Some more old stuff - Watford FC from 1928 (well done if you can identify any of the names here): Watford team photo from 1950 whcih includes Kenny's dad, Frank Jackett. Can anybody identify him? Our 1971 team photo: The bench during the Wrexham match, 1982 And George Reilly celebrating his goal against Plymouth in the FA cup semi-final: Large, hi-res versions of all pictures can be seen here: http://media.*****images.com/photos...f-c-team-group-picture-id79661243?s=2048x2048 http://media.*****images.com/photos...atford-football-picture-id3379330?s=2048x2048 http://media.*****images.com/photos...ge-road-ground-picture-id75872930?s=2048x2048 http://media.*****images.com/photos...ootball-match-picture-id106521582?s=2048x2048 http://media.*****images.com/photos...-only-goal-the-picture-id93713796?s=2048x2048
With your clues of other sport and captaining England, I thought far left looked a bit like Mike Gatting. Have just had a look at Gatting's Wikipedia page and it says he used to play for Watford reserves! So I'm going with Gatting! If that's correct, then holy crap - had no idea Gatting used to be a Watford player!!!
Yeah it's Mike Gatting. Even though he played as an outfield player for us he was a goalkeeper in his younger days having trials with QPR and at Arsenal.. where his brother played. An all round sportsman.
Great afternoon with that vital win featuring a slightly porky Cally who was back on loan for a short period. Then we got hammered 2-5 or similar by Bristol city at home in the last game with status safe.
Correct. Yeah he's changed a bit. Not sure about the one on the right. Listed as P Lake but i can find no other record of him.
I really enjoyed 88/89 as that was the season I started attending regularly. Even though my first match was in December 1983, before GT left in 1987 I probably went to no more than about home 5 matches and 3 away per season. During the relegation season I hardly bothered, I think I only managed about 3 games for the whole season but at least I saw the 1-0 away win at Highbury near the end of the season.
A photo that came up on Watford Museum's Facebook page today. I can see Luther & Cally in the pic but cant make out the opposition. Their no.5 (far left) looks like a huge bloke with a big mop of curly hair. Could that be Brian Kilcline in his Notts County days? That would tie in with the era and i seem to recall they had a pretty small away following. Anyone?
Brilliant thread by the way guys. Meant to say that several times. Stevo, I don't recall Notts County playing in anything other than their traditional kit. My guess is this could be Brighton?? Our first season up in Div1 given the relatively well filled Rookery for a poorly supported away team. They wore all blue in those days. Foster 5, Ramsey 4 and Stevens 3? ST
I was also thinking Brighton but figured they would have brought support more than that. So i did a bit of extra research and found the 82/83 seasons's review below. Notts County wore an all blue away kit that season and i'm pretty sure it's them (at 33.22) the 5-3 game. The Brighton game is also on there (at 17.56) and although their kit is near identical i see Foster was wearing his head band which i would have thought you could see in the photo. Looking at the pic i'm a bit surprised to see just how much space there was to the touchline on that side. I mean i knew there was a fair bit but it looks massive here.
Steve, I like the Notts County theory - I also remember them wearing blue - but the thing that worries me is the pitch. The 5-3 game was in March but the pitch here looks fairly pristine and in those days that surely meant either early, or perhaps very late season. Also, that is a VERY small away following for a First Division match, even in 1983, and the home section is not that full either. I wondered if it could be early in the Second Division season before we were promoted? Callaghan was a regular by then and I see there was a home game against Oldham for example with a 9000 attendance. I have no idea what strip Oldham might have worn though.
Have a look at the video clip. The pitch for the County game was in pretty good nick apart from worn goalmouths. Also note the Watford side of the Rookery doesnt appear overly full (you cant see the County side unfortunately) and that the advertising boards look like they are in the same place. Talking advertising boards one of them in the photo is Iveco.. who you'll recall didnt come along as club sponsor until the first top flight season. Maybe they had the odd advertising board before that time but i dont recall them.
I know I should never have doubted you. I think you are 100% correct having seen the clip although I still never remember Notts County in blue; there were obviously too many goals in the game to remember anything else. The headband on Foster was so famous I did have a doubt over it. The two clinchers you didn't mention are that the Notts County #4 is a black guy as in your photo (cant think who he is ?) and the numbers on the shirts are different - solid for Notts County (as in the photo), three lines for Brighton. Two different games both both great memories so thanks for the clip as a reminder.
Nope - cant remember either of those players. I am sure you must be right though. And both you and Stevo definitely correct with Kilcline. Stevo, I have an afternoon to myself so no more photo questions please today otherwise the afternoon will be lost forever and I've got loads I should be doing!
It is Tristan Benjamin. I found this reproduced WO match report and it makes for interesting reading.. http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/5760613.March_12__1983__Watford_5__Notts_County_3/ County had some well known faces around the club at that time. Managed by Howard Wilkinson and players such as Kilcline, Nigel Worthington, Justin Fashanu and John Chiedozie. The latter was sent off late in the game.. by Roger Milford! "The coloured County winger called the coloured linesman a black "whatsit", after the latter had plainly erred in giving Watford a corner" Interesting indeed!
I've just stumbled across this thread having only recently discovered this forum. It is wonderful, simply wonderful. Thank you to all of you for sharing. About to get stuck into it. I'll be back in a few days
The previous year we also played Bristol City at home on the last day, the week after the great escape was completed by winning at Oxford, we lost 3-2 and IIRC Andy Cole got a couple of City's goals.
Ha! Well i have a touch of the flu at the moment so i'm here all day.. just like most days No photo questions this time, just photo's. An interesting urban photo shoot for Luther here..
Yes that was the game I was referring to not the 5-2 win. Remember thinking thank god we'd got the points we needed at oxford.
I think the great escape that season was the most incredible achievement in my time watching Watford, purely because we had been so awful earlier in the year under both Lee and Perryman. To get 23 points from that run of 10 games was nothing short of miraculous. Seeing the class of a declining Cally at that time also reminded us how far we had fallen. Big thanks also from me to Stevo for his contributions to this thread. It makes an old(ish) git like me very nostalgic and happy.
I knew Frank a little in the eighties, and from what I remember of him, I'd say second from right, back row.
''Twas indeed a great end of season -I went to Swindon away (and knew we would be safe as butler scored so miracles do happen) and Portsmouth away (falconer 88th minute). Amazing escape
The importance shouldn't be underestimated either. We had been a small club that hit the heights under GT and could very easily slipped back to being another lower league team again like Oldham/Oxford etc did. Staying in the 2nd tier that year, and again under Lewington/Boothroyd, and getting back reasonably quickly the one time we did slip down, gave us the base to be where we are today. Seeing WFC in the 3rd tier in the future would now seem as unusual to anyone under 40, as WFC being securely in the top 2 tiers seemed to everyone in 1980 !!!!
