Ten players with the name Jones have played for Hayes over the years. The first two alphabetically both played for Hayes at the same time. Alf Jones played from 1928 until 1932 at right-back, left-back and inside-right and made 16 appearances, scoring once. He was reported as coming from Walthamstow, although whether this meant the Avenue club or by bus is unclear. He was known as ‘Rubber’ Jones, was married on 18 November 1928, and was injured at Maidenhead on the following Saturday. His namesake, BET Jones, played just once, at left-back, in October 1928. But there is no possibility of confusion between the two Joneses, as they were the two full-backs in the Spartan League match against Leighton United. Interestingly, A Davis and TC Davies both played in the same match – shades of Holsgrove and Warner, 75 years later.

But the most significant Jones in Hayes’ history was George Jones, known as ‘Ernie’ in his playing days. Born in South London, he was spotted during World War II by QPR player Joe Mallett and signed by Ted Vizard. During his two years at QPR, he befriended Ron Gadsden and was later introduced by him to Hayes. After demobilisation from the Royal Engineers he signed for Crystal Palace and played for their reserves. He made his debut for Hayes at centre-forward against Uxbridge in December 1945, scoring a hat-trick. But his appearances were limited to a few games per season until 1948-9, when he played 24 games, and 1950-1, when he scored a massive 37 goals in 21 games. During the season he headed both the Athenian League Senior and Reserve scoring-lists; on successive week-ends he scored five goals for the reserves against Cambridge Town and for the first team against the same opponents. But his outstanding performance was in January 1951 in a televised Amateur Cup tie at favourites Leytonstone, when he scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win (second goal pictured aside). In April 1951 he scored six goals against Paddington in the semi-final of the Middlesex Senior Cup and was promptly dropped for the final against Uxbridge. Perhaps this treatment had something to do with his decision to join Bromley in the following season – certainly his record of 58 goals in 63 matches for Hayes does not explain how such a proven goalscorer could spend so much time languishing in the reserves. However, the move proved disastrous, as George sustained a severe knee injury in his first match for Bromley reserves and never played again. But he was not lost to football: he followed an FA coaching course and accepted a post with the London County Council (predecessor of the GLC).  He rejoined Hayes in 1954 as ‘A’ team secretary, then became Press Secretary two years later, 1st team secretary in 1960, and succeeded Cyril Sage as club secretary in 1962. George held office until 1977, when he was elected to the FA Council, with responsibility for organising the FA Trophy. During most of his time in office, he was Hayes’ representative, firstly on the Athenian League Council, and then on the FA Council, with responsibility for the Isthmian League. His services to football were recognized by membership of Middlesex Wanderers in October 1971. During all of his time as a player he commuted to Hayes from his home in Deptford; it was not until he was well established in the running of the club that he moved to Yeading Forks with his wife Marie and their three children. He suffered a heart attack in 1983, and died on 29 August 1987 at the young age of 61.

When Phil McKnight announced his impending resignation as team manager in November 1965, Peter Jones was recruited from Crystal Palace, firstly to fill the troublesome centre-half position, and secondly as team coach, with a view to becoming the long-term replacement as manager.  Although playing for a professional club, Peter was still an amateur and had Welsh amateur caps; his stated intention in coming to Hayes was to increase his visibility before the international selectors. He had previously played for Redhill.  But his arrival coincided with a severe down-turn in Hayes’ fortunes, as players left and their replacements were not up to standard. At the end of the season, his services as coach were dispensed with. He had made 31 appearances and scored one goal.

Trevor Jones was another Welsh amateur international, but from a different era. He had made his reputation in the 1930s as a clever and speedy outside-right, firstly with Sutton United and then with Uxbridge. He joined Hayes at the start of the 1936-7 season and provided the crosses which enabled Len Townsend to rattle in over 50 goals in the season. He left for Southall in October 1937, but guested for Hayes a few more times over the next three seasons. In all he made 53 appearances and scored 15 goals, mostly in 1936-7. At the start of World War II he joined Yiewsley and later went on to manage that club.

Finally, David Juneman was another player with a Southall connection. He came from Battersea and played for Brentford juniors, before moving to Wimbledon, where he played mainly in their Metropolitan League side. He moved to Southall, where he formed a lethal partnership with Peter Lavers, which propelled his club to 3rd place in the Athenian League. He also represented the Athenian League side during this time. A discussion with his friend Paddy Long convinced David to join Hayes in 1969 at the age of 21. Over a season and a bit he had a poor return of five goals in 46 games and was sacked for ‘lack of effort’ in October 1970. He joined Croydon Amateurs and later played fro Tooting & Mitcham United, where he frequently scored against Hayes. In November 1985 he was appointed caretaker manager of Tooting.