Watford Football Club Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. They play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club’s original foundation is 1881, aligned with that of its antecede ...

is an English

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

, Hertfordshire. Formed on 15 April 1898 as a result of the amalgamation of two strong local clubs, Watford St. Mary's and West Herts. West Herts began life as Watford Rovers in 1881, and renamed West Herts in 1891, the team joined the Southern League in 1896. West Herts amalgamated with local rivals Watford St. Mary's for the start of the 1898–99 season, to form a new club, Watford Football Club. Between 1898 and 1920, Watford competed in the Southern League, winning the championship in 1914–15. The Southern League was suspended for the next four seasons due to the First World War. On the league's resumption in 1919–20, Watford finished as runners up on

goal average A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

. At the start of 1920–21, Watford joined the Football League Third Division, and transferred to the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

when the league was reorganised the following season. They have played in the Football League ever since, with the exception of 1939–1946, when competitive football was suspended due to the Second World War, and the 1999–2000 and 2006–07 seasons, when they competed in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. In addition to the latter two seasons, the club also competed in the top division of

English football Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...

between 1982 and 1988, achieving their highest league placing of second in the 1982–83 season. Many of Watford's individual records are held by former centre forward

Luther Blissett Luther Loide Blissett (born 1 February 1958) is a former professional footballer and manager who played for the England national team during the 1980s. Born in Jamaica, Blissett played as a striker, and is best known for his time at Watford, ...

. He has made more Watford appearances (503, including substitute appearances) and scored more goals for the club (186) than anyone else. His corresponding totals in the Football League (415 appearances and 148 goals) are also Watford records.

Cliff Holton Clifford Charles Holton (29 April 1929 – 31 May 1996) was an English footballer. Born in Oxford, Holton played as a full back for non-league Oxford City as a youth, before joining Arsenal in October 1947 at the age of 18. He spent three sea ...

has scored the most goals for Watford in a single season; 48 in all competitions in the 1959–60 season, including 42 in the Football League.Jones, ''The Watford Football Clubs Illustrated Who's Who''. p. 123. Eddie Mummery's five-goal haul against Newport County on 5 January 1924 is the club record for goals scored by a player in a Football League match. Watford's most-used goalkeeper is Skilly Williams, who played for the club 341 times between 1913 and 1926.

John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. He currently works as an author, commentator and pundit for ESPN and SuperSport. Initially a quick, skilful left winger, he moved to ce ...

and

Kenny Jackett Kenneth Francis Jackett (born 5 January 1962) is a former professional football player and manager, who is currently Director of Football at club Gillingham. A skilful left-footed player, able to play in defence or midfield, Jackett was cappe ...

share the record for the most international caps won while playing for Watford. Barnes made his first 31

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

appearances before transferring from Watford to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

in 1987. Jackett, a one-club man, made the same number of appearances for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. Seven people have played competitively for the club while managing them:

John Goodall John Goodall (19 June 1863 – 20 May 1942) was a footballer who rose to fame as a centre forward for England and for Preston North End at the time of the development of the Football League, and also became Watford's first manager in 1903. He ...

, Harry Kent,

Fred Pagnam Fred Pagnam (4 September 1891 – 1 March 1962) was an English footballer and manager. Pagnam played as a forward in the Football League for clubs Huddersfield Town, Blackpool, Liverpool, Arsenal, Cardiff City and Watford, and in non-league ...

Neil McBain Neil McBain (15 November 1895 – 13 May 1974) was a Scottish professional footballer and football manager. He remains the oldest player to appear in an English Football League match aged 51 years. Playing career Club McBain, a wing half ...

, Bill Findlay,

Ken Furphy Kenneth Furphy (28 May 1931 – 17 January 2015) was an English football player and manager. Despite being on the books at Everton between 1950 and 1951, Furphy was a lower league player with Runcorn (1951–53) Darlington (1953–62) and th ...

, and most recently

Mike Keen Michael Thomas Keen (19 March 1940 – 12 April 2009) was an English association football, footballer who played during the 1960s and 1970s. He was the father of former West Ham United F.C., West Ham United and Stoke City F.C., Stoke City playe ...

between 1973 and 1975.Jones, ''The Watford Football Club Illustrated Who's Who.'' pp. 267–274.

Key

This list contains players who have made 50 or more competitive appearances for Watford, since the amalgamation of West Herts and Watford St Mary's. Non-professional players (or any player who has not signed a first team contract) or any other academy player(s) are not on the list. It includes appearances and goals in the

, Football League, Southern Football League,

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, Football League Cup,

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

Full Members Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. Th ...

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

and Anglo-Italian Cup. Appearances and goals in other competitions or non-competitive matches are not included. The table does not include appearances and goals from 1939–40; the season was abandoned after three matches due to the Second World War, and playing records from those matches were annulled.Jones, ''Watford Season by Season''. p. 209.

Players

''Current players' statistics correct at end of 2013–14 season.''

Notes

References

;Bibliography * * *
Watford Football Club archive 1881-2017
;General *Positions, playing statistics and career spans from 1898–99 to 1997–98 sourced to: Jones, ''Watford Season by Season.'' pp. 225–241. Players with multiple spells at the club are cited individually. *Positions, playing statistics and career spans from 1998–99 onwards sourced to: Career spans for players with multiple spells at the club are cited individually. *International representation up to and including May 1996 sourced to: Jones, ''The Watford Football Club Illustrated Who's Who.'' pp. 279–284. Players who made their international debut after May 1996 are cited individually. *Players of the Season up to 2010–11 sourced to: Subsequent winners are cited individually. ;Specific {{featured list Players

Association football player non-biographical articles