Although a local Hayes boy, Roy Reader joined from Carshalton Athletic and graduated to the first team from the reserves. He made 23 appearances in goal over three seasons from 1960-1 to 1962-3, with all except two of them being in season 1961-2.

Johnny Reay, who was born in Durham in 1934 and served Hayes for more seasons than anyone since the Botwell Mission days, was one of Hayes’ greatest servants. Because of his flaming red hair, he was always known as ‘Ginger’. He started in the Brentford junior side, alongside George Francis and Jim Towers, completed National Service in 1952-3, and settled into work as a machine-setter at AEC in Southall. Making his debut in the reserves in November 1952, he had to wait until the disastrous season of 1955-6 to make it into the first team as an inside-forward. During his 14 seasons, he played in every position except goalkeeper; as time went on he moved back into defence, often as left-back or centre-half. Described as having a powerful shot but lacking in guile, he was an important part of the side which won the Athenian League championship for the only time in 1956-7, scoring goals alongside Les Champelovier in the final run-in. Other honours came in the form of selection for Middlesex and London FAs, and election as the Athenian League Player of the Year in 1964-5. His spell with Hayes was not, strictly speaking, unbroken – in the summer of 1966 he joined the mass exodus of players to Harrow Town, but, after two games, he was back. In his time at Hayes he made a staggering 547 appearances and scored 63 goals, at a time when a league season consisted of only 26 matches. In 1969 he announced his retirement as a player and became reserve team manager – but when there was a shortage of players, Johnny made his comeback in the reserves. In 1970-1 he joined up with former Hayes boss Phil McKnight at Ruislip Manor. When he suffered a hairline fracture of his leg in April 1971, he played out the match and was back again in November, scoring on his return. Later in the 1970s he was coach and then assistant manager at Southall, where he lived throughout his adult life. His last years were spent in a sad decline and he died in November 2004, on the eve of our FA Cup tie with Wrexham. He will always be remembered for his red hair and enthusiasm.

At this distance in time it is difficult to understand why GC (George) Redding did not stay longer at Botwell Mission. He lived at Hayes (he appears in the electoral roll of 1946 in Balmoral Drive) and was a success at centre-forward - in 27 appearances he scored 29 goals, including five goals on his debut in December 1925, and also scored for the Spartan League representative team. Previously he had been engaged in Army football. And yet, at the end of his first season, 1925-6, he joined Uxbridge, then playing in the Athenian League as opposed to the Mission's Spartan League. But he was back briefly in 1927-8, before moving to Hounslow and then Slough, and back to Hounslow in 1932.

Arthur Redford came to Hayes from Slough United in summer 1947-8 with a big reputation for scoring goals and scored all four on the opening day of the season. But the rest of his Hayes career was an anti-climax. He had already scored twice against Hayes in an FA Cup tie the previous season, and was selected as a reserve for an international trial during his first few months at Hayes. But he broke an arm in December 1947 and did not play again for the rest of the season. He returned to the side at the start of the next season, but without much success - in the summary of the season which accompanied the report of the AGM, the comment was made that he returned to the first team too soon. In 22 appearances, he scored 14 goals - hardly a great return for someone with such a reputation. In 1952 he was in Wycombe Wanderers colours.

Arthur Redman joined Hayes immediately after the Athenian League championship season as the stand-in for regular outside-left Morgan Reynolds. He made 11 appearances, including all the matches in the Amateur Cup run, which took Hayes to round 3, and defeat at the hands of eventual winners Woking, and scored three goals. Next season he joined Hounslow Town and played against Hayes in March 1959.

Although he made only 31 appearances for Hayes, Frank Rees merits his place here because he is one of the few links with pre-war football who is still with us today. Known as ‘Lunar’, presumably because all goalkeepers must be mad, he was a contemporary at Townfield School of Micky Dowse and George Wilkins, and a close friend of Jack Sutcliffe. A member of the school side which lifted the Blaxland Cup for Middlesex Schools in 1934-5 under the tutelage of ‘Gaffer’ Clarke, he went to play for Botwell Wanderers and progressed to Hayes in the difficult days of the 1939-40 season. During this season his elder brother David Rees, known as ‘Fadger’, who was also with Botwell Wanderers, played once, at centre-half. Frank also featured, at outside-left, in the only game played by Hayes at the beginning of the 1940-1 season, after which the club shut down for the duration of the war. During hostilities he served in the Army as a gunner and was later in the BAOR in Germany. His brother served in East Africa. Remarkably, Frank's next appearances for Hayes were as late as in 1951-2. During 2004-5, Frank was present at a Hayes home match in the Conference South, forming a link with 65 years ago.

Three members of the Wimbledon side which lost the final of the Amateur Cup in 1935 came to Hayes – Les Smith and Maurice Batchelor came directly, while Alf Reeves arrived via Wealdstone after a gap of two seasons. Alf was a wing-half, who had played for Wealdstone before joining Wimbledon. At Hayes he performed an unspectacular defensive role at left-half and at centre-half during the 1939-40 season. During World War II he served in the RAF and did not play again after the cessation of hostilities. In three seasons at Church Road he made 63 appearances. As a postscript, an AG Reeves (those were his initials) was reported by the Middlesex Advertiser as having drowned when his yacht, the Enis, sank off the East Coast in September 1953. He was 38 and was buried at Hillingdon Cemetery.

Cecil Reeves and Stanley Reeves were, presumably, brothers, who played for Botwell Mission between 1920 and 1926, mainly in the reserves. Cecil was a defender, playing at right-back and centre-half; he made four appearances between 1922 and 1926, plus three appearances in the West Middlesex Cup, in which the Mission sometimes fielded a first team, sometimes the reserves, and sometimes a mixture. Stanley could play on either flank; he also made four appearances between 1920 and 1924 and scored one goal, and made three further appearances in the West Middlesex Cup between 1924 and 1926, scoring another goal.

John Regan joined Hayes from Southall in summer 1985 at the age of 20. He was a strong running forward who, it was felt at the time, needed more time in the side before starting to score regularly.  During one season he made 25+9 appearances, but scored only two goals. He left in summer 1986, and joined for Chalfont. He later played for Wycombe and Hounslow, and, when he moved to Marlow in 1989, he became the first player to be bought by the Buckinghamshire club.

Nicky Regan joined Hayes from Staines Town and made 9+6 appearances, scoring two goals in 1977-8. In February 1986 he was a member of the Ruislip Manor side which played against Hayes.

Our next entry is one of the three Black Pearls, who went from Hayes to League football and international caps. Cyrille Regis joined Hayes from Molesey of the Athenian League, where he had scored 25 goals in a season, in the summer of 1976 at the age of 19. Born in French Guiana, his parents brought him to Stonebridge Park and he played Sunday football for Brent Valley. He had already attracted scouts from QPR and Millwall before coming to Hayes. At Hayes he played with a maturity which belied his age, scoring 24 goals in 61 appearances. At the end of his first season, he was signed by Johnny Giles for West Bromwich Albion, on the recommendation of chief scout Ronnie Allen, for an initial  £5,000. His first appearance for the Throstles was sensational – he scored after beating five defenders in a mazy run and left the field to a standing ovation. England caps followed and moves to Coventry City, Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Wycombe Wanderers at the end of his career. He featured again in the Hayes story as uncle of the third Pearl, Jason Roberts.

Chris Reynolds was the second farming goalkeeper to play for Hayes. He joined in summer 1969 at the age of 23, over a decade after his predecessor Tommy Howe. Chris ran a dairy farm at Holyport, Maidenhead, with his father. He had started with Maidenhead United reserves, and then played for Slough from 1966-7. He was an amateur on Fulham's books for three years. While at Slough, he made 17 appearances for Berks & Bucks and was selected for the Athenian League side seven times. He made a further appearance for the league representative team against champions Redhill shortly after joining Hayes in September 1969, but then surprised everyone by rejoining Slough in October. In December he was back, but he broke an ankle in March 1970 and joined Maidenhead for the 1970-1 season. During his time at Hayes he made 21 appearances.

One of the members of the mass exodus of players who followed Ron Clack, when he went to Harrow Town in summer 1965, was Martin Reynolds. During 1964-5 he had made 10 appearances at full-back, outside-right and centre-forward and scored one goal.

One of my earliest recollections at Hayes is of a swarthy left-winger with a Welsh name, who had played in an international trial for England. That man was Morgan Reynolds. A Shene Old Grammarian, he joined from Enfield, having previously played for Southall, Finchley and Tooting, and was one of the missing pieces which made up the jigsaw which won the Athenian League championship in 1956-7. In addition to being an effective left-sided player, he could also score goals when needed and was a very capable centre-forward. In three seasons at Hayes he made 87 appearances and scored 21 goals, before returning to Southall in 1959. During his career he gained representative honours with the Athenian League, Surrey FA, London FA, Southern Counties and AFA Old Boys League. In later years he worked as a manager for a life assurance company and lived near Twyford in Berkshire. His opinions were published in the first-ever issue of the Non-League Paper.

Peter Rhodes was the classic example of a young goalkeeper who was allowed to leave and, when he returned with the advantages of maturity, was handled badly. He started in the Hayes 'A' team in 1955 at the age of 17, but, because of the good form of Ken Binfield (whatever became of him?), was helped to find another club. Three years later, when he was established at Kingstonian, he was offered professional terms by both West Bromwich Albion and Portsmouth. From Kingston, he went to Sutton United (December 1958), Harrow Town, Hendon (July 1959) and then Hounslow Town, where he stayed for three seasons, appearing for them in the Amateur Cup final in 1962. The following season he played for Maidstone United, from whom he joined his first club in summer 1963. He was selected for Middlesex in November 1963, but was replaced by Alec Brown from Crown & Manor in January 1964 and immediately resigned, after just 13 appearances. Later in the season he played for Yiewsley reserves.

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