Paul Hayes

Hayes started his footballing career as a schoolboy with Norwich City, whom he joined as a 13-year-old.[2] Hayes' first involvement with the first team came in pre-season prior to Norwich's 2001–02 First Division campaign, in which he scored in friendlies against Wroxham, Colchester United and Premier League club Arsenal.[2] He was an unused substitute for the final two games of the regular season.[3] He failed to feature during Norwich's unsuccessful playoff campaign.[3] Hayes failed to feature at all during the early part of the 2002–03 season and became frustrated at his lack of first team opportunities,[4] with forwards Iwan Roberts, Paul McVeigh, David Nielsen, Alex Notman, Zema Abbey and Ian Henderson ahead of him in the pecking order.[2] He spent periods on trial at Third Division clubs Torquay United and Scunthorpe United and had his Norwich academy contract cancelled on 3 December 2002.[2]

Hayes signed a youth contract with Third Division club Scunthorpe United in December 2002.[2] He scored his first goal for the club on his second appearance, bagging Scunthorpe's fourth goal in a 4–1 win over Southend United on 25 January 2003.[5] On 19 March 2003, Hayes signed a professional contract with Scunthorpe.[2] He scored eight goals in 20 games during the 2002–03 season,[5] though the campaign ended with a heartbreaking playoff semi-final defeat to Lincoln City.[6] Hayes became a regular starter the following season,[7] making 45 appearances and scoring seven goals as Scunthorpe narrowly avoided relegation to the Conference.[8]

Hayes scored 19 goals during the 2004–05 season to help Scunthorpe gain automatic promotion to League One.[8][9] Hayes was in red hot form during October and November 2004, scoring 10 goals in as many games.[9] A highlight of his season was scoring the opener against Premier League club Chelsea in an FA Cup Third Round at Stamford Bridge on 8 January 2005, though Chelsea eventually ran out 3–1 winners.[10] Hayes departed Glanford Park on 2 June 2005, having scored 34 goals in 116 appearances for the club.[11]

Hayes joined League One club Barnsley on 2 June 2005 and made 56 appearances and scored 13 goals during the 2005–06 season.[12][13] He scored the opener in the 2006 League One play-off Final against Swansea City and a 2–2 scoreline at the end of extra time saw the game go to penalties,[13] with Hayes converting his spot kick to help Barnsley to a 4–3 shootout win and promotion to the Championship.[14] Hayes made 33 appearances for Barnsley during the 2006–07 season and scored five goals, which included a spell of four goals in six games early in the season.[15] After falling behind Hungarian forward duo István Ferenczi and Péter Rajczi in the second half of the season,[16] Hayes left the club on 13 June 2007.[17] He made 89 appearances and scored 18 goals in two seasons at Oakwell.[11]

On 23 February 2007, Hayes joined League One club Huddersfield Town on a one-month loan with view to a permanent transfer, as cover for forward Andy Booth.[16] On 10 March, he scored his only goal for Huddersfield in a 2–0 home victory against local neighbours Bradford City.[15] He failed to win a contract or a loan extension and returned to Barnsley on 18 March,[18] after making scoring one goal in four appearances for Huddersfield Town.[11]

Hayes returned to Scunthorpe United (now playing in the Championship) on a three-year contract on 13 June 2007,[17] for a fee which was later settled by tribunal.[18] He made 42 appearances during the 2007–08 season,[19] but a run of five goals in the last three games of the season couldn't save the Iron from relegation to League One.[8] Hayes found his form again during the 2008–09 season,[20] making 57 appearances and scoring 19 goals and helped the Iron to the Football League Trophy Final and to promotion to the Championship via the playoffs.[21] Hayes had a solid 2009–10 season in the Championship, making 51 appearances and scoring 13 goals, which included a goal against Manchester City in a 4–2 FA Cup fourth round defeat on 24 January 2010.[22] A contract dispute saw Hayes attract attention from former club Norwich City late in the season,[23] but he left Glanford Park on 10 May 2010.[24] Hayes made 150 appearances and scored 40 goals in his second spell with Scunthorpe United and was voted the club's 2009–10 Player of the Year.[11][25]

On 10 May 2010, Hayes signed a three-year contract at Championship club Preston North End on a free transfer.[24] He made 26 appearances and scored four goals for the financially-stricken club during the 2010–11 season.[26][27] Personal problems and relegation to League One led Hayes to terminate his contract on 17 June 2011.[28][29][30]

On 28 October 2010, Hayes returned to Barnsley on emergency loan until 1 January 2011, as a makeweight in the deal to extend Iain Hume's loan at Preston North End.[31] He made seven appearances without scoring and returned to Deepdale when his loan expired.[26] Across his two spells with Barnsley, Hayes made 96 appearances and scored 18 goals.[11]

On 21 June 2011, it was announced that Hayes was a third of a triple signing completed by League One club Charlton Athletic.[32] He scored his first goal for Charlton in a 2–1 away win at Notts County on 13 August 2011.[33] After the arrival and immediate impact of Yann Kermorgant, opportunities became limited for Hayes.[34] He made 22 appearances and scored three goals during the 2011–12 season as Charlton won the League One title and secured promotion to the Championship.[33][35] Hayes was made available for transfer by manager Chris Powell prior to the beginning of the 2012–13 season and departed the club on 20 August 2012.[36][37]

On 24 February 2012, Hayes and Charlton Athletic teammate Gary Doherty joined League One club Wycombe Wanderers on loan until the end of the 2011–12 season.[38] He scored six goals in six appearances and was recalled by Charlton Athletic on 23 March.[33][39]

On 20 August 2012, Hayes signed a three-year contract with League One club Brentford on a free transfer.[37] He made his debut as a substitute against Yeovil Town on 21 August 2012 and missed a penalty in a 3–1 defeat.[40] He finally scored his first goals for the club with a brace in a 2–2 draw with Hartlepool United on 27 October, but after scoring just four further goals over the following five months,[41] he departed Griffin Park on loan until the end of the season in March 2013.[42] At the end of the regular season, he returned to Brentford to play a part in each of the Bees' three League One playoff matches,[41] but the club missed out on promotion to the Championship after a 2–1 playoff final defeat to Yeovil Town.[43]

Despite scoring three goals during the 2013–14 pre-season,[44][45][46] Hayes was frozen out once the regular season started and was made available for loan by manager Uwe Rösler.[28][47] He made his only appearance of the season in a 3–2 League Cup first round victory over hometown club Dagenham & Redbridge on 6 August.[48] After a period away on loan,[49] Hayes had his contract terminated on 3 December 2013.[50] He made 33 appearances and scored six goals during 15 months at Griffin Park.[11]

Hayes joined League One club Crawley Town on one-month loan on 11 March 2013,[42] which was later extended until the end of the season.[51] He scored two goals in 11 appearances and returned to Brentford on 30 April.[11][52]

Hayes joined League Two club Plymouth Argyle on a one-month loan on 4 October 2013.[49] He failed to score in six appearances for the Pilgrims and returned to Brentford when his loan expired.[53]

Hayes signed for Scunthorpe (now in League Two) for a third time in his career on 17 December 2013, on a contract running until the end of the 2013–14 season.[54] He scored four goals in 16 appearances and helped the Iron to promotion to League One with a second-place finish.[8] Hayes was released at the end of the season.[48][55] Across his three spells with Scunthorpe United, Hayes made 282 appearances and scored 78 goals.[11]

On 15 May 2014, Hayes returned to League Two club Wycombe Wanderers on a two-year contract.[56] In just over three seasons with the Chairboys, he scored 27 goals in 120 appearances and helped the club to the 2015 League Two play-off Final,[11] which was lost on penalties to Southend United.[57] Hayes left Wycombe by mutual consent on 29 August 2017 and across his two spells with the club,[58] he made 126 appearances and scored 33 goals.[11]

On 22 September 2017, Hayes dropped out of the EFL for the first team in his career to join National League South club Hemel Hempstead Town.[59] Despite joining the club in a bid to regain his fitness, he failed to win a call into a squad before departing three weeks later.[60]

On 17 October 2017, Hayes returned to the Football League to join League Two club Newport County on a contract running until the end of the 2017–18 season.[61] Due to registration regulations, Hayes was not be able to make his Exiles debut until after 3 January 2018.[62] Hayes finished the season with 14 appearances, three goals and was released when his contract expired.[63][64]

On 9 August 2018, Hayes dropped back into non-League football to join Isthmian League North Division club AFC Sudbury on a two-year contract.[65] He scored 12 goals in 34 appearances during the 2018–19 season and retired in June 2019.[66][67] In mid-November 2019, Hayes returned to football as a player with Isthmian League North Division club Romford.[68] After one appearance, he transferred to Southern Counties East League First Division club Meridian VP,[69] with whom he remained until 7 January 2020, when he transferred to Isthmian League South East Division club Faversham Town.[70] Hayes made 10 appearances before transferring to Southern Counties East League Premier Division club Chatham Town in March 2020.[71][72] He scored on his only appearance for the club,[73] before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the 2019–20 season being abandoned.[74]