The son of a post office engineer, Haynes was born in Kentish Town and supported Arsenal as a boy. He signed for Fulham as a 15-year-old amateur in 1950 when Fulham were in a three-season spell in the First Division. He was loaned to then non-League Wimbledon. He made his senior debut aged 18 in the 1952 Boxing Day visit of Southampton to Fulham, then in their first season back in the Second Division.
