Ok it's been quiet in this section so i'm going to get it kickstarted again by giving you some useful links if you are into the clubs history and havent come across them. The best place to start is Trefor Jones wfc archive, which lists every game & line up we have ever played.. as well as every player to play for us and loads more besides. I think it must be one of the most comprehensive archives for any club.. http://www.watfordfcarchive.com/ Secondly the brilliant resource of scanned programmes and press cuttings going back to the 1920's at.. https://oldwatford.com/ Kit & badge history.. http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Watford/Watford.htm This great Youtube channel put together by a very astute person.. https://www.youtube.com/user/stevohorn Another great Youtube channel which includes seasons reviews from the 80's, 90's & 2000's.. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHaixtBiF7xfvwMHUdY5xXw and finally if you are on Fbook this wfc historical group, which you'll need to be accepted into to (I'm sure you will be!) https://www.facebook.com/groups/1549217208481072/ If anyone has any more links they know of please add them here. I thank you.
Does anyone know why the Watford Archive site hasn’t been updated for last season yet? Worrying times.
It's always taken some time to update ive noticed. I guess it's quite a process because not only does he have to give us the rundown of the seasons games but also has to update all the other stats on the site such as opponents, player appearances etc.
You're probably right but it's such a great resource I'd hate to think it was falling by the wayside.
Most definitely. A while back i noticed some of the decade stats were not loading but thankfully that's back to normal. If Trefor ever decided it was too much i'd hope he'd find someone else to take over.
Excellent. I hadnt seen that site before. I'd make a good guess who's work it is though. His name is Tom... he's the wfc badge king!
Does anyone know much about the War League? I recently acquired a listing from a "Watford" game for that period. doesn't look very Watfordy
Only that my father played twice against us in the space of three weeks in 1945, whilst 'guesting' for Northampton. He wasn't a professional player but, for obvious reasons, lots of clubs had difficulty raising a team each week and relied upon soldiers stationed nearby - it was either that or have fixtures cancelled. And one snippet of trivia - the club that used the most players during the war was Crystal Palace - 186 of them.
Wartime football seems pretty confusing to me.. but there was a London War Cup that we participated in season 41/42. That season we also participated in the London League.. which only appeared to run for that one season. We re-joined the Football League South (not to be confused with Division3 South) the following season and until the end of the war. Details. as ever, can be found at wfc Archive.. http://www.watfordfcarchive.com/downloads/seasons/Seasons1940to1950.pdf It's interesting reading the comments under some of the games during wartime. This being a typical example.. "Fred Kurz of Grimsby Town, who was stationed at Woolwich Arsenal, actually played in this match as “Newman”, his name being withheld until a week later. It had been stated that “for special reasons” his true identity could not be revealed. Absent Without Leave was almost certainly the sole “special reason”. The visitors’ outside-left was Les Simmons, much later to become the Vicarage Road groundsman, who made up the numbers when Brighton turned up a man short"
Excellent! and here are the details of those games.. So they were actually played either side of the end of the war (VJ Day)
Wow - thanks for that. I can now tell my kids/grandkids that my dad played against Stan Mortensen and Bedford Jezzard. I knew previously that Bedford Jezzard had been on Watford's books - although he's listed in wikipedia as having never played a first team game. Presumably wartime games don't count. I never knew that Stan Mortensen was once a Hornet though (or, to be more precise, a Blue?).
Wow back at you.. i didnt know Stan Mortensen had played for Watford and completely missed it when i posted.
I see that Mortensen, whilst being the England reserve, actually took the field for Wales in a wartime match at Wembley. Doubly odd as subs weren’t allowed at that stage.
Yes, very sad. Watford fans owe him a lot for the benefit of all his research. I note that his online archive has been handed on to others to continue.
I see watfordarchive.com has disappeared. Does anyone know if an updated version is imminent, or have we lost it forever?
That is terrible news ☹️ and certainly hope it is not gone forever The site was always great to use to look up fact and figures and especially to see the history of the club through all the different aspects available such as players, managers, results etc etc.
I don’t know but even it it was not updated after I think season 15/16 it would be worthwhile retaining it - maybe “ folded “ into this site - if you know what I mean, as those records are worth keeping Trefor Jones sadly passed away last year and he created/maintained the site https://hornetheaven.com/2019/06/12/rip-trefor-jones/
Possibly heresy to admin but see WFC.net where there is a database tab with info gleaned from Watfordarchive.com http://watford.fcdb.info/
Not the right forum perhaps but anyone know how I can get hold of an old old friend George Riley I was a youth player 82/84 season and would love to contact him?
If you're on Twitter I'd contact Neil Price. I think he runs the ex-Watford players association thing. https://twitter.com/neillionheart?lang=en
I live in Nottingham and I came across this blog put together by someone who is obviously a Forest fan, but who has some affinity to Watford, enough to write about the -'orns at length, including loads of historical videos and images, all most probably already in this section. There must be a deep reason why he has paid us so much attention but interesting, none the less... http://forest40yearsago.blogspot.com/2019/01/forest-go-breaking-watford-herts.html
Long shot i know but does anyone have or be aware of any footage of Watford v Newport 1977 which was the Big Match opening game that week?.
