Born in 1910, Jack Richards played for Llandrindod Wells and Swansea ‘A’, before joining the Army. He got a job at the Gramophone Company in Hayes in 1932, and joined Hayes for the 1933-4 season. He was a stalwart centre-half through the rest of the 1930s, sometimes forming part of a completely Welsh half-back line with Alec Chudley and DL Davies. During 1938-9 he was club captain and, when war was looming in 1939, he was sent on Guards training and served in the Army throughout World War II, making only two more appearances for Hayes – once in 1939-40 and once in the first post-war season, 1945-6. All told, he made 206 appearances over eight seasons, and scored three goals – all in 1937-8. Surprisingly, we do not have a photograph of him – while there are plenty of photographs of Botwell Mission from the 1920s, Hayes seem to have studiously avoided being taken in the 1930s.

There was no such problem with Jamie Richards. Having scored twice for Braintree Town against Hayes during the previous season, he joined Hayes in summer 2003, with the intention of rattling in goals for his new club. But his bustling centre-forward style did not really fit in and he never settled. His only goal in 8+3 appearances was a simple tap-in, and it was no surprise when he joined St Albans City in November. Nor was it a surprise when he returned to Braintree, and then moved on to Heybridge Swifts shortly afterwards.

Hayes did not see the best of Dave Richardson. A product of the prolific St Clement Danes Grammar School, an England Youth international, and a Cambridge Blue, he was a wing-half and had previously played for Corinthian Casuals, Metropolitan Police, Hitchin Town, Maidenhead United and Kingstonian, before joining Hayes in October 1973 at the age of 30. He was acquired for his experience and spent his time mainly in the reserves, although he managed six first-team appearances and scored a hat-trick in a Premier Midweek Floodlight League match. After leaving Cambridge, where he studied Psychology, he joined the police, and then moved into IT and finally set himself up as a property conveyancer. He died a few years ago of cancer.

A midfelder, John Richardson had already played for several clubs before joining Hayes in 1982 at the age of 25. He started with Staines Town at the age of 15, then played for both Brentford juniors and QPR juniors, Southall, Addlestone, Windsor & Eton and Aylesbury. At Hayes he made 88+6 appearances in two seasons, scoring 13 goals, before being released and joining Wycombe Wanbderers, where he broke a leg. Later he played for Chesham United, Farnborough Town, Southall, Yeading and Marlow. At Southall he participated in the FA Vase run and played in the final at Wembley.

 When goalkeeper Alf Simmonds was injured in May 1947 his place was taken by 19-year old  Ken Ridley. He had been discovered in local football by coach Len Kilby. Over two seasons he made a total of 11 appearances for the first team.

David Rive was one of the many former Townfield School boys who joined Hayes, in 1953. A goalkeeper, he made 31 appearances over two seasons and also signed as an amateur for Charlton Athletic in 1954. When he married an air hostess he retired from football, but was playing again in 1956 for Hayes Garden Village.

It is not often that a footballer makes news after giving up the game, but such is the case with Dennis Roach.  Dennis joined Hayes from Hendon, for whom he had made two first-team appearances but mostly played for the reserves for two seasons, in 1962 at the age of 22. He had represented Middlesex Grammar Schools at both football and cricket and has always shown a versatility and ability to shape his life. He was a well-built, 6-foot centre-half and worked in the tailoring business at Savile Row. His job took him to Brussels during the week and he regularly flew back at weekends to play football. He was the jester in the team and was in his element during the club tour of Switzerland in 1963. Next summer he was invited to tour East Africa with Middlesex Wanderers. At this point he joined Barnet, where he was believed to be close to an amateur cap. He had made 82 appearances for Hayes, scoring four goals. When Barnet turned professional in 1965, he was thought to be close to returning to Hayes and even toured Eire with the club. Instead, he took the plunge to professionalism and captained Barnet in the Southern League. From Barnet he went to Bedford, and from there to Hillingdon Borough in 1972. It was around this time that he was appointed business manager of Cruyff UK Ltd, with offices at Beaconsfield. At the time he played sporadically for St Albans City. He obviously prospered in the football business and popped up as Glen Hoddle’s agent in 2004. 

Gary Roberts made only 2+1 appearances for Hayes, scoring one goal. But he merits his appearance here because of what he achieved afterwards, and is an example of what Hayes missed. He came on loan from Wembley in October 1979, scored a cracking header when he came on as substitute in his second match, and sustained a fractured skull in his third match. Later he went to Brentford for £10,000, where he became a prolific scorer at outside-left, gained a Welsh Under-23 cap, retired through injury and joined the police. He later played for Barnet, Maidstone, St Albans City, Baldock Town, Cambridge City, Hitchin and Bishop’s Stortford, and then managed Baldock, St Albans and Cambridge City, where he still is. He was a lovely player to watch, but shows an ability to see only one side of the game as a manager.

We have already dealt with two of Hayes’ three black pearls – Les Ferdinand and Cyrille Regis. The third is Jason Roberts, who is currently gracing the Premiership with Wigan Athletic. A nephew of Regis, Jason made his début for Hayes in November 1995. He was carefully handled by manager Terry Brown, who played him only in hand-picked games. He first came to notice when he scored two goals against Slough Town in the Conference in March 1997, running the ball from the half-way line past opponent after opponent, and then he ran Hednesford Town ragged almost single-handedly a week later. The match for which he will always be remembered is the 5-1 demolition of Stevenage Borough at Broadhall Way in August 1997. A week later, after scoring both goals against Hereford United on Lady Di Friday, he was off to Wolverhampton Wanderers for a non-league record fee of £250,000, plus a percentage of any sell-on and a fee for an England cap. During his time at Hayes Jason made 33+17 appearances and scored 16 goals. However, he was not well handled at Molyneux and also opted to play for Grenada. He made the bench, but did not play and was loaned out to Bristol City, who wanted to buy him. Instead he was sold to Bristol Rovers, where he teamed up with his old adversary Barry Hayles, for the same fee as Wolves had paid, thus denying Hayes of any further income. From there he went to West Bromwich Albion for £2M to Wigan and then to Blackburn Rovers.

JH Roberts was a centre-forward, who had a brief but glorious career with Hayes. He joined in autumn 1937 from Wimbledon, and was reputedly on Millwall's books as an amateur. He played only four games for Hayes before being released after failing to turn up for a match. But one of those matches was a London Challenge Cup tie against the mighty Arsenal at Highbury

Otis Roberts is an uncle of Jason and, like his nephew, a Grenadian international. A midfielder with an effective body swerve, he started with Barnet, and joined Uxbridge midway through the 1990-1 season. He was sold to FC Ghent in October 1991 and later played in Hong Kong, including for a Hong Kong Select XI. On his return to England in autumn 1996 he made one appearance for Hayes as a substitute and later played for Harrow Borough, where he was Football in the Community officer, and Hendon.

Tony Roberts was a PE and Maths teacher at a Chiswick school. A striker, with clever ball skills and the penalty expert, he was a member of team which defeated Bristol Rovers in 1972. He was a youth international and had previously played for Kingstonian and St Albans City. While at Hayes he was selected for the Isthmian League team in 1973. He made 100+12 appearances for Hayes, scoring 28 goals, before joining Woking in October 1973.

It came as a surprise when Mick Rockell left Wycombe Wanderers in January 1959 to join Hayes. He was understudy to England international outside-right Len Worley, but wanted a regular first-team place. At Hayes he took over from Charlie Lewis when he broke his leg and featured in Hayes' Amateur Cup run to the quarter-finals. It came as no surprise when he returned to Wycombe Wanderers in August 1960, having made 13 appearances and scored four goals. He later played for Maidenhead United.

When George Rocknean joined Hayes early in the 1962-3 season from Southall, where he had been club captain, it was expected that he would feature in the first team. But he made only one appearance, before returning to Southall in December 1962. He later played for Wembley and was manager of Dulwich Hamlet in 1976-7, where he still played from time to time, until replaced by Jim Langley in March 1977.

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