Born in London of Limerick-born parents, Austin Hayes was a product of Southampton’s London Selection Centre. A neat, darting forward, he scored twice on his debut, in a European Cup Winners’ Cup-tie. In 1979, he was in the Saints side that lost to Nottingham Forest in the League Cup Final and was capped by Republic of Ireland v Denmark. He was not yet 21, but with the likes of Kevin Keegan, Charlie George and Phil Boyer to compete with, his precocious pedigree was not enough to earn him regular First Division football. Austin had a further 100 League games left in him, though, as he dropped down the divisions. He was still only 27 when he went to play in Sweden, but he soon returned to London, to die, tragically young, of cancer