Wyndham William Pretoria Haines was an English footballer who played at centre-forward for south coast rivals, Portsmouth and then Southampton in the 1920s and 1930s.
14 Facts About Willie Haines
1.
2.
Willie Haines was born at Warminster Common in Wiltshire and went to the local school at Sambourne where he was a member of the school football team.
3.
Willie Haines was nicknamed "Farmers Boy" and became something of a legend at Fratton Park, where the Pompey fans would often voice their approval of his forward play with a rendition of the popular refrain "To be a farmer's boy".
4.
Willie Haines seldom tried to strike the ball hard, but preferred to place it with "tantalising precision".
5.
In Portsmouth's first season in the Second Division, Willie Haines shared the goal-scoring with Jerry Mackie with both players scoring 17 goals as Pompey finished in a creditable fourth place in the table.
6.
Willie Haines managed to score the vital goal in the final minutes of the game, thus sending Portsmouth up by the narrowest of margins.
7.
For Portsmouth's first season in the top flight, Willie Haines shared the goal-scoring with newly recruited Jack Smith, both scoring 11 goals, with fellow forwards David Watson and Welsh international Fred Cook both contributing ten, as they narrowly avoided relegation, finishing in 20th place in the table.
8.
In May 1928, Willie Haines moved up the Solent to join local rivals Southampton.
9.
At Southampton, Willie Haines joined a club which had been struggling financially and on the pitch.
10.
Willie Haines linked up with his former Portsmouth colleague, Jerry Mackie, and was an immediate success.
11.
Willie Haines was a "well-built country boy" who soon became as popular at The Dell as he had been at Fratton Park.
12.
Willie Haines marked his return by scoring five goals in the first three matches back and ended the season with 15 goals from 19 appearances.
13.
Willie Haines retired in the summer of 1932, having scored a creditable 47 goals from 71 first-team appearances for the Saints.
14.
In 1935, Willie Haines had become the landlord of the Vine Inn, Frome, Somerset which he ran until 1949.