On This Day...

On this day 41 years ago we were officially top of the league.



https://oldwatford.com/1982/09/11/11th-september-1982-division-one-watford-3-west-bromwich-albion-0/

 

As one of the paper clips states, we had our week on the very top of the whole football pyramid thanks to Luton holding Liverpool to a 3-3 draw at Anfield. Thanks guys !

 

It's that sort of "Little ole Watford" mentality that makes my blood boil .

 

Football follows the money, in case you hadn't noticed.

 

On this day 23 years ago, just getting to Ewood Park was an achievement in itself but those Hornets who risked it while the fuel crisis was at its height were rewarded with a magnificent 4-3 win.



https://oldwatford.com/2000/09/12/12th-september-2000-new-division-one-blackburn-rovers-3-watford-4/

 

I remember this. Not many of us made the trip and after about 15 mins we wondered why we had done so as we were 2-0 down, I think Micah Hyde got a goal or two

 

Payet had us on toast but you could see they were getting cocky and we took full advantage. Bit like the Wolves game. The game is never over!

 

On this day 54 years ago our first ever meeting with Aston Villa.



https://oldwatford.com/1969/09/13/13th-september-1969-division-two-watford-3-aston-villa-0/

 

That season represented our first ever season at that level (2nd tier) I believe and therefore a 4th bottom finish in the second tier was our highest ever league finish.

 

Interesting fact: Official programme one shilling (5p) in 1969. Inflating this by the RPI to today gives £1.07, compared to the actual current programme price of £3.50. Is the current one three and a half times as good?

 

Do the same calculation with ticket prices!

(Although to be fair – printing costs have risen incredibly in the past 20 years. Printing used to be cheap tech. Now it certainly is not)

 

On this day 40 years ago, our first competitive game in Europe.



https://oldwatford.com/1983/09/14/1...t-round-first-leg-kaiserslautern-3-watford-1/

 

An absolute travesty that we fell away in the second half of that season

 

All these years later, I’m so pleased I made the effort to go to this game. It seemed like a dream (as it would be now) to see Watford playing in Europe.

 

On this day 11 years ago Lloyd Doyley scored his other goal.



https://oldwatford.com/2012/09/15/15th-september-2012-championship-bolton-wanderers-2-watford-1/

 

The stat I always remember from that season was that we got 39 points from the first 16 games and then just 30 from the remaining 30.

 

Yes it was a spectacular collapse. Never too sure just what caused it. From one time looking promotion certainties to not even making the playoffs. Even lost on the big “goodbye Graham party” at Burnley. A very miserable end to his second term, then of course Vialli.

 

I had in my mind that the last game was v Tranmere at home, I had totally forgotten there was a subsequent match.

 

Real fans remember.... I've still got the T shirt....

 

It was actually 39 from 15 (12 wins and 3 draws), which must be one of the best starts ever by anyone, although in truth we weren’t playing brilliantly well. The 16th game, a home defeat to Sheff Wed, started a terrible run of one point from 8 games ending with the 5-0 disaster in the freezing cold at Fulham. Even so, 40 points at half-way should have been enough to get to the play-offs but we never got going again. It was relegation form after that amazing start.

 

Yes but why did it collapse so spectacularly like that ? I've never understood.

 

There was a theory at the time that the team was spooked by their comfortable defeat at home to a Man U reserve team (plus Yorke and Solskjaer up front) in the League Cup. Personally, I think the sequence of results early on was freakish: lots of wins without playing that well, followed by lots of close-ish defeats before Fulham and confidence was destroyed. If those results had been spread more evenly over the first half of the season, I think the squad was good enough to repeat it in the second and get to around 80 points and the play-offs. Another factor was that Helguson, who was expected to do really well in that division, started slowly after having a good goal disallowed v Birmingham and never really got his best form back.

 

I've heard various (conflicting) accounts, some of which may have more than a grain of truth. I know GT certainly felt that after they got hammered at home by Manchester United in the league cup, it took the wind out of their sails and perhaps subconsciously reminded them what awaited them if they went up again.

There was also some sort of division in the dressing room about potential promotion bonuses. When Watford got promoted in 1999, the players had (apparently) been offered a choice between a higher wage increase but with a similar reduction if they were relegated, or an increase that wasn't quite as high but which would remain in place in the event of relegation. GT was not entirely happy they had chosen the latter and he was even less happy that discussions about potential bonuses started again in the October.

I also heard a story that one of the players had a side-hustle importing luxury cars and a number of the squad bought them up front. Then the cars were delayed and there was a good deal of distraction. I've never been able to confirm that one and although it sounds fanciful I've heard weirder stories.

Baardsen was completely uninterested in football from day one. Not saying that caused all the issues, or even most of them, but it was an example that the previously tight-knit group that had won two promotions and then endured the Premier League was breaking up.

 

Looking back, one of the strangest seasons. Can’t recall a drop off like it. It was like the moment Jobson scored the own goal in the Wednesday game, the team became like strangers. A far cry from overhauling Fulham and their perfect start a couple of weeks earlier.

I can’t recall though, was Jobson signed the day before or something? I can’t recall whether it was here or later. The squad was unbalanced and injury prone too. ITV Digital collapse on the horizon and a horrific Boxing Day at Fulham.

We’ll always have Dom Foley’s goal though. Real, actual absolute limbs.

 

On this day 37 years ago Iwan Roberts comes off the bench to score the winner against Manchester United.



https://oldwatford.com/1986/09/16/16th-september-1986-division-one-watford-1-manchester-united-0/

 

On this day 40 years ago two goals from John Barnes helped us beat Stoke City 4-0 at the Victoria Ground.



https://oldwatford.com/1983/09/17/17th-september-1983-division-one-stoke-city-0-watford-4/

 

On this day 7 years ago, two goals in the last ten minutes saw us beat Manchester United 3-1.



https://oldwatford.com/2016/09/18/18th-september-2016-premier-watford-3-manchester-united-1/

 

My two hopes before I die is to go abroad to watch Watford play in Europe and England to win a World Cup .
Oh and world peace and climate resolution of course… in third and fourth .

 

On this day 16 years ago a Darius Henderson double secured a 2-1 win at Cardiff to send us top of the Championship.



https://oldwatford.com/2007/09/19/19th-september-2007-championship-cardiff-city-1-watford-2/