On This Day...

I just Googled him out of curiosity and this video of his only goal came up - pretty sure it's the first time I've ever seen it.

A game notable for a rare mistake by the brilliant Coton, although considering Rimmer's goal was also a goalkeeping howler maybe the atrocious conditions played a part?

 

I saw it on the night. Only 11,000 there to see the mud heap glistening in the floodlights! Different times.

 

Pwopper football. No oligarchs involved.

 

Didn't Stamford Bridge have electric fences in those days to keep the local Neanderthals under control?

 

Don’t know didn’t go. Clearly remember the false hope that Rimmer goal provided though. Briefly Thought we’d signed the new Mo Johnston

 

Yes.
The delightful sometimes Ernest Hemingway/Father Christmas impersonator Ken Bates was responsible for them.

 

Wrong thread I know, but can anyone direct me to where I can see clips of Watford beating both Chelsea and Spurs 5-1 away from home during our first stay in the top (1st Division) during the 80s

 

The Gianfranco Zola era got off to a wonderful start on this day 11 years ago at Selhurst Park.



https://oldwatford.com/2012/08/18/18th-august-2012-championship-crystal-palace-2-watford-3/

 

It’s unlikely that either of these exist. In those days, unless they were on TV highlights shows, they wouldn’t have been recorded since it was a bit before club season videos came out. Both these games were late in the season and had no bearing on the top of the table or relegation, so they wouldn’t have been considered. Happily, I can say I was at both.

 

‘Won’t somebody wait for me? What’s his name? Ken Furphy! Bye bye Blackburn.’

 

On this day 5 years ago, a 3-1 away win at Turf Moor.



https://oldwatford.com/2018/08/19/19th-august-2018-premier-league-burnley-1-watford-3/

 

The club started issuing videos in 1982-83, but only home games. You sent in a blank tape with a cheque for an eye-watering amount of money (from memory it was about £15! – CORRECTION it was actually £10 + £1 P&P, but in today's money that's about £32!) and they gave you a copy of the match. At the end of the season they did a compilation video of (most) of the season's home goals.

Our friend Old Watford (I assume) has uploaded them to YouTube. Here's 1982-83:

The quality was often poor, there wasn't any commentary until about 1985-86, when Mike Vince (I think it was) added commentary.

But to answer the original point, I don't think any footage of the 5-1 wins at Spurs in 85 or Chelsea in 86 exists. The home clubs may have included their goals in their own end-of-season videos – which had become quite common by the mid-80s – but I've never seen any footage, unfortunately. I was at Chelsea and remember Bardsley absolutely destroying them.

 

Yes it would have been Mike Vince.
Is he still with us?

 

The season highlights videos on youtube weren't me but I'm very grateful to whoever uploaded them as I use them all the time.

For Christmas 1982 I got the Sunderland 8-0 game on VHS. A couple of months later I accidentally recorded Grange Hill over the opening 20 minutes. Luckily the club very kindly restored the footage I lost.

 

Mike is still very much with us and is currently working in the world of horse racing. He is on twitter as @halo_straight

 

On this day 46 years ago we began our Division Four campaign with a 3-1 win away at Stockport County under our new manager Graham Taylor.



https://oldwatford.com/1977/08/20/20th-august-1977-division-four-stockport-county-1-watford-3/

 

These old Watford posts are great. I was there for my first and only visit to Stockport. Can’t help noticing in the program notes the Vic Rd capacity is stated as 36,500. This was obviously just a guess as there has never been an official attendance over 30k since then. Though I suspect there were many over that in reality.

 

That’s correct. The capacity was always shown as 36,500 in football season yearbooks, despite there never being a crowd of that size. From about 1980(?) the police began to have an influence on allowable crowd sizes and our capacity was pegged at 28,000, ostensibly for safety reasons.

 

On this day 24 years ago we beat Bradford City 1-0 at the Vic with Tommy Mooney scoring as we rose to 9th in the Premier League.



https://oldwatford.com/1999/08/21/21st-august-1999-premier-league-watford-1-bradford-city-0/

 

I've always thought the Leeds United Cup win game was the most rammed I've ever felt the stadium was. The official attendance was 18000 which is hilariously low....

 

On this day 23 years ago we beat Bristol City 4-1 at Ashton Gate. Having successfully battled with them for the Division Two Championship the previous season this win hinted at the further success to come.



https://oldwatford.com/1998/08/22/22nd-august-1998-new-division-one-bristol-city-1-watford-4/

 

2 crackers but one particularly special, a real rocket.

 

Next time asks you to record something, just say no.

 

On this day 26 years ago GT started to weave the magic again as the Hornets produced a scintillating display to beat Brentford 3-1.


https://oldwatford.com/1997/08/23/23rd-august-1997-new-division-two-watford-3-brentford-1/

 

I knew we could still catch them.

 

On this day 38 years ago we beat West Brom 5-1 with Colin West scoring a hat-trick.



https://oldwatford.com/1985/08/24/24th-august-1985-division-one-watford-5-west-bromwich-albion-1/

 

I went to that game. I was working in Mallorca at the time and went with a Real Mallorca fan. Terry Venables was the Barcelona coach . He had gone there from QPR. When we beat QPR at home he had complained that they lost because of the slope in the pitch at the Vic. When he walked to the dugout in Palma I shouted asking him if the pitch sloped. To be fair I got a smile in response.

 

On this day 39 years ago, for the first time since that famous win at Old Trafford in 1978, we got something away at Manchester United as a Nigel Callaghan goal secured us a 1-1 draw.



https://oldwatford.com/1984/08/25/25th-august-1984-division-one-manchester-united-1-watford-1/

 

I remember we were taunted by the United fans at 1-0 for just being “little old Watford”, so it was particularly sweet when Cally scored that equaliser so late on.

 

Didn’t we win 4-0 with 2 goals in each half?

 

On this day 21 years ago we thrashed Coventry 5-2 at the Vic.



https://oldwatford.com/2002/08/26/26th-august-2002-new-division-one-watford-5-coventry-city-2/

 

Webber was an absolute menace that day.

 

On this day 46 years ago we lost 3-1 to York in GT's first home league game in charge but it would be one day shy of a year before we'd lose again at the Vic.



https://oldwatford.com/1977/08/27/27th-august-1977-division-four-watford-1-york-city-3/

 

A game or two before I started watching, but I believe Pollard's performance against us that day helped convince GT to sign him.