Fulham legend Johnny Haynes has been touched more than most by the thought that Fulham may never return to Craven Cottage. No one has played as many games at the old stadium as the former England international and for him it represented more than a place of work. "It was my home really for 20 years," he reflected yesterday.
From the day he joined Fulham as a 15-year-old in 1950 to the last of his record 594 league appearances for the club in 1970, he never imagined life without Craven Cottage. He recalls the huge crowds, the runs along the Thames and post-match drinks with film stars in the players' lounge. "I would find it very sad to see it go because there's a lot of history there," he said.
 |
Fulham legend Johnny Haynes with
Chairman Al Fayed |
Not that Haynes, 68 and now living in Edinburgh, would be surprised if Craven Cottage were bulldozed and turned into flats. When he walked out of the ground last April after watching the final league game that Fulham played there before moving in with Queens Park Rangers, he suspected it signalled the end.
"They had a big going-away day," he recalled. "I was thinking then that might be it. It looked that way to me. I had heard one or two rumours and read one or two things in the newspapers and, reading between the lines, I thought that was going to happen."
If Craven Cottage does disappear, that match against Leicester would be a sorry final memory for Haynes. "A dreadful game, nil-nil draw," he said. A one-club man who is synonymous with Fulham, he prefers to dwell on brighter recollections of his time by the river.
"It was a terrific place to be," he said. "For the first 10-odd years we had great crowds, mainly all standing in those days of course, and there was a fantastic atmosphere. Even when we were in the old Second Division we used to average 30-odd thousand. Sometimes in the First Division we had 45,000, which was unbelievable.
"I think the most memorable match I played at Craven Cottage was in the FA Cup against Newcastle [in 1956]. They had won the Cup the previous season and we were in the Second Division. We were drawn to meet them in the fourth round and, although we got beaten 5-4, it was a fantastic game. There must have been at least 40,000 people there that day and it was just a great Cup tie."
Haynes avoided sweeping the terraces at Craven Cottage when he joined the groundstaff, serving instead as the secretary's assistant and running errands such as going to the post office, but he hopes the stadium is not swept away. "I'm not sure of all the details but surely they could convert Craven Cottage into a ground which holds 30,000, or near enough 30,000, and that would be big enough for Fulham, wouldn't it?" he said. "Perhaps Mr Al Fayed has other ideas.
"As long as they've got something else in mind which is going to be good for Fulham, there's nothing we can do about it. We've had a lot of teams who have changed grounds recently and most have worked well. We have to wait and see what Fulham do. They might build a fantastic stadium."
Even if they do, there will still be sadness in Haynes's heart to think he will never again go to the ground that, for 20 years, he called home.