After winning the 2006 British Under-15 Championship there wasn’t a club in the Conference League who weren’t trying to sign Haines and in the end he chose the now defunct Cleveland Bays, and made an instant impact.
Haines, like many other young Brits, moved on to Scunthorpe the following year and played a big part in their dominance in 2007, where they won every trophy on offer. His form was good enough to persuade Workington to sign him for the 2008 season, and his maiden Premier League campaign was a successful one.
In 2009 Haines opted to head south and test himself with a smaller track as he headed to Rye House. In May, however, Haines broke his hand in a World Under-21 Qualifier and didn’t return until early August. His average for that season was above seven and in November, Wolverhampton announced their intention to use Haines in a doubling-up capacity for the following season.
In the Premier League, it was Kings Lynn who Haines chose and he started the season well. In April, Haines surprised everybody to win the British Under-21 Championship at Lakeside in what is the highlight of his career to date.
Despite success on the track, Haines admitted publicly that he was considering his future in the sport as he was not enjoying his racing and it was only Wolverhampton promoter Chris Van Straaten who persuaded him to continue. Even though Haines had upped his average for Lynn, he was released in August and he made the switch to Redcar.
After finishing the season, Haines travelled to Australia to race in the winter and in December, he suffered horrific injuries in a crash with Ricky Kling and Pontus Aspregren. Haines broke his shoulder in six places, broke seven bones in his back, broke seven ribs and suffered a punctured lung.
Haines’ recovery received a setback shortly after he was brought round when he got a lung infection, but from January onwards Haines made terrific progress. Initially signed by Redcar, they weren’t certain he would be fit to start the season so left him out of the side. In April, Newport announced that Haines had signed a short-term deal at the club.
He was dropped after just two appearances due to injuries to other riders, but soon returned to Scunthorpe in place of the injured Carl Wilkinson. Haines struggled to recapture his best form and he was replaced by Michael Palm Toft at the end of June.
Short spells at Somerset and Newcastle followed but 2011 will certainly go down as a year to forget for Haines. 2012 will give the Bolton racer a fresh start and with an injury-free run, you wouldn’t bet against him finding his old form pretty quickly.
Born: 4 September 1991, Bolton, England.
