In an idle moment and on the back of our upcoming Vicarage Road centenary I was wondering which teams Watford have played most often in competitive football. Since the original Third Division was regionalised until 1958, I think these are the only ones we have played more than 100 times (league and cup) since joining the Football league in 1920: Millwall 103 Norwich 104 Swindon 107 Southend 113 QPR 114 Brighton 118 Bournemouth 119 Reading 119 and top of the list our old friends… Crystal Palace 125. L*t*n are languishing back on 86 (we have played the likes of Gillingham and Bristol Rovers more than them) and Brentford even further back on 75. Of course we spent much of our history in the lower divisions until the late 70s alongside many of these clubs, but to be at the top of the list they have had to have substantial spells in higher leagues more recently the same as we have. All of the teams mentioned, except Bournemouth, also regularly played Watford in the Southern League prior to 1920. So if those times were to be included they would almost certainly still be at the top, but other clubs such as Southampton and Northampton would have their numbers boosted.
I don't think a rivalry can be summed up to how many times you've played them. We've played Reading 119 times and I still don't give a toss about them.
Sh*t Town and only Sh*t Town. I have a dislike for Palarse and QPR. Muff I find amusing because they're so desperate to be rivals with us. It's cute.
As far as club rivalry goes it will always be Lootown. If you include "recently formed rivalry" from fans' then it has to be one of Muff, Palarse and Quarter Pound Rubbish. Problem being is we sit just outside the 'London rivalry' division. You could also say Boreham Wood and St Albans count in terms of distance. Our biggest present rivalry however is the fans vs the WFC Board.
"Who Are Our True Rivals?" - if you are in any doubt you only have to wait 72 days to find out.......
Everyone but only one.. No one else comes close to their repulsiveness. Prentendy wee compared to them.
Who have we played the least? Lets pick them as our rivals and start a venomous hate campaign against them , then at leat we can say its real. Who knows in 100 years there maybe a load of mini Watford hooligans who have a bizarre hatred for Fleetwood Town.
With automatic promotion from non-league these days, there will be a number of teams we’ve never played and even some who have come up and then disappeared again.
Was just looking at the head to head stats with LTFC. I have been following WFC for 52 years . In the first 26 years we played them 39 times, in the second 26 years we have played them 8 times! In the 14 months between Jan '84 and March '85 we played 6 FA Cup ties against LTFC.......crazy times.
I match your supporting period exactly, so you too will remember that string of 1-0 defeats against them at the beginning of the 80s. It was finally forgotten with the glorious 5-2 after we were both promoted to Div 1. The fact is that, although they are obviously our prime local rivals, there have been quite long spells in our history when they have been in a higher division than us and, more recently, when we have been in a higher division than them. The 80s and 90s were the exception rather than the rule.
