Hayes FC was a non league club based in the suburban town in West London, who were formed in 1909 and continued until 2007, when they merged with nearby Yeading FC to form Hayes & Yeading United FC.
The club were original known as Botwell Mission FC and were formed by a lady called Eileen Shackle, who wanted boys to enjoy sport as well as their religious studies. The team originally got changed at a small church and stored their kit there.
The club changed their name to Hayes FC around 1930 and went on to join the Athenian League for the 1930-31 season, in which the side were also runners up in the FA Amateur Cup, losing 1-0 to Wycombe Wanderers at Highbury.
Sunday 15th January 1984
I was a student at college in Borehamwood on London's northern outskirts and ready to start visiting the clubs featured in my Non League Annual. It was all very exciting at the time being able to actually see the places I'd only ever read about. It went a long way to develop my geographical knowledge.
I wasn't even aware of all day travelcards, so I was going from ground to ground by paying for seperate bus rides, which were thirty pence a go if I remember rightly. It was a frosty but bright winters morning and I'd just left Earlsmead, the home of Harrow Borough.
Church Road was quite an impressive venue. The Main Stand wasn't very big, but it had a seating deck raised behind a brick wall, with a few steps of terrace in front. This continued either side of the stand in the open.
I clambered back over the fence to be met by the caretaker. I had left my leather gloves in the ground, so I had to explain what I was doing. He felt pity on me and opened the gate. The large car park had a separate clubhouse building, which opened throughout the week.
I went across the road to wait for the next bus heading down towards Hounslow and my next venue.
Hayes 0 Scarborough 1 (Tuesday 11th April 2000) Football Conference (att: 503)
By now I was in London and working at Lord's. Over the season I'd met other Seadogs based in the south so I travelled on a damp evening to the match with other friends. We had met at Kings Cross before heading to Paddington, where we had a few beers before taking the train to Hayes and Harlington station.
At the ground I bumped into work colleagues Ray and Stuart Wetherhead who I sat with in the Main Stand. The ground hadn't changed too much, but it had been tidied up with crush barriers and a new high perimeter fence.
I was given a lift back to the station at full time so I could make a quick getaway with me having to start at work early the next morning.
Hayes 1 Scarborough 2 (Saturday 16th March 2002) Football Conference (att: 631)
Boro were slowly digging themselves out of a seemingly impossible task when manager Russell Slade took over the managerial reigns and enthusiasm was high. Karl was down from Scarborough for the weekend and we met up with Dave Cammish and his mate from the casino, Craig as well as Carl Ellis who I was putting up.
There was a good turn out of Seadogs who watched a comfortable 2-1 win with Karl Rose netting twice, which went a long way to secure our safety after a midweek win at Stalybridge. Hayes were relegated at the end of the season.
We returned to town and went for beers in the city centre at a pub near Oxford Street. Carl and I headed back to Willesden, while big Karl went night clubbing in the city with the rest of the crowd.
Friday 20th October 2006
I set out to take photos at grounds around West London. I particularly wanted to visit Church Road as the rumour mill suggested the ground wasn't going to be around for much longer.
I arrived after a call to The Warren, home of Yeading to find the gates locked and a huge market on the car park. There was no way I could climb the gates as they were very much more secure than on my first visit, even if I was athletic enough to try.
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