History of Watford FC, Vicarage Road, Watford Hertfordshire England

History of Watford F.C.

See also: List of Watford F.C. seasons and Watford F.C. season 2009–10

Watford Football Club were formed in 1881 as Watford Rovers, who played their first home games at a pitch in Cassiobury Park, before moving to Vicarage Meadow and later Market Street in Watford. They first competed in the FA Cup in the 1886–87 season, and in 1889 they won the County Cup for the first time. In 1893, Watford Rovers became West Hertfordshire and joined the Southern Football League in 1896, becoming professional a year later. West Hertfordshire merged with Watford St Mary's in 1898 to become Watford Football Club. In the same year the club moved to a ground in Cassio Road. Pressure from the owner to move eventually forced the manager, Harry Kent, to look for a new permanent ground which he found in 1914 at Vicarage Road, which remains the club's home today. They did not however move in until 1922.

They remained in the Southern League until 1920, when they became founder members of the southern section of the Football League Third Division. From 1921–22, the third tier of the Football League consisted of two parallel sections of 22 clubs, fighting both for promotion to the Second Division and also battling to hold on to their hard-won league status. There was a re-election system in place which meant the bottom two teams in each of the two divisions had to apply for re-election in favour of the champions of the Northern League and Southern League. Watford finished 21st in 1926–27, but were unanimously re-elected to the league after a ballot of the 44 Third Division clubs. Watford's results improved in the years immediately preceding the Second World War; they finished in the top six for five consecutive seasons between 1934–35 and 1938–39, while the club also won the Football League Third Division South Cup in 1937.[9][10] Following the resumption of league football after the war, Watford remained in the Third Division South. A 23rd placed finish in 1950–51 meant that Watford had to apply for re-election once more, but again they were unanimously re-elected with all 48 clubs voting to retain them in the league.

Watford v Coventry City at Vicarage Road, on the last day of the Football League season, 14 May 2000

The club remained in the Third Division South until its dissolution in 1958. When the league was restructured into four national divisions for 1958–59, Watford were placed in the new Fourth Division. Watford spent two seasons there before they gained promotion to the Third Division in 1960. Ron Burgess, the former Tottenham Hotspur player was manager during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and promotion was gained with help from Division 4 top scorer Cliff Holton, who scored a club record 42 league goals in the season. Holton was sold to Northampton the following year after another 34 goals, and this along with other departures caused enormous unrest among supporters. Burgess was succeeded by Bill McGarry, who bought new players such as Charlie Livesey, Ron Saunders and Jimmy McAnearney. Northern Irish goalkeeper Pat Jennings was signed from Newry Town in 1963, and he made his international debut despite playing in the Third Division at the time. His performances earned him a transfer to Tottenham after less than one season.

McGarry joined Ipswich in 1964, and was replaced by player-manager Ken Furphy from Workington Town. Furphy rebuilt the team around players such as Keith Eddy and Dennis Bond, but after holding Liverpool to a draw in the FA Cup and narrowly failing to win promotion in 1966–67, Bond was sold to Spurs. Furphy's re-building came to fruition in 1969 with the signing of Barry Endean, who kicked off an unbeaten run after Christmas to secure the league title in the April home match against Plymouth. A year later Watford reached the FA Cup semi-final for the first time, beating First Division teams Stoke City and Liverpool, building up hopes that they could soon be playing First Division football. But Watford struggled to compete in the higher division and Ken Furphy was poached by Blackburn Rovers, to be succeeded by the late George Kirby. Hampered by a lack of funds and forced to sell players to survive, they fell back into the Third Division in 1972. Watford failed to make an impact in the Third Division, and in 1975 were relegated to the Fourth Division. However, they were adopted by pop star Elton John in 1973 first as president and from 1976 as chairman. The singer declared an ambition to take Watford into the First Division. He sacked manager Mike Keen in April 1977.

When Graham Taylor was named as Watford's new manager in June 1977, the club were an unremarkable Fourth Division side.[15] In 1977 the greyhound track that encircled the pitch was removed as it was seen to lower the clubs professional reputation by the manager Graham Taylor. His first success followed in 1977–78; Watford won the Fourth Division title whilst also recording the most wins, fewest defeats, most goals scored and fewest goals conceded of any side in the division. Promotion to the Second Division came in 1978–79, with Ross Jenkins the league's top scorer with 29 goals. Watford consolidated with 18th and 9th placed finishes in the subsequent seasons, and secured promotion to the First Division for the first time in their history in 1981–82, finishing second behind rivals Luton.

Championship Play-off final 2006. (Leeds United vs. Watford) which gained Watford promotion to the Premier League.

Watford started the 1982–83 season with wins over Everton and Southampton. In the space of seven years, the club had climbed from the bottom place of the lowest division in the Football League, to the top position in the highest division. Watford were unable to mount a successful title challenge, but eventually finished the season in second, which secured UEFA cup qualification for the following season. Luther Blissett finished the season as the First Division top scorer, before signing for Italian giants A.C. Milan for £1m at the end of the season. An FA Cup final appearance followed in 1984, although Watford lost to Everton. After guiding Watford to a ninth-place finish in 1986–87, Taylor was lured away to Aston Villa.

After Graham Taylor left, Dave Bassett was placed in charge. After losing John Barnes in the summer, the Hornets suffered a terrible start to the 1987–88 season, and Dave Bassett was sacked in January 1988. Watford were relegated from the First Division at the end of that season. The next season, 1988–89, Watford failed to return to the First Division after they lost Second Division playoffs. They did however win the FA Youth Cup, beating Man City 2–1 after extra time, with future England international David James in goal for the Hornets. Over the next few seasons, Watford never seriously challenged for promotion. Their highest finish was a Craig Ramage-inspired seventh in Division One at the end of the 1994–95 season. However, in the following season Watford struggled, and were relegated to the Second Division following a 23rd place finish.

Graham Taylor returned to Watford as Director of Football in February 1996, with former player Kenny Jackett as head coach, but was unable to stop the club from sliding into Division Two. After a mid-table finish in Division Two at the end of 1996–97, Jackett was demoted to the position of assistant manager and Taylor returned his old role as manager. The transition proved a success and Watford secured the Division Two championship in 1997–98, beating Bristol City into second place after a season-long struggle.

A second successive promotion followed in 1998–99, thanks to a playoff final victory over Bolton which secured the club's promotion to the Premiership. The Premiership season started brightly with an early surprising victory over Liverpool, but soon faded away, and Watford were relegated after finishing bottom. Graham Taylor retired at the end of the 2000–01 season (although just months later he returned to football management at Aston Villa), and was replaced in a surprise move by Gianluca Vialli, who had recently been sacked by Chelsea F.C. Vialli made several high-profile signings, and wage bills at the club soared, with Vialli himself earning almost a million pounds a year. However the club finished 14th in the division, and Vialli was sacked after refusing to resign. He was replaced by Ray Lewington, who had joined the club the previous summer as Vialli's reserve team manager.

Iceland international Heiðar Helguson, pictured in 2010.

The extent of Watford's financial difficulties was exposed in 2002–03, along with many League clubs, following the collapse of ITV Digital, exacerbated by payoffs made to players following the termination of their contracts, as well as to Vialli. The club was facing administration, but an agreement by players and staff agreed a 12% wage deferral and a run to the FA Cup semi-final in 2003 generated vital cash. The financial difficulties saw a large number of players released that summer, including record signing Allan Nielsen and strikers Tommy Smith and Gifton Noel-Williams. After consolidating in 2003–04, the following season started well, with the club in the upper half of the Championship at the end of September. But poor form saw the club drop steadily towards the relegation zone. A run to the semi-final of the League Cup eased the club's financial position, however the league form did not improve, and Lewington was sacked in March. 34-year-old Aidy Boothroyd joined the club in his first managerial role, with Keith Burkinshaw joining as his assistant. Boothroyd led the team to survival in 2005 and in his first full season Watford generally sustained 3rd position all year, with Marlon King being the division's top scorer. A draw at home against rivals Luton Town secured Watford a play-off spot. Watford beat Leeds 3–0 in the play-off final to gain promotion to the Premier League.

Watford had to wait until November to record their first Premier League win, against Middlesbrough. This was despite continuing good performances by Ashley Young, who was sold to Aston Villa in January for a club record fee rising to £9.65 million. Watford finished bottom after only winning five league games all season, but did reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they lost to Manchester United. Boothroyd's contract was renewed until 2010, and he spent heavily on players including Jobi McAnuff and new club record signing Nathan Ellington.

Despite leading the Championship by several points early in the season, Watford endured a poor run of form and only reached the play-offs on the final day of the season, where they were defeated by Hull City in the semi finals. Boothroyd left the club by mutual consent in November 2008, with Watford 21st in the Championship table. Reserve team manager Malky Mackay took temporary charge of the club, with 35 year old Chelsea reserve team manager Brendan Rodgers confirmed as Watford's new manager on 24 November 2008. Watford recorded their first win under Rodgers against Norwich City in December, and eventually secured safety with one game to go, finishing 13th. At the end of the season, Rodgers replaced Steve Coppell as manager of Reading. Former coach and caretaker manager Malky Mackay was appointed as his replacement and under his guidance, Watford finished the 2009-10 Championship season in 16th place.