Watford FC
May 22nd, 2008
The club was founded in 1881, first playing at Cassio Road ground, before moving to Vicarage Road in 1922, where they remain to this day. Since 1997 they have shared the ground with Saracens Rugby Club. The club has the nickame of The Hornets due to its yellow and black strip. Watford have a long-standing rivalry with nearby Luton Town.
The club is best known for its two spells under the management of former England manager Graham Taylor. The first lasting from 1977 to 1987, when the club rose to the old Division One from Division Four, also reaching the FA Cup final in 1984 and competing in the UEFA Cup. The second lasting from 1997 to 2001, when Taylor took the club from Division Two to the Premiership in successive seasons. During both of these eras the club was owned by Elton John, who is now the club's honorary life president.
At the age of 34, Aidy Boothroyd was appointed manager of Watford after serving at Leeds United as a coach; 70-year-old Keith Burkinshaw was recruited as his assistant. Boothroyd's inexperience raised concerns among fans, who worried that he would not be able to keep the side in the Championship. However, Watford secured enough points to ensure survival with two games to go in the season.
Fan dissent continued throughout the summer of 2005, and increased due to the sacking of Nigel Gibbs as coach after more than twenty years of service and the departure of a large number of fan favourite players. Among those to go were star striker Heiðar Helguson and Danny Webber leaving the club with only one recognised striker.
In a flurry of late-August activity in 2005, Boothroyd signed strikers Darius Henderson and Marlon King (initially on a season-long loan), central defenders Clarke Carlisle and Malky Mackay, midfielder Matthew Spring and goalkeeper Ben Foster (also on a season-long loan), assuaging many fans' doubts about the depth of the squad. Carlisle and Spring had both worked with Boothroyd at Leeds United the previous season.
Although Watford lost the opening match of the season 2-1 at home to Preston North End, Boothroyd's first full season at the club subsequently saw strong performances from the team to take them into the top half of the Championship, with the side consistently maintaining a third place position. A strong run of form in early 2006, including an impressive 4-1 win at second-placed Sheffield United saw Watford threatening to take second place and an automatic promotion spot. A subsequent down-turn in form rendered this impossible, but a draw at home against Luton Town on 9 April secured Watford a play-off spot.
Following a 3-0 away victory at Crystal Palace and a subsequent 0-0 draw at Vicarage Road in the semi-finals Watford reached the playoff final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Watford then beat Leeds 3-0 in the final to gain promotion to the Premier League and an estimated £41m as a result (all 13,000 available season tickets were quickly sold out).
This money was spent on several players in the 2006 pre-season, including three players who represent their country at the international level; central midfielder Damien Francis, centre-back Danny Shittu and Hungarian striker Tamás Priskin and securing the re-signing of Ben Foster (on another season-long loan) and Tommy Smith.
The Hornets secured their first Premiership point of the season with a draw against West Ham in their second game of the season. However, they had to wait until 4 November 2006 to record their first league win of the season, against Middlesbrough.
The January transfer window was busy, with the sale of Ashley Young to Aston Villa for a fee rising to £9.65 million - a record transfer fee for the club. Watford also brought in 8 new signings.
Watford only recorded five wins in the Premiership, and sat at the bottom of the league table. However, they reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they lost to Manchester United. Despite drawing 1-1 with Manchester City, Watford were relegated on 21 April 2007. Despite this Boothroyd's contract has been renewed, and he is now on a new deal lasting until 2010.
The team wasted no time in bringing in new players. As soon as the season finished, veteran centre back Matt Jackson joined from Wigan after his contract expired and goalkeeper Mart Poom joined from Arsenal for an undisclosed fee, Jobi McAnuff moved from Crystal Palace for £1.75 million and in a new record signing Nathan Ellington moved from West Brom for a fee of £3.25 million which may rise to £4.25 million. This move was partially funded by the £3 million departure of Hameur Bouazza to Fulham.
Watford made a good start to the 2007–08 season. With Darius Henderson and Marlon King scoring regularly, they built a lead at the top of the Championship. In November and December they had a poor run of form, particularly at home, which lead to their closest competitor, West Bromwich Albion, overtaking them in early January. Watford assured themseleves a play-off place on the final day of the season after a fortunate draw at Blackpool they will play Hull City who finished 3rd in the division. But for a dreadful home record where Watford only won 8 out of their 23 home games automatic promotion would have been possible. In the play-offs though the wretched home form continued with Hull winning 2-0 at Vicarage Road and despite Watford taking the lead at the KC Stadium Hull ran out 4-1 winners 6-1 on aggregate to condemn Watford to another season in the Championship. On 25 January 2008 Marlon King made a surprise move to Wigan Athletic when he had been linked numerous times to Fulham. Reports claimed that King failed a medical at Fulham which prompted Wigan boss Steve Bruce to step in and sign the Jamaican international. On the same day 22 year old Fulham striker Collins John made a loan move to Watford which ended following an injury to the player.
Watford fans maintain a rivalry with those of Luton Town. The two sides met regularly in the Southern and Football Leagues from 1900 to 1937, but Luton's promotion meant that aside from a Southern Cup meeting the two sides did not meet again until 1964. Throughout the sixties and seventies the two sides met sporadically, and the rivalry gradually grew in significance, bringing with it trouble in the ground and outside of it.
The two sides were promoted to the First Division in the 1981–82 season, with Luton taking the Championship ahead of Watford. The two sides were also relegated together from the new Division 1 in 1995–96. Watford's promotion from Division 2 in 1997–98 meant that the two sides did not meet again in the League until the 2005–06 season, when Luton were promoted into the Championship. Clashes in the nineties had seen a decrease in violence, but a one-off League Cup tie in the 2002–03 season was marred by violence inside Vicarage Road. The clubs' first League meeting in eight years, on 2 January 2006, passed largely without incident with Watford winning 2–1 at Kenilworth Road. Later in the season, the sides met at Vicarage Road with the game ending in a 1–1 draw.
In all meetings between the two sides Luton have the superior record, with 56 wins and 183 goals to Watford's 37 and 156 respectively. Twenty-nine matches have been drawn. According to a poll, Watford fans see QPR and Crystal Palace as their most important rivals behind Luton.
