youth and reserve teams. He made his debut in April 1979 at the age of 17 and became a fixture in the Hayes defence over eight seasons. In 1983-4 he played for Gillingham reserves, and was selected for the Isthmian League team in February 1984. Further representative honours came his way with the FA XI in January 1985 and when he was invited to tour Indonesia with Middlesex Wanderers in April 1985. During his long stay, Mark’s attitude became a weathervane for the health of the club; at Christmas 1983, he asked for a transfer immediately after a match at Hendon – the result was that manager Roy Ruffell was replaced. As soon as George Goode was appointed, he withdrew his request. Again he asked for a transfer in July 1983 after a pay dispute; Roy Ruffel, now at Hendon, bid £1000, and Mike Tomkys at Harrow offered £1500. Hayes set a fee of £2000 and Mark stayed. A year later, Harrow offered £1250, plus striker George Duck in part-exchange. But Mark stayed. Finally, in the summer of 1987, he joined Maidstone United  for a four-figure fee. During his nine seasons at Church Road, Mark had made 381+4 appearances and scored 19 goals. But he did not stay long at Maidstone: he was back in Middlesex by January 1988 with Harrow Borough and then Wealdstone.

The last of the Harrisons, but the first in time, was WJ (Bill) Harrison, who developed into a solid full-back in the 1930s, forming an effective partnership with Jimmy Ward. A big man, Bill was already in his late twenties when he made his début for Hayes in March 1933 and he went on to make 107 appearances before his last in September 1936, after which he moved to Enfield. Curiously he never scored a goal, and yet was obviously well thought of, for he represented both Middlesex and London FA, and was selected for the South v North international trial at Leyton in October 1932. He was appointed captain in February 1934.