Third Hall of Fame Inductee Named
Greenock Morton are delighted to announce that Davie Hayes is the next member of the Hall of Fame Class of 2023 and will be inducted at our end of season ‘An Evening with Morton’ event!
Davie Hayes was one of Morton’s longest-serving players, amassing 465 appearances in all competitions over a 15-year career at Cappielow between May 1969 and June 1984.
Davie now joins Peter Weatherson and Erik Sorensen in the Greenock Morton Hall of Fame Class of 2023.
Davie Hayes bio by Niall McGilp
Davie Hayes is one of Morton’s longest-serving players, amassing 465 appearances in all competitions over a 15-year career at Cappielow between May 1969 and June 1984. Indeed, Davie was briefly the Club’s record appearance holder, when, in 1981, he surpassed 1922 Cup-winner Jackie Wright’s 57-year old figure of 413 Morton games, before himself being overtaken by Jim Holmes a few years later. That honour subsequently moved on again to David Wylie, and finally Derek Collins.
Signed by Morton as a 15-year old from boys’ club football, Davie made his debut in March 1970 in a First Division match against Airdrie at Broomfield, aged just 16. And just over a month later, he was one of three teenagers (the others were George Anderson and Joe Jordan) who played in a fantastic 2-0 Morton win over Rangers at Ibrox. The following season, he played in Morton’s 2-1 win at Molyneux against Wolves in the Texaco Cup.
A marauding, no nonsense full-back, Hayes quickly established himself as a fans’ favourite and by season 1971/72, he was the Club’s regular right-back, a role he continued to perform for well over a decade. His nickname of “Hannibal” came from the popular TV show “Alias Smith and Jones” – one of the lead characters was “Hannibal Hayes”.
A classic overlapping full-back, Davie was strong, direct and uncompromising, in the days when many clubs fielded quality wingers.
Morton won two trophies during Davie’s long spell with the Ton, the first coming in 1977/78 as he captained Benny Rooney’s side to the First Division Championship; Davie is fondly remembered for scoring a crucial goal against Airdrieonians in the second last game of that season, which set Morton on the way to a hard fought 3-1 victory under the Cappielow lights, to secure promotion. Manager Benny Rooney believed that “Davie Hayes showed what being a captain is all about, getting the equaliser by finishing off a move that he started himself in his own half.” One headline said it all –
DAVIE HAYES LEADS MORTON TO THE PREMIER LEAGUE
His crucial goal was not only the best and most important of the 3 goals which he scored in his 15 years with the club, it was also his last. the others coming against Kilmarnock in 1973 and Montrose in 1977.
There followed 5 remarkable seasons in the Premier League, with Davie captaining the side and making more than 115 top-flight appearances. The club briefly led the Premier League in 1979, and appeared in two national semi-finals, going down to Aberdeen in the League Cup, also in 1979, and Rangers in the Scottish Cup in 1981, both by 2 goals to one. After relegation in 1983, Davie was still part of the squad that bounced back straight away by winning won the First Division Championship in 1983/84, albeit his season was blighted by injury. This was his last season in the hoops, as he was released in the summer of 1984 by manager Tommy McLean, bringing the curtain down on a fantastic Morton career.
