Cinquantamila.it La storia raccontata da Giorgio Dell'Arti

HAYNES John. Nato ad Edmonton (Gran Bretagna) il 17 ottobre 1934, morto a Edimburgo (Gran Bretagna) il 18 ottobre 2005. Calciatore. Terzo nella classifica del Pallone d’Oro 1961, settimo nel 1958. «Centrocampista completo, è stato per anni l’ideale compagno di reparto di Bobby Robson nella regia dell’Inghilterra quando Winterbotton passò dal sistema al 4-2-4, al punto che la lunga serie positiva che seguì lo storico cambiamento fu definita l’era di Haynes. Il Fulham, club in cui è cresciuto e in cui ha giocato 594 gare segnando 146 gol, è stato l’unico della sua carriera agonistica (salvo la breve parentesi finale in Sudafrica che gli ha consentito di vincere il campionato con il Durban City). Nel 1963 infatti aveva rifiutato le offerte allettanti fattegli dal Tottenham. Haynes è stato il primo giocatore inglese a indossare la maglia di tutte le squadre nazionali, dalla scolastica alla maggiore. Disputò la sua cinquantaseisima e ultima partita con l’Inghilterra contro il Brasile nel corso dei mondiali del 1962 in Cile. Un infortunio occorsogli in quell’occasione lo tenne poi lontano dai campi per un anno» (Enciclopedia dello Sport, Treccani 2002). «Haynes was English football’s first £100-a-week footballer after the abolition of the maximum wage in the early 1960s. He was also England’s playmaker in a 56-cap international career - bagging 18 goals - and captained his country 22 times, including the 1962 FIFA World Cup where England reached the quarter-finals. Next season, however, he was injured in a car crash and, though he returned to football, he was never again selected by England. Haynes remained loyal to Fulham FC despite their failure to challenge for major prizes and when he retired in 1970 they had slipped down into the old third division» (www.uefa.com, 17/10/2004). «Like Tom Finney, Haynes won nothing in nearly two decades with one club. However, he was the hub of many [...] hitting long passes through a needle’s eye and scoring a surprising number of goals with an incredibly powerful shot that belied his comparatively slight frame. As England’s first £100-a week player he was often unjustly criticized, but he earned every penny in the service of Fulham (generally struggling) and England (frequently rampant). He was England captain from 1960 until he was involved in a serious car accident in 1962. During that period, in successive games, England won 5-2, 9-0, 4-2, 5-1, 9-3 and 8-0. The 9-3 result was a slaughter of Scotland, perhaps the best performance of his era. His career might have added up differently if Milan had persisted in their bid for him or if, after his accident, a record-breaking bid from Tottenham Hotspur had succeeded. [...]» (Keir Radnedge, Ultimate Encyclopedia of Soccer, Carlton Books 2004). «By the end of the 1969-70 season, I knew thet everything had gone on long enough. I was 36. I got a testimonial match; 30.000 turned up so I got £20,000. Then I had a call from Durban City [...]» (John Wright, ”FourFourTwo” november 2003).