On This Day...

Could have been so different if Blissett (and then Pollard in the 38th minute (?) of the second leg) had scored instead of hitting the woodwork.

 

That was a brilliant Forest team though. The best in their history. It was another nearly moment in Watford's "if's, but's and maybe's". So many of those in my supporting lifetime.

If only Roger Milford had not sent off Wilf Roston at Luton, he'd have been available for the '84 cup final and would have been infinitely better than Neil Price.
If only Roger Milford had not given a 90th minute for Ian Rush's dive in '86. We'd most likely would have beaten Southampton in the SF then it would have been a replica FA Cup final Watford v Everton, as it was in '84.
If only Coton and Sherwood not been injured in the FA Cup SF against Spurs, we would have stood a better chance of beating them in '87.
If only Helguson had taken that straight forward chance at Anfield in the final minute, we may have gone through against Liverpool in the League Cup SF.
If only that moronic fan had not run onto the pitch in the final minute against Sheffield Wednesday, we may have won the Championship for the first time in our history
If only the referee not allowed City to score an offside goal then award them a high dubious penalty at Swansea when they were trailing 2-1 in the FA Cup QF with only 10 minutes to go, Swansea would have knocked them out and we'd have played either Brighton or Swansea in the 2019 final.
If only the GLT had worked for the Sheff Utd v Villa match and have given United an obvious goal, Villa would most likely have lost and we would have stayed up in 2020.

These are the big events that instantly stick in my mind, all to go against us at historic defining moments.

 

Yes, all very valid complaints. I wonder if there is an equivalent list of where we have been fortunate ? Can't think of any offhand but maybe memory deliberately wipes those ?

 

The only big one, which was more of a stars aligning, or the football gods being kind to us, was in 1983. We beat champions Liverpool 2-1 on the final day. Man United only needed a point to secure 2nd place, and were winning 2-1 at Notts County until the final minute. Then inexplicably conceded two last minute goals to lose the match 3-2. That turn of events ensured we finished 2nd in the old First Division in 1982-83, which for me, still has a lot of prestige. My kids cannot believe we were ever that good, until I produced the "Tales of the Unexpected" book.

A more minor one was when we got into the playoffs on the final day by goal difference, as Derby conceded a late goal and we leapfrogged them into 6th place. Not that it did us much good as we lost 6-1 to Hull over two legs. But that has just jogged my memory as in the same Hull match, with the scores at 0-0 in the first leg, Danny Sh1ttu had a perfectly valid goal disallowed by Kevin Friend. So we could have taken the lead in that game, and who knows how that would have affected things from there on.

 

Yes that Shittu goal should have stood, and who knows what might have been.
You may have dodgy opinions but you have an excellent memory !

 

I’ve been taking my vitamin D3 supplements today.

 

Still sick about those Hull games. Really bother me to this day. Friend also arrogantly sent off Eustace in the second half. Then a goal that shouldn’t have been given in the second leg was. We never stood a chance.

 

We would have played Southampton in the SF. Sheff Wed played Everton in the other semi.

 

This is why Kevin Friend is on my long referee hit list.

 

I guess the most fortunate that comes to mind was the 1999 play offs. We won the semi first leg 1-0 but had Robinson sent off so he was ineligible for the second leg at St Andrews; in the second leg they equalised the tie after 90 seconds then threw the kitchen sink at us for the remainder of the night but held out. Then we had to take the penalties at their end.
We got to the final and for the first 30 minutes Bolton absolutely peppered shots at the impervious Chamberlain and a couple of wide shots, however once Wright scored we never looked back.

In another thread the 1991 great escape was discussed recently, but it probably wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for David Byrne's unexpected last minute winner at Boro that set the run off.

 

Just to correct my earlier post, I just realised I made a mistake. The 1986 semi, had we made it, would have been against Southampton, not Sheff Wed, which I’ve just noticed I wrote. I don’t know what’s the matter with me lately, making silly mistakes. I’m not myself I don’t think. Sorry.

I’d have felt confident at winning that one as Southampton finished below us in the table although I seem to recall (though that’s a risky thing for me to do lately) that they gave Liverpool a tough match in the semi and only lost in extra time after Mark Wright broke a leg.

 

Another factor that would have given us a better chance in the final was the absence of Neville Southall, who back then (as I'm sure you remember) was a very good keeper and had yet to balloon up to sumo size. Bobby Mimms was in goal, and was average at best. Highly likely also Lineker wouldn't have tried to barge Coton over when challenging for an aerial ball.

Liverpool fielded a side with zero English players, apparently the first time in 100 years that had happened in the cup final. I wonder if somewhere a young, pre-obese Martin Samuel was furiously writing an article in crayon about how they were 'everything that's wrong with football'?

Completely un-football related, Chernobyl had been burning away for 2 weeks with the Soviets still denying to the rest of the world anything very serious had happened.

 

Further o that Liverpool quarter final and the 'dive' by Rush, the WO have coincidentally published an article on it today:

https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/24055716.looking-back-watfords-fa-cup-defeat-liverpool-1986/

An interesting comment was posted:

 

No coincidence about it. Andrew reads this forum. He obviously read my post, jogged his memory and thought it would be a good idea to write about that 1986 game.

PS. I knew Eric Steele and scored a penalty past him once. No way would he write that.

 

On this day 35 years ago after 450 minutes of football we finally got past Newcastle United courtesy of a Glenn Roeder own goal in extra time.



https://oldwatford.com/1989/01/18/1...atford-1-newcastle-united-0-after-extra-time/

 

I remember the score coming up on ceefax as the page came round. It just noted watford were 1-0 up and noted Roeder as the scorer. Took an age to confirm it was an own goal and that they hadn't simply got the score the wrong way round.

 

This was one of the few problems with Ceefax and football scores. I remember one day watching with a friend and we celebrated as it said we'd taken a late lead, I can't remember who it was against, but we'd never heard of the scorer. Whilst we were debating who this new Watford player could be the page refreshed and with crushing disappointment we saw the goal and scorer had been changed and given to the opposition.

 

For years my biggest if only, until it was replaced by the 'moronic fan' one, was if only we'd taken our chances in the League Cup Quarter Final at home to Sunderland in 1985 which we ended up losing 1-0. In my mind we were definitely on our way back to Wembley as all the big clubs had already been knocked out. Our opponents that day were struggling towards the bottom of Division One, we had already beaten them 3-1 at the Vic that season and of course had thrashed them 8-0 just a couple of seasons ago! To my 10 year old mind there was no way we could lose. Re-reading the newspaper reports from the game we peppered their goal during the first half, and Luther hit the bar with a header in the second. Waiting in the semi's were Chelsea or Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich or QPR and Norwich. The Canaries ended up winning the cup beating Sunderland 1-0 in the final.

One other is if only Ighalo had passed to Deeney away at Old Trafford in 2015/16. It was 0-0 at the time and they were as fragile then as they are today. He chose to shoot and de Gea saved whereas if he'd squared the ball Troy would've had a clear shot on goal. I'm sure if we'd scored first we'd have won and it would have meant so much to get our first win there since 1978.

 

If I remember this rightly, Sunderland had travelled down for the quarter-final a week or two before and it had been postponed so despite the icy pitch the pressure was on to get the game played.

The night before the game, which was also freezing, Watford trained on the pitch hoping to get to grips with the surface to give themselves an advantage. Sunderland trained at a nearby school pitch on the morning of the game, predominantly trying to simulate and defend against Lee Sinnott's long throws, then arrived at Vicarage Road before their pre-match meal asking to have access to the pitch so they could assess footwear and get the measure of the conditions. Watford allowed them to have half an hour or so on the pitch.

The goal itself was a fluke, a deflected shot that went past Coton, who was unsighted. I agree it was a great opportunity to get to Wembley again although Chelsea over two legs wouldn't have been easy, they finished 6th that season.

 

On the subject of a lasting feeling that was longer than usual after WFC losing a match, I have listed a few that stick in my mind, I would say the ones below are all behind that feeling against Liverpool FA Cup 1986.
1) QPR (H) 1969 lost 0-1 (Growing up in Middx so wanted to win this game)
2) QPR (A) 1969, they won 2-1 with the last kick of the game (as a 9 year old I was heartbroken again)
3) Walsall (H) 1975 2-3 defeat which relegated us to the 4th Division.
4) Luton (H) 1979 0-1 defeat last minute, Kirk Stevens ruined my Christmas.
5) Sunderland (H) 1985 FLC Q/F losing 0-1 to a bizarre own goal.
6) Luton (A) 1985 FA Cup 5th Rd 2nd Replay, lost 0-1 just gutting, having been 2-0 up in the first replay 4 days earlier.
7) Wimbledon (A) 1988 FA Cup Q/F lost 1-2, having led 1-0 against 10 men, and the chance to have played Luton in the FA Cup S/F at White Hart Lane.
8) Leicester City (H) May 1996 lost 0-1 and relegated to old 3rd Division.
9) Sheffield Wed (H) 2015 Drew 1-1, moments away from being Championship title winners.

 

On this day 11 years ago goals from Troy, Matej Vydra and Cristian Battocchio saw us beat Huddersfield Town 4-0 at the Vic.



https://oldwatford.com/2013/01/13/19th-january-2013-championship-watford-4-huddersfield-town-0-2/

 

On this day 56 years ago Barry Dyson scored twice on his debut as we won 2-0 away at Bristol Rovers.



https://oldwatford.com/1968/01/20/20th-january-1968-division-three-bristol-rovers-0-watford-2/

 

On this day six years ago, Javi was appointed Watford Head Coach.



https://oldwatford.com/2018/01/21/21st-january-2018-marco-silva-leaves-and-javi-gracia-arrives/

 

On this day 41 years ago Southampton became the first top flight side we did the double over as Chris Nicholl had a bad afternoon, scoring an own goal and gifting Luther our second with a bad back pass as we won 2-0.



https://oldwatford.com/1983/01/22/22nd-january-1983-division-one-watford-2-southampton-0/

 

On this day 42 years ago a 2-0 FA Cup Fourth Round win over West Ham including Nigel Callaghan's cheeky backheeled goal.



https://oldwatford.com/1982/01/23/23rd-january-1982-fa-cup-fourth-round-watford-2-west-ham-united-0/

 

On this day 9 years ago, the match at which we paid tribute to the late great Ken Furphy and were 2-0 down at half time to bottom of the table Blackpool but came back to win 7-2 with Ighalo scoring 4.



https://oldwatford.com/2015/01/24/24th-january-2015-championship-watford-7-blackpool-2/

 

On this day 19 years ago we played Liverpool at the Vic in the League Cup Semi-Final second leg losing 1-0 to a Steven Gerrard goal going out 2-0 on aggregate.



https://oldwatford.com/2005/01/25/2...0-liverpool-1-liverpool-won-2-0-on-aggregate/

 

I still remember how incredible this occasion felt as a young lad. Little old Watford playing the mighty Liverpool in the League Cup Semis having knocked out Premier League Portsmouth and Southampton in some of the most memorable matches of my life at Vicarage Road. Thinking back we gave it a good go only losing 0-1 in each leg, compare that to 6-0 in the FA Cup final!

 

Remember these games very well. All the goals occurred at the Vic, think both replays at Newcastle were 0-0. In the first game at Vicarage Road we recorded a place in the record books for scoring with our first touch of the ball. Newcastle kicked off and made a couple of passes on the way back to Dave Beasant. As was the way back then, he picked it up near the edge of his box and launched it up the pitch with a kick out of his hands. The ref blew for handball as he believed the ball was still in his hands as he stepped out of the edge of his area. Neil Redfearn then scored directly from the free kick.

It finished 2-2, with Newcastle leading 2-1 after a dodgy Mirandinha penalty (anyone remember him?) before Redfearn bailed us out again. Of course in the next round Redfearn also struck the winning goal from a free kick past Shilton as we beat Derby 2-1 before we eventually crashed out to Forest 0-3.

Interestingly, had we gone through and then won our quarter final like Forest did it would have been us in the catastrophic semi final at Hillsborough we where would almost certainly have been given the Leppings Lane end due to a smaller fan base than Clough's side. Seeing as it's since been proven (despite how much I can't stand Liverpool) that it was Duckenfield's complete ineptness combined with a stadium not fit for purpose that caused the tragedy, maybe it was just as well we never progressed.

 

We wouldn't have sold all our tickets.

 

True - so the whole tragedy could have been averted ?

 

Disagree. We sold all our tickets two years earlier for the Plumley match. Besides, it didn't need to be full to capacity to have happened because Duckenfield directed all fans in to the middle pens at the same time. The side pens were near empty. The additional 'ticketless' fans was something the South Yorkshire police made up to cover themselves.

 

The Redfearn game was actually the first replay. But you’re right that both games up at Newcastle were 0-0: the original tie and the second replay. I used to love these Cup sagas. This was the last of five we had in consecutive seasons 1985 to 1989. The other four, which each went to three games were against L*t*n, Man City, Walsall and Hull. Of course the only one we ultimately lost was against L*t*n.