I have an early childhood memory of attending a game at Vicarage Road (possibly the Pat Molloy testimonial v Wolves in 1973) during which Elton John briefly appeared as a sub. Have I imagined this or did it actually happen?
It happened.. almost as you said. Duncan Welbourne's testimonial in May 74.. seems he started the game. I remember someone mentioning this to me but i'd kind of forgotten about it. It would be great to find a pic.
I was definitely at this game but I don’t remember EJ’s performance. I was probably knocked sideways by the rare sighting of Malcolm Dalrymple and that moustache.
It's a pity Elton John wasn't playing last Saturday, as judging by the scoreline in that game we might have beaten Wolves had he been in the team (View attachment in quote shown above)
Somewhere in my attic I have an autograph book in which Malcolm Dalrymple's signature shares a page with Elton John's. There must be thousands of collectors of Malcolm Dalrymple memorabilia out there who'd pay a fortune for that!
Just a shame the Malcolm Dalrymple collectors don't come on this forum, after playing 7 games for Bristol Rovers and 5 for us he signed for FC Hendon making 67 appearances. Then escaped to Lancashire in 1976 where he still lives and works as a lorry driver! I'm afraid he was one of those players we have had over the last 50 years, not remembered for their football prowess!
Thanks for finding that! I thought Elton came on as a sub but he clearly started. I don't think he lasted more than about 10 mins though and, I also think he played in his glasses! There must be some images taken on the evening somewhere and I wonder if there's a report hidden away in some dusty corner of t'internet?
Yes. And I can't imagine Derek 'The Doog' Dougan poncing around with a Mexican wrestler's mask as part of his goal celebrations either!
I'm sure I remember seeing Stevo or someone post some pics of EJ in a WFC kit on the pitch doing what looked like warm up calf stretches. Maybe before that game ?
There's a very good book called The Wrestling by Simon Garfield that is worth reading if you're at all nostalgic about Mick MacManus, Giant Hyastacks, Big Daddy etc and the whole 70's World of Sport wrestling circuit. It came out a few years back, but I'm sure you can get a copy on Amazon
There's a whole series of pics of Elton and the boys warming up.. but they include Rod Stewart as it was a promo thing the pair of them did for the concert they played at the Vic, which was actually 2 days before the game. https://the18.com/sites/default/fil...he18-Image-Rod-Stewart-Elton-John-Watford.jpg But.. there are some other pics of Elton with the full kit on (different glasses.. no hot pants) which i'd always presumed was the same day but could well have been the day of the game. https://imgs.smoothradio.com/images...elax=1&signature=m8x7orMON5uqBauWgRiRT3-z3V0=
Any other occasions when a team owner player for the team? I think I can remember it happening in Sky's Dream Team. Got a feeling it was the stipulation too far with Bassini's takeover of Bolton that finally scuppered the deal.
Sorry for chipping in a bit late. I thought Elton came on as a sub too, for some reason I also think it was in the second half, but I was only seven at the time. The most surprising thing about him was that he had football boots on and not platforms! I don't remember him getting much of the ball, but he spent most of his time in the Rookery/Shrodells quadrant, and I am sure, but again, I was seven, that we were attacking the Rookery. I was in front of the Shrodells stand, and went down the front to watch him, but apart from it being Elton John, the football part was all a bit underwhelming. My Mum and Dad were friends of Duncan and they went to the 'Dance' at the Top Rank, later Baileys, Paradise Lost, etc., etc.. They got introduced to Elton and Co, and the thing that stood out the most to my Mum was how short Rod Stewart was. I didn't go to the concert, but I could hear it from my back garden, a bit further up Vicarage Road, on the Holywell end. The other testimonial I remember going to when I was a wee thing was Ron Rollit's. We played a Watford All Stars team, that included my then footballing hero Billy Jennings. Me and a few other kids hung around the directors entrance for ages hoping to get his autograph, and although we didn't get to see him, one of the stewards went down and got them for us.
Slightly before my time this, but I seem to remember watching GT turn out for us in a testimonial, or friendly of some kind. I think the team wore old-fashioned kit for the match. ...or maybe I just dreamt it.
He, GT, gave away a penalty so Corinthian Casuals could get a gosl, I think. There is a team photo of the players in period kit out there somewhere, if I remember correctly. For some reason Jan Lohman seems to stick in my memory as particularly looking the part. Which will be really embarrasing if it turns out he wasn't in it!
GT gave away a penalty because he wanted re-enact what Corinthian Casuals did in the 19th century when they conceded a penalty: The goalkeeper would stand by a post to provide the penalty taker with an open goal, as they felt that that was more gentlemanly. GT told Sherwood to do that but the ref wouldn't allow it. In the Centenary book there is a picture of Elton playing in the game against Wolves, I think.
They had footage of this in the following weekend's Saint and Greavsie. Didn't they have just a bucket of col water instead of a treatment bag. I think Watford won 10-1. As mentioned, the Casuals goal was courtesy of a deliberate penalty conceded by GT. Their goalkeeper did the honours of smasing the penalty home. This was also the first appearance of the Steve Terry playing as a centre-forward experiment.
There was also the friendly v Vancouver Whitecaps. 1-0 victory with an early goal scored by Malcolm Poskett. They ended the game with a US soccer league style shootout. The type where you dribble the ball from outside the penalty area (was it the centre spot?) in a 1 v 1 contest against the goalkeeper. The Vancouver team was stuffed full of former Football League Division 1 (the top division) pros.
My first ever game . Pretty sure it was that year that I scored into the Rookery end when it was the away end in the half time youth team shoot out which was also a 25 yard shoot off. That was for Watford Rockets who used to get beaten by double figures every week , think our record was 22-0 loss when their keeper scored a brace .