The beginnings of the club can be traced back to 1881, when Watford Rovers was formed by Henry Grover and a group of fellow teenagers who had been given permission by the Earl of Essex to kick a football around in Cassiobury Park. Friendly matches began in 1882, with various sites in the town being used for matches. The first competitive game was an FA Cup tie against Swindon Town in 1886. In 1890 West Herts Club and Ground was set up in Cassio Road (where it remains to this day) and Watford Rovers moved in as the football section, changing name to West Herts in 1893.
Watford joined the Football League in 1920. The club played at several grounds in its early history, before moving to a permanent location at Vicarage Road in 1922, where it remains.
Vicarage Road 1932
One of the most successful periods for the club was when they were managed by ex England manager Graham Taylor who took charge of Watford in 1977. He led the club to promotion to the Third Division in 1978, the Second Division in 1979, and the First Division for the first time in Watford’s history in 1982. After a second-placed finish in the First Division in 1983, Watford competed in European competition for the first time in 1983–84, as well as reaching the 1984 FA Cup final.
Taylor left the club at the end of 1986–87. Under the six subsequent permanent managers Watford slid from 9th in the top tier in 1987, to 13th in the third tier in 1997. Taylor returned as manager for the start of the 1997–98 season. He led the club to consecutive promotions, but could not prevent relegation from the Premier League in 1999–2000. Since Taylor’s retirement in 2001, Watford has had sixteen different managers. The current manager is Javi Gracia he was hired in 2018 and has a contract until 2023.
Watford is owned by the Pozzo family, which also owns Udinese Calcio in Italy and previously Granada CF in Spain. Sir Elton John, who owned Watford during both of Graham Taylor’s successful periods as manager, served alongside Taylor as the club’s joint Honorary Life President until 2008, only to later resume the role he shared alongside Graham Taylor until Taylor’s death. Sir Elton John’s seven year old son Zachary signed up for the academy team at Watford Football Club in 2018.
This was always going to be a difficult away game but Watford will be flying high after their amazing comeback in the FA Cup semi final so it will now be even tougher.
Here are our away game statistics against Watford.
Getty Images
We need a positive result but will our team be up to the task?
GunnerN5
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Happy Saturday all. Thanks GN5. Want to believe our “Thursday team” will be there on Monday. Not necessarily the same players, but the same mindset. Believe……..and take down the Deeney Donkey.
Great stuff, GN5. 🙂
The impressive thing about Watford is how they picked some excellent managers over recent years who were only employed for a season (Sanchez-Flores, Mazzarri, Silva and now Gracia over last three seasons and this season). They have established themselves in the PL and are now playing the FA Cup final on merit. It means the BoD know what they are doing re picking managers and players and that goes a long way. Respect! Will be a difficult game on Monday… another MW.
** Gracia is on more than a one-year contract
Many thanks, GN5.
For some reason I thought Watford had a much more recent history.
Our away record against them looked pretty ropey in the First Division but thankfully has been better in the Prem. Let’s hope it continues.
Another really interesting preview by GN5, thanks for your work.
Our results are pretty much evens Stevens at Vicarage Road, it’s never an easy game at their place, mind you I saw them give us a few difficult games at Highbury as well, especially in the Taylor era.
No Sokratis is a worry as Deeney is going to be a big player in this match up. We need the win, but as things stand with our away form a draw would be welcome…
gonner to calm three point
Morning all,
I’m off out this morning as we have an appointment with an accountant to file our tax returns for 2018 – they must be filed by April 30th in Canada.
Our away games really make me antsy, if our shocking away form is not reversed then we will finish 5th or 6th in the league.
I cannot stomach seeing Deeney questioning our cojones again!! Come on Arsenal, let’s show him how much they’ve grown since Cech saved his penalty 😜
Something mighty fishy in the state of Mancunia
Calciopoli Inglese?
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