Midlands Haynes was born in
Walsall and after playing his club football with Walsall Unity, he joined
Walsall Town Swifts making three appearances in the
Football League Second Division in the
1892–93 season. In February 1893, he moved up to the
First Division with
Wolverhampton Wanderers. After two seasons with Wolves, he joined Midlands rivals
Small Heath in July 1895. He made ten appearances as one of several players tried at centre-half before
Alex Leake came through from the
reserve team to become the regular first choice in that position. In the 1896 close season, Haynes was persuaded to leave the Midlands and move to the south coast to join
Southern League Southampton St. Mary's, though Small Heath retained his Football League registration.
Southampton In his first season with the "Saints", he converted from a
half back to play at
left back; his pairing with
Samuel Meston helped Southampton to claim their first Southern League title at the end of the 1896–97 season, with only 18 goals conceded from 20 matches. For the following season, Haynes linked up with
Tom Nicol, with Meston moving to
right half. Their defensive prowess helped Southampton to retain their Southern League title, again conceding only 18 goals (from 22 matches). The Saints also reached the 1898
FA Cup semi-final, where they were defeated by
Nottingham Forest in rather controversial circumstances after goalkeeper
George Clawley had his eyes "choked with snow" and conceded two goals in the final minutes of the game. Haynes continued to appear regularly in the 1898–99 season, but was gradually moved forward, first to
centre half, and finally onto the left wing, from where he scored twice at the end of the season to help the Saints claim the championship for the third consecutive season. In the 1899–1900 season, Haynes lost his place to
Peter Durber and made only four appearances, before retiring at the end of the season. In his four seasons with the Saints, Haynes made a total of 76 appearances, scoring five goals. ==After football==