Watford FC - The Pozzo Family

Even as supposed.

 

The Mariappa money will clear that.

 

Thankyou POZZO Family.

Since i was 8 years old i have been a Watord fan, at the time the team were my local team and luckily were in the top division, John Barnes, Luther Blissett, Steve Sherwood, Les Taylor and the list goes on. Mum and Dad never had enough money to take me, i would get to see the odd game and it was amazing, embarassingly my mother still tells the story of seeing me walk into Vicarage Road, as the easter bunny, father christmas and my birthday all rolled into one.
At about 15/16 years of age i was able to afford to pay four pound to get in to see my team play nigel gibbs david james, keith dublin, lee nogan, jason drysdale. I had become completly consumed by the colour yellow and loved being stood under the scoreboard at the vicarage road end, the surge when watford scored, especially that night against leeds.

I followed home and away for a while, baseball ground, roots hall, aryesome park, molineaux(when it was only two sides.) Portman Road, oxfords old ground, St James park (Newcastle). Amazing days.

After that i drifted away from Watford FC, kudos, then destiny and bar risa became more important and needed my money more than Watford.

20 years or so later i have a 10 year old son whom i took to Vicarage Road at the end of last season to see Watfordv Blackpool. Then to Brighton away at this beautiful new stadium and then Peterborough away. He is now hooked (Bassini still at the helm and not knowing what a buffoon he is, two season tickets are ordered.)

All of a sudden and three months later, my sons first real season as a watford fan and we have new owners, debts wiped clear, a new manager, 10 new players signed with hopefully three more to join, wow what a first season.

We were very close to possibly not having Watford, for me not being able to tell my son about David Holdsworth, Gerard Lavin, Darren Bazeley. For bufoonin taking the club to disaster would have been disastrous.Then In step the italians, club bought, debts cleared, players sent (champions league players almunia, abdi, internationals abdi, pudil). This is the stuff my dreams are made of, so for me thankyou Pozzos thankyou for sending us the players, thankyou for clearing the debts of the club, thankyou for allowing me to take my son to Vicarage Road to see the stars that he will remember, the way i remember the above players, that were nowhere near in the class of the players that you have sent us.

From the bottom of my heart thankyou so much.

 

a very nice post, agree with everything you have said. lets hope we keep progressing. perhaps this should be moved to the main forum so more people can see it?

 

how do i do that

 

You must be about my age mid to late. 30,s. I agree with every word.

 

Nice one Willia :sign15:

So much for those who say our club is losing its soul, you obviously don't think so and neither do I. At least we still have a club thanks to the Pozzo's, and long may we flourish :italian:

 

Here Here - I too am a long time supporter of 35 years. I too take my sons (now 12 and 15 years old) now and again when i can afford it and get there from Oxford. One is an Arsenal fan the other Liverpool but they both enjoy it so much coming to the Vic and getting behind MY team. I now keep ribbing them that we are on the up and their teams will soon fall to the new generation of Golden Boys, lets hope that this day may come! Thanks too to the Pozzo's for keeping our club alive and for making our dreams now something of reality.

 

It's interesting when people talk about the club losing its soul. When I first went to Watford (1977) just after GT had arrived Watford wasn't about youth.......it was about a club punching above its weight. Elton's entirely unrealistic vision was for us to compete in leagues we had no right to.

And that's what happened. I recall FA Cup wins against West Ham and Manchester United, promotion after promotion and beating the best teams in the land. FA Cup finals, European campaigns and more FA Cup runs. Watford wasn't about young players necessarily, we were about giving bigger teams a bloody nose. We were about gatecrashing parties at Highbury, White Hart Lane, Old Trafford, Anfield and other venues.

That's what the Pozzos have potentially given us back. I have no doubt that before long we'll be back in a league that I despise (PL) but actually able to compete better than we have done previously. So actually the soul of Watford that I remember is actually re-born thanks to the Pozzos. Watford competing against teams we really have no right to and occasionally coming out on top. That's my Watford.

 

I too feel the same and come from the same era as you, now taking my kids aged 9 & 6. They love it as much as me.

However we still have the debts. Until they are paid off, I will always look over my shoulder for the fall we always take.

 

Quite same reasons for which I thank the Pozzo's for how they did with Udinese.
Not everything perfect from beginning (we suffered 2-3 relegations), but to have the team from a city with 100.000 souls staying now in serie A for 18 consecutive years, with several participations to European cups, and oftentimes the satisfaction to reach a better position in the tournment than much richer teams ...
well, that's priceless!
I sincerely wish similar satisfactions for WFC and beginnings seems promising. Good luck lads!

 

What a great thread! That was a truly quality read! I hope someone from the club does monitor these boards and can pass ur message on somehow! The negativity when the Pozzos first arrived was absurd so it's really nice to read something like this!

 

This

 

Excellent thread!

I actually think the club might get a bit of it's soul back if things carry on. We just need OP back at the observer.

 

Its interesting to see that a lot of the posters in this thread are of an age to remember the Golden years of the 80's. I started watching Watford at the age of 10 in 1980. I remember how a home match with Arsenal, Spurs, Man United, and Chelsea was often seen as 3 points in the bag. We were spoiled. They were great times, that I thought will never be repeated here. I'd love to see the good times back at Vicarage Road and see us in the top flight, where we can compete and not be nailed on for relegation like have been for our other 2 forays into the Premier League. Apart from the odd decent couple of seasons here and there its been 25 years of struggle and mediocraty at best. We are no longer on the brink of administration. I thank the Pozzo's for that, and the fact that they want to invest time, resources, and money into our club. I never thought we would ever see players of the calibre of Barnes, Callaghan, McClelland, Blissett, and Coton here again, but with these chaps in charge we may well do. Abdi and Vydra look the business. Who knows what the others are going to be like - At least now we have something to look forward to for once.

 

Super post.

Fantastic that the 80's Junior Hornets(myself included) are having some of those old tingling feelings returning.

It's our duty to recall to the youngsters those dream days of being Arsenals bogey team (winning 3-1 away there in the FA Cup QF '87 remains one of the best games i've ever been to) and dishing out 5-1 away embarrassments to both Chelsea away ('86) and Spurs away ('85) etc. For the first time since then a return to something like those days now seems not so impossible. COYH!

I just need to work on moving a bit closer back to the action..

 

A great thread. My nostalgia takes me back to our first foray into the old division two under Ken Furphy. It was deemed more important to build a new stand (the one that is now unsafe), than invest in players. We stood our ground for a few season's and had the highlight of our first FA Cup semi-final (I've been lucky enough to see them all), but then the inevitable happened and we slipped back to whence we'd come, and then further into division four, and before long we were propping up the entire football league.

It seemed at that stage that my life as a football fan was going to be doomed to the lower echelons of the football league. Thank my lucky stars that Elton got involved and brought GT to the club. Suddenly things were about to change - I had no idea what was round the corner but you had to pinch yourself that this was actually happening to my team. The Taylor eras were exceptional and the brief flirtations with the Premiership were enjoyable (to a degree), as were the odd good cup runs.

I have explained to my son, who is now 16 and has been watching Watford for 14 of those years, that I was incredibly fortunate to have watched Watford in that 'golden era' and regretted the fact that he was unable to share those great memories with me in person.

And now we have the Pozzo's - who really knows how it will all pan out, but I am really excited to think that my son may just witness a new 'golden era', one that may even better the heady days of the 80's.

The no-marks who make comments about us losing our identity need to take a reality check. I for one can hardly wait to see what is round the next corner.

If there was one gift I could have given to my son it would have been the first decade of GT, now he could, just maybe, see it all for himself.

Let's enjoy the ride.

 

Spot on!!!! fanatastic day standing in the North Bank with my Gooner mate in '82 having to keep stum when we won 2-4- Happy Days :sign15:

 

A very nice post. I agree with pretty much everything you have to say and ive got to admit i did feel that last part.

We are definetly on the up!

 

Nice to see a lot of the old sages backing this thread, the younger Hornets haven't lived, yet; but with "The Pozzo Revolution" they just might experiience something similar to what we did back in the day!!!

 

A fantastic thread.... Some people really don't know how close we were to going under.. The Pozzo's have saved us, have sent us some quality players... The first half showing Saturday was pure class really playing to our strenghts and to be fair could of easily been 4 up.
I was lucky enough to see the rise from old 4th division to runners up in the first. Smashing 15 goals in 3 games. 8-o home win. Turning over Southampton after being 4 down in the first leg.... European football yes at Watford... These things will never leave me and I have thanked GT over and over for this...
But the 2-4 at Highbury was unreal the best away day ever for me I think and ive been to a few... Won a bundle on us that day. Not sure it was 82 though.
Were going places under these people... We will have our ups and downs and we will need patience but I have not felt so good about my club in a lolg long time....

 

The best thread I've seen. First season 79/80 so you could call me a glory hunter! Some great memories. Wrexham obviously. Spurs away in our first year in the top league. We'd had a great start but the experts said we would get a lesson from Spurs who Ardiles Hoddle Villa etc. Les Taylor scored the winner with about 5 mins left. It is still the biggest knees up for a goal I've ever been involved in and I lost a shoe! Birmingham away in the cup run, virtually every time we played Arsenal including two wins in consecutive days, beating Chelsea away and Man Utd at home 5-1 in the space of 4 days. My mate being sneezed on by a horse at Wimbledon,Kaisaslautern at home, Wembley, John McClelland Tony Coton Les Taylor Rostron Gibbs Barnes Blisset and many more. Wonderful memories and players. Hopefully in 30 years time somebody will write a similar thread about the Pozzo era. You never know.
COYGB

 

Great thread. I have supported Watford for over 30 years and am very excited about the current set up. It's totally natural that people worry about the huge changes that have been taking place..so much has happened over the last 2 months..but so far it would appear none of the fears expressed have been realised. So far, Zola hasn't proved himself to be a bad manager, Zola hasn't shown a lack of knowledge of the Championship, the new loan players haven't been poor or shown they don't care about our club, we haven't flooded the side with loanees, thus threatening the team spirit built under Dyche, we haven't ignored our young players and the players haven't shown they can't deal with the new passing style.

Of course this is WFC so there are bound to be dramas and ups and downs ahead! But so far (and with the benefit of a win and excellent performance on Saturday still fresh in the mind so we're all feeling good), things are going really well and I'm sure I'm not alone in excitedly looking forward to our next game already!

 

Brilliant post and couldn't have put it any better. I think most people on this forum have never stood on the away terrace at Darlington and been happy with a nil nil draw.
The fact that the Pozzo family have effectively saved us from being another Portsmouth, Luton or worse. Words are not enough. I too come from a similar era and telling young uns of the week we beat spurs and man u 5-1 and Europe etc most don't believe you but I was there and it happened. My son is only 2 and I cannot wait to take him to games and hopefully have as good a memory of all the good and bad times as I have.
Thank you Pozzo's for what you have done in just 2 months. Just think where we could be in 6, 9, 12 months time? Just look at udinese and they are no bigger a club than Watford can be. Who's up for another European tour?? Maybe just maybe. I'll still be happy with just existing and being a stable self sufficient club. It was only 6 years ago Luton were above us in the championship table. We could quite easily have ended up going down the same route.

 

Prentice, maybe you should send this thread to those twonks on the 'Life's a pitch' site and see what they make of how fans really feel?

 

Excellent post. I was taken to my first game when I was 6 in our last season in the old division 1 against spurs in 87. Went to the occasional game in the early 90s until 95 when I used to sneak on a train from m.k. to Watford and go to games without my parents knowing. They found out and so my dad started going again with me in the 96-97 season when we were rubbish in the 2nd div. we never missed a game from 96-2001 home or away in the league and used to sit at the back of the vic road end behind the goal leading the singing until we moved to the rookery where we took up the back row up there. The good old days of unreserved seating Meaning that we could all gather in the same place with the younger supporters (me being 16) going in when the gates opened, and saving the seats for the older supporters to come in closer to kick off. Watching Watford progress with ronnie rosenthal, Peter Kennedy, mooney etc was awesome and I remember the feeling of just knowing we were going to win the league that year even when we slipped up towards the end of the season. Then came our glorious run to the play offs and a wembley date with Bolton which after our semi final win at Birmingham (escaping after the game through thousands of hate filled Brummie fans baying for blood!) you just knew we would win. I stopped going in 2004 after buying a house money etc etc. I then moved to Kenya so couldn't go but have since come back and took my little girl to see Watford. She loved it and so I broughtt a season ticket for us this year. I was worried about the season but have to also say a big thank you to the pozzos who have allowed me to start having the feeling that we are onto something maybe more special than when I followed Watford home and away as a youngster. I am really hopeful that I will be able to enjoy the ups of Watford with my daughter as I did with my dad in the late 90s. COYH

 

Not wishing to spoil the nostalgia but just on a point of correctness it was Tottenham away 5-1 on the Saturday (day of the Bradford fire), Man United 5-1 at home on the Monday then a 4-3 defeat at Anfield on the Friday night after we were 2-0 up at half time! And prior to the Tottenham game we stood a chance of being relegated!!

 

Wow feeling the love in here this morning - its like the heady days of the early 90's love fest rave scene (another thing this generation missed out on) I haven't felt this positive since the EJ/GT days, yes we've flirted with the premiership twice but you just knew it was only ever going to end in tears. This time it feels for real.

PS. I can't date my first game but I know where it was and who played, sometime late 70's Watford sent a pre season team to Totternhoe, I waited outside the small brick building being used as a changing rooms for ages, and one of the players took my programme in, and came out 5 minutes later with it fully signed!

 

I remember the 5-1 win at Chelsea, don't ask me what year it was, but I was with my mate Big Pete, may he RIP, and we were walking back to the station with me singing at the top of my voice 5-1 to the Golden Boys, Big Pete, all 6'7" of him, was trying to shut me up, but I didn't care even though we are talking about the days of the Chelsea shed and the head hunters!!!

We got some real dirty looks, but we made it home ok, perhaps it was the size of Pete that saved us, and although I'm not tall, I am a pretty big chap myself; but even if we had been set upon I don't think I would have cared it was such a great day!!!

 

I totally endorse these sentiments. I love the fact we have been taken over by the Pozzo's. They have saved the club from a very nasty future and have given us something to be inspired by. I've not agreed with everything that has happened or the way they always do their business. Has anyone ever heard from any of the Pozzo family? Has anyone even heard from the chairman of the club? It's bizarre that everything is veiled in such secrecy and if any of our management team need future employment, I'm sure MI5 or MI6 would be very interested.

But at the end of the day, it's what is put on the field of play that matters most. It's exciting to have so many quality players coming to our club. It's exciting to see lovely passing football played on a carpet pitch. It's exciting to see a goal of such quality......it's all wonderful stuff....and the best part is....you aint seen nothing yet....it's only going to get better.

The gates are low, but Sky TV did us a massive favour yesterday and now I would expect our attendances to swell.

We are so lucky to have been chosen for the Pozzo "project". We are unique and almost operate in a different stratosphere of reality when it comes to transfers from any other club...certainly in the Championship. It's almost unfair, but do I care? Not a bit.....the Championship is full of sides with money behind them. We have found an alternative method to circumnavigate around the wealthy teams.....and I'm sure many will cast an envious eye over us.

 

Let's be honest...It's football. Winning is everything. Win and you can forgive anything happening off the pitch you're uneasy with (the lack of communicating etc). But lose and it becomes a slightly bigger issue. So it was and always will be.

 

For somebody of a younger generation, this is a great thread to read through. Hopefully in 20 years, I'll be able to make similar posts.

 

I use this, as well as other sites to keep up to date with what’s happening at Watford FC as I now live 6000 miles away in Cape Town, but this thread has me reminiscing and has given me the incentive to register and comment for the first time.
Reading the earlier comments, here are some my moments following Watford.
• Opening game Walsall away 1978 losing then coming back to win 4-2
• Sheffield Wednesday end of season winning 3-2 and climbing over seats to get out at the end – Sheff Utd being relegated on the same day saving our arses.
• Fulham away – winning Div 2 title – Parsons Green celebrations – until escorted home by the Mets finest.
• Losing to Northwick Victoria FA Cup - you had to be there - the mud bank then the pitch.
• Strip searched at Lecco for the pre season friendly v Inter Milan 2006.
• Missing Swindon away 27 August 1995 when my son was born, his now 18 and he is wearing his Watford kit with pride at his club in Cape Town – nothing changes others still have Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, but as he says its where you were born it’s your roots. He has educated some of his team mates from the Congo and Ghana to support Watford – they don’t know what “come on you horns” means but they shout it anyway.
• Play off finals.
• Baileys player award nights.
and many more, which are flooding back.
You support Watford and must by now expect the unexpected - the Robert Maxwell proposed takeover, the first family enclosure, a scoreboard with jumping men, free beer from Benskins on a Thursday if Watford won, Steve Harrisons party trick, a waiter in goal for a FA cup semi final, and Bassini !
Nobody likes change, but sometimes it’s necessary to move forward, if it wasn’t for the Pozzo’s our club could have followed the same road as Portsmouth. If we do get the premiership, then the rewards for the Pozzo’s will be far greater than Seria A so we might even become their main club.
I am positive and think the good times are around the corner which means I will be able to watch Watford live on local TV on a Saturday if Man U don’t get the prime spot as usual. I have booked a trip back in December to see two games and hope we will be challenging at the top; I hope it’s more successful than one of my trips back in December when the game against Wigan was called off in the second half due to rain.


Watford pissed it with Jenkins and Blissett.