Debut:
25/02/1901 v Walsall (A) 1-1 (League Division Two)
Farewell:
1st Farewell Transferred to Brentford, 05/1907, £, Final Farewell Transferred to Bradford, 11/1910, £
Passed Away:
01/06/1964
Biography
Vince Hayes was a unique Heathen - he was the only man to play for Newton Heath then go on and win major medals with the club after it changed to Manchester United. And, to boot, he was the only one who went on to play during WWI too, excepting James Saunders and his lone emergency outing.
It helped that Hayes began his career at the tail end of Newton Heath's lifespan. A Mancunian by birth, he joined the Bank Street outfit in the 1900 close season from neighbours Newton Heath Athletic. For a year and a half, Vince loitered in the reserves, bar the day he made his bow, versus Walsall in February 1901. However, when James Fisher jumped ship in January 1902 following Heath's financial meltdown, Hayes assumed the inside-left slot and kept it for the last 20 games of Heath's existence. This included winning a Manchester Cup medal in April, Vince having scored twice past Rochdale in Round Three.
After Manchester United's emergence, Hayes - a boilermaker by day - developed into an accomplished left-back who "never descended to roughness to get himself out of a tight corner". Unfortunately, he succumbed to various injuries during 1905 and completely lost his first-team place. Eventually, he was sold to Southern League Brentford in 1907 while United went on to claim their first title.
A year on, though, United brought him back and, in November 1908, Vince finally played in the First Division! It was the FA Cup that brought him more joy, mind, as he appeared in every round and ended up with a winners' medal - not bad for a lad most thought would never bounce back from his earlier injuries. There were further rewards: he was selected for the Football League side to face the Scottish League in February 1910 and to tour South Africa the following summer.
The 5'9", 11.5st left back played only one more time for United in 1910-11 before he was transferred to Bradford Park Avenue for £25, thus missing on the ensuing league title again. Hayes was made captain of his new team until he retired at the end of 1911-12... only to become a manager. First he coached Norway at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, then he had a spell in charge of SV Wiener in Austria.
In 1913, Vince was appointed trainer-secretary of Rochdale but, when the Great War began, he took on one more position: defender on the pitch! It was not until the war's end that he finally put his boots to rest. In March 1919, he was given the Preston North End hot seat out of 40 applicants, then he spent a year and a half in charge of Atletico Madrid in Spain. Hayes finally returned home in 1925 to live in Stockport where he became a licensed victualler, running a hotel in Prestwich. Biography kindly provided by Charbel Boujaoude.
