Thanks for the comprehensive info, Jossy. It just shows how the memory plays tricks: I had forgotten about the temporary seating, but I hadn't realised the lower tier wasn't completed for so long. I suppose it makes sense when you think about our decline in status over that period. By the way, let's not forget Bruce Dyer's contribution to funding the Vicarage Road stand as well!
Picture 8 - The term "shells" is used. Do you think this is correct even back then or was it supposed to read cells?
I think they mean 'shell like' as in the convex shape of the sections. PS For the record, the sale of Bruce Dyer part paid for the Vic Stand and likewise the sale of Furlong did the same for the Rookery Stand.
So many great pictures here it's difficult to know which ones to comment on. This one intrigued me, so far as I remember the dancing hatters (yep, I never realised that either till relatively recently) electronic scoreboard was already in situ by my first home game..can anyone confirm the year it was installed? For sure, it's a surprise to me the previous scoreboard was powered by Etch-A-Sketch. Apart from the prices (obviously), the attire and the lack of Times New Roman font, that is exactly the view I remember of the Vic end terraces when I first started going (1980)
The last game for the "Etch-A-Sketch" was on May 8th 1978.. Herts Cup Final vs Tring. It's last 'proper' game would have been the last ever 4th division game we played vs Southport. As you can see they only needed a medium size truck to cart it away. Wonder where it went? The first game for the new scoreboard was a friendly loss to Wolves August 8th 78. The first full fixture being the 4-0 win over Brentford in the League Cup four days later. It's final game was the 1–0 loss to Oxford United on 8 May 1993.. the last game for the old terrace. The new scoreboard didnt look quite finished in the bottom pic.. still awaiting some advertising boards.
God and l love you Stevo..if everyone else thinks you're a tw&t it's their problem. (It's a line from the Full Monty... Nobody thinks you are a tw&t, maybe)
My brother once sent me a birthday card with something similar.. only worse. The front said "God loves you man" and inside it said 'But everyone else thinks you're a c****!' Going back to that original scoreboard.. could they possibly have been able to read it from the Rookery end?
Thanks for posting. I can see myself in that photo just to the right of the scoreboard as you look at it. 1978-nearly 40 years ago. I have just looked back at my 1978 Promotion book to confirm How times fly
That's some way to get to Gillingham. We all like to complain about the M25 but that's a 3hr trip each way at least. PS - I think that game I've seen on one of your vids on youtube. Would be about the right time. We won 3-1 ???
Just checked - I was wrong, it was 1978 and we won 3-2. Great vid though Stevo, encapsulates the terrace culture of the day.
That's the one. A nice little turn out from Watford. It was on MOTD. No segregation, Luther getting racial abuse from the crowd and old fashioned bundles on the terracing.
I would only have been 10 and didn't go to the likes of Gillingham at that age of course but I do love the old terrace bundles you describe which I started to enjoy a few years later first hand. Knees Up Mother Brown anyone? In fact I 'star' in the terrace bundle at the end of your Kaiserslautern vid as a 15 year old but to save my own embarrassment (cringe-worthy performance and haircut) I'm not saying which one I am.
I found this in my garage over the weekend, not club history but fans' history and I remember that it caused a stir in the national press at the time....
no you haven't. You're about 0.1secs too early, 5 metres too far away and nowhere near bouncy enough You'll know who by now with that clue. Keep it to yourself ;-)
I recall GT being a bit miffed after the Wolves friendly because they had been testing it out and putting lots of daft stuff up and the crowd were taking the piss, missing the bigger picture as he saw it. We also used to sing "69 69 69" for a full minute when the clock ticked round - simpler times !
Yesterday i found a new source of old Watford pics. Ive found quite a few interesting ones so i hope youre ready for them! I'll start with this one from the Fa Cup 4th round tie vs Man United in Jan 1950. 32,384 in attendance.. it was the first 30k plus crowd in our history and one of only five times we have topped that total in home matches.
Amazing to think that after that epic Cup Tie and finishing 6th in the old Div. 3 South that year, only just over a year later we were applying for re-election to the Football League along with Palarse! Both of us succeeded.... Highlights of the 50-51 season were 5-0 and 6-0 defeats away to Southend and Northampton, a 4-0 defeat at The (old) Den and a 2-0 reverse at Carrow Road in the First Round of the FA Cup. However we did manage to do the double over Leyton Orient on Christmas Day (home) and Boxing Day (away) - our only away win of that season. Also remarkable is the fact that Norwich, Ipswich and Nottingham Forest were all in that division at the time - also B'Muff then known as & Boscombe Utd. Forest were champions and promoted (following their near neighbours County who went up in 49-50). Only one team were promoted in those days. Norwich, who finished in second place 7 points ahead of 3rd, stayed down.
A propos of nothing very much, my school old boys 1st xi came 3rd in the southern amateur league in 1936-37 behind Ipswich town and Cambridge United
So is that anything to do with Watford FC History? I thought not - if you are not interested in my comment, then don't read it, rather than trying (and failing) to be clever. Simple enough.....
No discord on the history thread please.. Here's some more pics for you Can you name the games these were taken at?
Top one is Brum away in the quarter final in 84. Next are Newcastle at home, probably division 2 (79/80?) as I think that is Eric Steele in goal and then Arsenal away (Malcolm Allen 85/6?).
FA cup QF at St Andrews.. 80/81 home to Newcastle and 85/86 at Highbury, the time we beat the Gunners two days running.
Great picture from the Homes of Football Twitter account: https://twitter.com/HOMESofFOOTBALL/status/935177202899046400
And also from https://twitter.com/HOMESofFOOTBALL/status/935219003097788417 - a high res, better quality version of a picture that has been posted here before:
Something i found recently to cheer us up in these somewhat depressing times.. Leicester play off game in case you didnt realise. Which i guess qualifies as history now.