Coconuts TV_Phil Hayes interview

It wasn’t a dream start for Phil Hayes at Cambridge United. In his first match, at Weymouth in April 1959, they lost 7-0. He must have wondered what sort of outfit he had signed for when the U’s suffered another thrashing at King’s Lynn four days later. But it was onwards and upwards from then on. The goals started flowing … and flowing. By the time Phil left the U’s in 1961 he had scored an amazing 95 times in just 134 games, starring as the club rose to the Southern League Premier. A ferocious predator in and around the area, he left opponents ‘bewildered by his penetrating wanderlust’, according to one report. Even when he came back to play in a benefit match in 1965, he notched a hat-trick against an international XI. He was one of the greatest goalscorers in United history. Phil spoke to Coconuts TV in May 2015 immediately after the game at which Burton had clinched the title. They were enjoying the moment as you can tell from the background noise in the opening stages of the interview. The sound steadily improves as we progress beyond 2 or 3 minutes in... Interviewer: Tom McGrane Camera and Sound: Alan Burge