Our next entry, JW ‘Jimmy’ Ward, was also a full-back, but from an earlier era. He was a pupil at Featherstone Road School, playing against Clayton Road School, and went straight into the Southall 1st XI at the age of 16 in 1929. He joined Hayes in 1932 and settled into the first team straightaway at right back. In 1934 he decided to try his luck with Wimbledon in the Isthmian League, while retaining his registration with Hayes in the Athenian League, but, when Charlie Lethbridge broke his arm on the first day of the season, he came back and stayed until the outbreak of war. He was described as a classy player, adept with his head and a hard and accurate kicker, developing into Hayes’ regular penalty expert. He was selected for the Athenian League side and for Middlesex, and in May 1939 he was chosen for an FA XI against Guernsey, together with Joe Friday. During the 1930s he received several offers to sign for professional clubs. In 1939 he joined the Auxiliary Air Force, having previously worked for HMV, and in 1940 he narrowly escaped capture, when he was one of the last RAF personnel to leave France. Later in the war he was based in West Africa. After the war he returned to Hayes and played most of 1945-6, sustaining a broken and dislocated nose, and the first match of 1946-7. Over a period of 10 seasons, covering 14 elapsed years, he made a total of 252 appearances and scored 20 goals. In a time when a league season consisted of only 26 matches, he would have reached a higher position than 25th in total appearances but for the war. In August 1947 he was appointed Hayes coach, but he felt obliged to resign only two months later, and was replaced by former centre-forward Freddie Knight.