Jonathan Hayes (born 9 July 1987) is an Irish professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...
team
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
and
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
.
He began his career in England with
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
, but did not break through to their first team, serving two loan spells prior to being released. Picked up by
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
, his opportunities were also limited and again he went out on loan twice. He joined
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...
in Scotland in 2009, becoming an important member of the team, a status he also enjoyed after moving on to
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
three years later. In 2017 he signed for Celtic, the reigning Scottish champions, helping them to defend their title and win the following two as a squad member, sometimes playing at
left back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
; he left in 2020 and returned to Aberdeen in June 2020.
Club career
Early career
Hayes was born in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, County Dublin. He started his career at
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
, but with first team opportunities limited, he joined
Forest Green Rovers
Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...
on loan in February 2006, scoring on his debut in the
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...
against
Dorchester Town
Dorchester Town Football Club are a semi-professional football club, based in Dorchester, Dorset, England. They currently play in the .
The club is affiliated to the Dorset County Football Association and is a FA chartered Standard club. They ...
. He spent a month on loan at
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
in October 2006 without making an appearance, and in January 2007, was loaned to
MK Dons
Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...
On 6 June 2007, Hayes was released by Reading at the end of his contract. He joined
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
on a three-year deal on 4 July 2007, and made his league debut against
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
on 11 August.
On 20 July 2009, Hayes was released from his Leicester contract by mutual consent.
Northampton Town (loan)
On 7 January 2008, Hayes joined
Northampton Town
Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...
on loan until the end of the season. On 13 October, Hayes joined Cheltenham Town on a trial period, with a view to a loan move, a move which was confirmed on 20 October 2008.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
On 22 July 2009, Hayes joined
Scottish First Division
The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013.
History
The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...
side
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...
after a successful trial period. Inverness were promoted to the
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...
at the end of the 2009–10 season. Hayes was part of the team that guided Inverness to the
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
final against
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
. Hayes was involved in setting up both goals for
Adam Rooney
Adam Christopher David Rooney (born 21 April 1988) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Brackley Town. He previously played for Stoke City, spent spells on loan at Yeovil Town, Chesterfield and Bury, was a re ...
and
Nauris Bulvitis
Nauris is a Latvian masculine given name.
People bearing the name Nauris include:
*Nauris Bulvītis (born 1987), footballer
*Nauris Puntulis
Nauris Puntulis (born 17 July 1961) is a Latvian politician. , he serves as List of Ministers of Cu ...
, however, the Highlanders lost out 3–2 to Dundee at
McDiarmid Park
McDiarmid Park is a stadium in Perth, Scotland, used mainly for association football. It has been the home ground of Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone since its opening in 1989. The stadium has an all-seated capacity of .
As well as St Jo ...
in
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
Hayes was linked with a move away from Inverness after impressing in his debut season with the club, as his contract was expiring. However, he went on to sign a new two-year deal. On 11 September 2010, he scored the opening goal in an SPL match against Rangers with a stunning long-range strike.
Hayes left Inverness after the 2011–12 season. He rejected their offer of a new one-year contract.
Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
claimed a deal had been struck with Hayes on 30 May 2012. Almost a month later, Hayes finally put pen to paper, signing a two-year contract with the Dons. Hayes went on to make his competitive debut for Aberdeen, in an opening day 1–0 defeat away to
SPL
SPL may refer to:
Association football
* Saudi Professional League
* Scottish Premier League
* SportPesa Premier League, Kenya
* Singapore Premier League
* RoboCup Standard Platform League, matches between autonomous robots
Computing Program ...
champions
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
. The following weekend, Hayes made his home debut against newly promoted side Ross County in a game which finished 0–0. He scored his first goal in Aberdeen colours in a testimonial for
Neil Simpson
Neil Alexander Simpson (born 15 November 1961) is a Scottish former association football, footballer, who played for Aberdeen F.C., Aberdeen, Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United, Motherwell F.C., Motherwell and Scotland national football te ...
against
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
. The midfielder showed good perseverance, pinching the ball off of
Paul Scholes
Paul Scholes (born 16 November 1974) is an English football coach, pundit, former player, and co-owner of Salford City. He spent his entire professional playing career with Manchester United, for whom he scored over 150 goals in more than 700 ...
in the penalty box, before beating
David de Gea
David de Gea Quintana (born 7 November 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Manchester United. During the mid-2010s, he was widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
Born in Madrid ...
with a composed finish.
Hayes scored his first competitive goal for the Dons' in a 2–1 victory away to
St Johnstone
St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...
. He pounced on a mistake by goalkeeper
Alan Mannus
Alan Mannus (born 19 May 1982) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Shamrock Rovers. He began his career at Linfield, and during his time there he had spells on loan at Larne and Carrick Rangers. He then sign ...
and defender
Frazer Wright
Frazer Wright (born 23 December 1979) is a Scottish former professional footballer and current assistant manager of club Stenhousemuir.
Wright, who started his career with Stranraer played for Kilmarnock, St Johnstone, Dumbarton and Stirlin ...
, leaving Hayes with the easy task of firing into the empty net, before celebrating in front of the travelling Aberdeen support. On 15 September, he provided an assist for
Cammy Smith
Cameron Smith (born 24 August 1995) is a Scottish association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Partick Thistle F.C., Partick Thistle in the Scottish Championship. He began his career with Aberdeen ...
to equalise against his old club, Inverness, in the dying minutes. The game finished 1–1.
On 3 August 2013, Hayes opened the scoring in the first match of the new season against
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
. This goal gave Hayes the honour of scoring the first ever goal in the new
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...
. Hayes agreed a contract extension in November 2013 that would keep him at Aberdeen until the summer of 2016.
In a 4–0 win over St Johnstone in the
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
semi-final at Tynecastle, Hayes scored twice to help send the Dons into their first major cup final for 14 years. A poor goal kick by Steve Banks allowed
Adam Rooney
Adam Christopher David Rooney (born 21 April 1988) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Brackley Town. He previously played for Stoke City, spent spells on loan at Yeovil Town, Chesterfield and Bury, was a re ...
to square the ball across the six-yard box for Hayes to knock into the net. Clever footwork by the winger late in the second half led to a fine finish just inside the 18-yard box to wrap up the match and send Aberdeen through to the final. Celtic goalkeeper
Fraser Forster
Fraser Gerard Forster (born 17 March 1988) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur.
Forster sta ...
's run of clean sheets (13 games) was finally ended on 1,256 minutes on 25 February 2014 when Hayes beat him from 30 yards to open the scoring in a 2–1 win for ''The Dons''. The goal was later voted as the SPFL Goal of the Season. On 16 March 2014, Hayes started for Aberdeen in the League Cup Final but early on he suffered a shoulder injury and had to be replaced by
Cammy Smith
Cameron Smith (born 24 August 1995) is a Scottish association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Partick Thistle F.C., Partick Thistle in the Scottish Championship. He began his career with Aberdeen ...
.
In the opening match of the 2014–15 season he scored Aberdeen's fourth goal in a 5–0 victory against FK Daugava Riga in the
Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
first qualifying round first leg.
On 29 December 2014, it was announced that Hayes had signed a contract extension, keeping him at Aberdeen until summer 2018.
In February 2016, Hayes had 18 stitches in his arm after being bitten by a dog.
Celtic
On 17 June 2017, Hayes signed a three-year deal with
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...
champions
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
, for a fee in the region of £1 million. On 23 December 2017, Hayes scored his first competitive goal for Celtic against his former club Aberdeen, scoring the second goal in a 3–0 win. He spent the second half of the season out injured after a tackle during a game against Dundee on
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...
, three days after his first goal of the season. He scored his second goal for the club in the 2–0 win over Rangers at Ibrox on 1 September 2019. He was released by the club in May 2020.
Return to Aberdeen
Hayes rejoined
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
on a free transfer from
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
, his contract having expired, on 23 June 2020, after three years away from the club. He signed a two-year deal, taking a significantly smaller wage to re-sign.
In August 2020 he was one of eight Aberdeen players who received a suspended three-match ban from the
Scottish FA
The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for ...
Hayes received his first senior call-up in March 2016.
Career statistics
Honours
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
*
Scottish First Division
The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013.
History
The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...