Reginald Herbert Watson (26 August 1900 – 1971) was an English professional footballer who played as an

outside-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

in the 1920s and 1930s, spending most of his career with Oldham Athletic, before playing for Southampton and Rochdale.

Football career

Watson was born in Thelwall, near Warrington and played for various clubs in Warrington before joining

Witton Albion Witton may refer to one of several places in England: *Witton, historic name of an area of Northwich, Cheshire **Witton Albion F.C. *Witton Gilbert, County Durham *Witton-le-Wear, County Durham *Witton, an area of Blackburn, Lancashire * Witton, B ...

of the

Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Footba ...

. He had an unsuccessful trial with

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

before joining Oldham Athletic in December 1921. Watson remained with the Boundary Park for nearly eight years, during which time he made 233 appearances in the Football League, scoring 64 goals. At the time he joined Oldham, they were a First Division club, but were relegated to the Second Division in

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

. In November 1925, he scored twice in an FA Cup First Round match against Lytham; the final score was 10–1 to Oldham with the other goals coming from Horace Barnes (three),

Arthur Ormston Arthur Ormston (born 3 June 1900 in Alnwick) was an English association footballer, who played for eight different clubs in the Football League during the interwar period. After brief spells with Radcliffe Welfare United and South Shields, Orms ...

(two), Albert Pynegar (two) and Jimmy Naylor; this remains Oldham's largest victory in the FA Cup. Watson followed this up with four goals in the next round, in a 6–4 victory at

Stockton Stockton may refer to: Places Australia * Stockton, New South Wales * Stockton, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region New Zealand *Stockton, New Zealand United Kingdom *Stockton, Cheshire *Stockton, Norfolk *Stockton, Chirbu ...

. In the summer of 1929, he was the "makeweight" in a deal with Southampton for the transfer of Billy Murphy. Watson struggled to acclimatise to life on the south coast, despite being noted as a "great trier". He made his debut for the Saints playing at outside-left in the opening match of the 1929–30 season, a 3–1 defeat at

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

. Watson retained his place for the next five matches, scoring three goals, including a brace against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

before losing his place to

Stan Cribb Stanley Roy Cribb (11 May 1905 – 13 January 1989) was an English professional footballer who played for Southampton, Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff City as an outside-left in the 1920s and 1930s. He later went on to help found and to manage ...

. Watson was only third choice on the left behind Cribb and Johnny Arnold and was in and out of the side for the remainder of the season, making a total of 14 appearances in the Second Division, scoring four goals. In the following season, he was only able to play when Arnold was playing

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

for Hampshire, and managed only a further five appearances, with one goal. Watson was more successful in the reserves, for whom he scored 36 goals in 63 matches. In the summer of 1931, he was

transfer-list The transfer market is the arena in which football players are available for transfer to clubs. The transfer market consists of a list of players available for transfer, and also the money moving between clubs as they contest to purchase and sell t ...

ed for a fee of £200 but was eventually allowed to return to Lancashire on a free transfer when he joined Rochdale in September. He only played for Rochdale for a few months, before he retired in February 1932.

References

External links

Career details on www.11v11.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Reg 1900 births 1971 deaths Association football forwards English footballers Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Footballers from Warrington Witton Albion F.C. players