Ian Hodges hailed from Cornwall and was a member of the British Colleges team. He burst on the scene in Hayes’ last season in the .Conference and was leading scorer with 16 goals. His ambling gait was deceptive – he was fast and strong. His finest achievement was a hat-trick against Yeovil Town in a 4th qualifying round FA Cup tie. But after the violent match with Dover, during which he was sent off, he seemed to lose confidence, was left out and only returned when Hayes were virtually doomed to relegation. There were rumours of his not seeing eye to eye with management and he left in February 2003 and joined Slough, where he was leading scorer in 2003-4 and scored one of the goals by which the Rebels defeated Walsall in the FA Cup. During his Hayes career, he made 58+12 appearances and scored 21 goals.

Another player of the Conference era and another centre-forwardwas Ben Hodson.  Ben joined from Forest Green, after being at Wycombe. He had a wonderful physique – he worked at a health club – and promised much – but he also seemed to lose confidence after scoring some important goals, none more so than the winning goal against champions Cheltenham Town in a grudge match in April 1999. He went on loan to Sutton United and Wealdstone in an attempt to regain his form, but he left at the end of the 2000-1 season and played briefly for Chesham United. In three seasons, he made 48+29 appearances and scored 20 goals.

Matt Hodson, younger brother of Ben, was a goalkeeper, who came from Marlow. He had the unenviable task of taking over from Russell Meara when the latter went to USA at the end of the 1998-9 season and acquitted himself well when he had the opportunity. The arrival of Paul Gothard limited his chances and he went on loan to Hampton in 2000, and joined Yeading that summer. He made a total of 34+3 appearances.

Another goalkeeper, but from another era, was Tom Holding, perhaps Hayes’ most accomplished goalkeeper. Born in 1902, and a product of Clayton Road School, he made his début for Botwell Mission in 1919 at the age of 17. After playing a full season, he joined the more famous Southall club and stayed with them for 10 seasons. During his time at Western Road, he appeared in the Amateur Cup final of 1924-5, when Southall lost to Leyton. He returned to Hayes, via Egham, in 1930 and appeared in the 1931 Amateur Cup final at Highbury, when Hayes went down to Wycombe Wanderers. During his time with Hayes he played for both Middlesex County and Athenian League representative sides. In 1933 he was off again, to Leyton, for whom he played in his third losing .Amateur Cup final against Dulwich Hamlet in 1934 – surely a record. He returned to Hayes in 1935 and was appointed team manager and coach for 1937-8, team manager in 1939, and coach in 1945-6. During his playing career he played 173 times for Hayes between 1919 and 1939. He was an uncle of George Wilkins, who played for Hayes and Brentford. His later years were marred by ill health. He had started a car-spraying business at Uxbridge, but was forced to give it up when he had heart trouble in 1954. In February 1958 a collection was held for him at the ground, and again at Christmas 1959. He died in July 1962 at the young age of 60.

Another player who came and went and then returned was Ken Holmes. A wing-half or inside-forward from Northolt, he joined Hayes in August 1952, aged 19, on the recommendation of Jimmy Bloomfield, with whom he performed his National Service at Aldershot. He played for Hayes for three seasons, also representing Watford reserves, before moving to Leyton, just like Tom Holding 20 years previously, in September 1955. He resigned from Leyton two years later. His feeling for Hayes was shown by his sending a telegram of best wishes to Derek Williams at Newcastle for Hayes’ semi-final in the Amateur Cup in  1957. By then he was playing for Maidenhead under former Hayes centre-forward Len Townsend, whom he followed to Slough in August 1959. But this did not last long and he returned to Hayes in December of the same year. But he made only a few appearances and later played for Chalfont St Peter and Southall Corinthians in the Parthenon League, where he was skipper and coach. He managed Charville in 1968-9, when Maidenhead appointed him as manager in August 1969. But this did not last long, and he was sacked in December, following a string of bad results. During his time with Hayes, Ken made 95 appearances and scored 23 goals.

Lastly, we turn away from the field of play, and recognise a long-standing official, who helped put Hayes on the footballing map. William Henry Holmes (1893-1954) joined Botwell Mission in 1919 and was elected joint treasurer. In 1922 he was elected to the committee, and served as club secretary in 1933-6 and 1937-40, with Jimmy Ogden as his assistant. His periods as secretary straddled those of Mortimer J Miller; Holmes gives the impression of being a reliable fall-back against the flair and imagination of Miller. Outside of football, Holmes gave long service to the GWR; he joined at Choulsey and Moulsford in Berkshire, his home county, in 1910 and, apart from war service from 1915 to 1919, during which he married Miss Whitcomb of Clayton Road, he continued in their employ until his death, serving as booking clerk and then relief stationmaster in 1934 at Hayes station, then stationmaster at Acton in 1940, Southall in 1941, and Reading in 1946. When he died at Reading Hospital in October 1954, he was accorded a minute’s silence before the match with Finchley.