Watford Football Club is an English professional
football 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. They play in the
EFL Championship, the second tier 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 ...
.
The club’s original foundation is 1881, aligned with that of its antecedent, Watford Rovers, and was established as Watford Football Club in 1898. After finishing the
1914–15 season as Southern League champions under the management of
Harry Kent, Watford joined the
Football League in 1920. The team played at several grounds in their early history, including what is now West Herts Sports Club, before moving to
Vicarage Road
Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200.
History
It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cas ...
in 1922. They have a
long-standing rivalry with nearby club
Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
.
Graham Taylor
Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...
's tenure as manager at the club between 1977 and 1987 saw Watford rise from the fourth tier to the first. The team finished second in the
First Division in
1982–83, competed in the
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 ...
in
1983–84, and reached the
1984 FA Cup Final
The 1984 FA Cup Final was contested by Everton and Watford at Wembley. Everton won 2–0, with one goal by Graeme Sharp and a controversial goal from Andy Gray. He was adjudged by many to have fouled the Watford goalkeeper Steve Sherwood by he ...
. Watford declined between 1987 and 1997, before Taylor returned as manager, leading the team to successive
promotions from the renamed
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
to 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 ...
for one season in
1999–2000. The club played again in the highest tier in
2006–07 under
Aidy Boothroyd
Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur.
At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...
's management, and then again from 2015 to 2020, reaching the
2019 FA Cup Final, their second FA Cup final, but losing to a record-equalling 6–0 score line. In April 2021, Watford were promoted back into the Premier League having spent just one season in the Championship, but were relegated back to the Championship in May 2022.
History
Early years
The origins of the club can be traced back to 1881 when Watford Rovers were formed by Henry Grover, who went on to play for the club as a
full back.
[ Rovers, originally composed entirely of amateur players, held home games at several locations in the town of Watford.][Jones 1996, p. 15.][ The team first competed in the ]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 ...
in the 1886–87 season, and in 1889 Watford won the County Cup
The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...
for the first time. The team became the football section of "West Hertfordshire Club and Ground" in 1891, and consequently moved to a ground on Cassio Road
Cassio Road, also known as the West Herts Sport Ground, is a sports ground in Watford in England. It was the home ground of Watford F.C. between 1898 and 1922.
History
In the early twentieth century, Cassio Road was used for athletics, cricket ...
. In 1893 Watford Rovers changed their name to "West Herts" and in 1896 they joined the Southern Football League. West Herts fortunes slumped at the start of the 1897–98 season and attendances were less than 200. They took the bold step of turning professional and their fortunes revived. Watford St. Mary's were runners up in the Hertfordshire Senior Cup of 1894–95 and attracted crowds of 400 to 500 even when West Herts were at home. The two clubs talked of an amalgamation, which ultimately occurred on 15 April 1898. This was reported by the ''Watford Observer
The ''Watford Observer'' is a weekly local newspaper, published by Newsquest. It serves the town of Watford in southwest Hertfordshire, as well as the surrounding area. The paper covers local news, politics and sport, including the town's larges ...
'' of 7 May 1898. It was agreed that the two clubs should complete their remaining fixtures for the season. The new club was named Watford Football Club.[Jones 1996, pp. 8–9.]
Following relegation
In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
to the Southern League Second Division in 1903, Watford appointed its first manager – former England international and First Division top scorer 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 ...
. He led Watford to promotion, and kept the team in the division until his departure in 1910.[ Despite financial constraints, Watford won the Southern League title in the 1914–15 season under his successor, Harry Kent. Watford held the title for five years following the suspension of the Southern League during the First World War – after finishing the 1919–20 season 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 ...
, the club resigned from the Southern League to join the new Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following th ...
.
From 1921–22, the third tier of The Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...
consisted of two parallel sections of 22 clubs, fighting both for promotion to the Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
and also battling to hold on to their league status.[Hodgson, Guy (17 December 1999)]
"How consistency and caution made Arsenal England's greatest team of the 20th century"
''The Independent.'' Retrieved 21 April 2012. 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 to the league. Watford finished outside the top six league positions in every season between 1922 and 1934. Following Kent's departure in 1926, they finished 21st out of 22 clubs in 1926–27, but were unanimously re-elected to the league after a ballot of clubs in the top two divisions of The Football League. By contrast, under 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 ...
and subsequently Bill Findlay, the team recorded five consecutive top six finishes between 1934–35 and 1938–39, and won the Football League Third Division South Cup The Football League Third Division South Cup was a football knockout competition open to teams competing in Football League Third Division South.
The competition was first held in 1933–34 and ran until the 1938–39 season. The cup was revived ...
in 1937. The Football League was suspended in 1939 due to the Second World War.
Post-war era
Football resumed in 1946, with Watford still in the Third Division South. A 23rd-placed finish in 1950–51 meant that the club had to apply for re-election to the league once more, but again teams in the First and Second Divisions unanimously voted for Watford to stay in the league. McBain returned in 1956,[ and the team remained in the division until 1958; the league was restructured into four national divisions for the 1958–59 season, and Watford were placed in the Fourth Division. Ron Burgess replaced McBain during that season, and in the following campaign Burgess presided over Watford's first Football League promotion. This team included Fourth Division top scorer ]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 ...
, who scored a club record 42 league goals in the season.[ Holton was sold to Northampton the following year after another 34 goals, to the anger of supporters. Burgess was succeeded by ]Bill McGarry
William Harry McGarry (10 June 1927 – 15 March 2005) was an England international association footballer and manager who spent 40 years in the professional game. He had a reputation for toughness, both as a player and as a manager.
A right- ...
, who bought new players such as Charlie Livesey
Charles Edward Livesey (6 February 1938 – 26 February 2005) was a footballer who played for Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Ch ...
and Ron Saunders
Ronald Saunders (6 November 1932 – 7 December 2019) was an English football player and manager. He played for Everton, Tonbridge Angels, Gillingham, Portsmouth, Watford and Charlton Athletic during a 16-year playing career, before moving in ...
, and in his only season at the club led the club to what was at the time its highest ever league position: third in the Third Division.[Jones 1996, pp. 147, 151, 205, 272–273.] Eighteen-year-old Northern Irish goalkeeper Pat Jennings
Patrick Anthony Jennings (born 12 June 1945) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played 119 international matches for Northern Ireland in an international career which lasted for over 22 years. D ...
also featured under McGarry, and made his international debut despite being a Third Division player.
McGarry joined Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...
in 1964, and was replaced by player-manager 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 ...
, from Workington
Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207.
Locat ...
[ Furphy rebuilt the team around players such as ]Keith Eddy
Keith Eddy (23 October 1944 – 10 October 2022) was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Barrow, Watford and Sheffield United in England, as well as the New York Cosmos in the United States. He went on to manage th ...
and Dennis Bond, but after holding 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 ...
to a draw in the FA Cup and narrowly failing to win promotion in 1966–67, Bond was sold to Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
for £30,000, Watford's record transfer receipt at the time.[Jones 1996, p. 43.] Furphy's rebuilding came to fruition in 1969 with the signing of Barry Endean, whose arrival marked the start of an unbeaten run after Christmas. Watford secured the Third Division title in April, at home to Plymouth Argyle. A year later Watford reached the FA Cup semi-final for the first time, defeating First Division teams Stoke City and Liverpool along the way. Hampered by a lack of funds, however, Furphy eventually joined Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
, to be succeeded by George Kirby. Forced to sell players to survive, Watford fell back into the Third Division in 1972. The team continued to struggle in the third tier, and despite a managerial change, Watford were relegated again in 1975.[
]
Elton John era
Lifelong Watford supporter Elton John became club chairman in 1976. The singer declared an ambition to take the team into the First Division, and sacked Kirby's successor 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 ...
in April 1977. When Graham Taylor
Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...
was named as Keen's successor, the club was still in the Fourth Division. Taylor achieved promotion in his first season; Watford won the Fourth Division title, recording the most wins, fewest defeats, most goals scored and fewest goals conceded of any side in the division. Promotion to the Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
followed in 1978–79, and Ross Jenkins finished the season as the league's top scorer with 29 goals. Watford consolidated with 18th and 9th-placed finishes over the following two seasons, and secured promotion to the First Division for the first time in 1981–82, finishing second behind rivals
A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...
Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
.[Brown, Tony]
"English Division Two (old) 1981–1982 : Table"
. Statto.com. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
Watford started the 1982–83 season with four league wins from the opening five fixtures; in the space of seven years, the club had climbed from bottom place in the lowest division of The Football League to top position in the highest division.[Brown, Tony]
"Watford 1982–1983 English Division One (old): Table on 11.09.1982."
. Statto.com. Retrieved 2 May 2012. Watford were unable to maintain a title challenge, but eventually finished the season second behind Liverpool, which ensured 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 ...
qualification for the following season. 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, ...
finished the season as the First Division top scorer, before signing for Italian Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
side Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
for £1 million at the end of the season. An FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...
appearance followed in the 1984 fixture, where they lost to Everton. After guiding Watford to a ninth-place finish in 1986–87, Taylor left the club to manage Aston Villa.
Following Taylor's departure, Wimbledon manager Dave Bassett
David Thomas Bassett (born 4 September 1944 in Stanmore) is an English football manager and a former player. During his career he has managed Wimbledon, Watford, Sheffield United, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, Barnsley, Leicester City a ...
was appointed as his replacement, and England winger 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 ...
was sold to Liverpool. After 4 wins from his opening 23 league fixtures, Bassett was sacked in January 1988. Watford were bottom of the First Division at the time of his departure, and Steve Harrison could not prevent relegation at the end of the season. In 1988–89, Harrison's Watford failed to return to the First Division, after defeat in the Second Division play-offs. The under-18 team won the FA Youth Cup, beating Manchester City 2–1 after extra time, with future England international
The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...
David James in goal for the Hornets. Harrison departed in 1990, and over the next few years, the closest Watford came to promotion was a seventh-placed finish in Division One in the 1994–95 season.[ However, in the following season – ]Glenn Roeder
Glenn Victor Roeder (13 December 1955 – 28 February 2021) was an English professional football player and manager.
As a player, Roeder played as a defender for Arsenal, Leyton Orient, Queens Park Rangers, Notts County, Newcastle United, Watfo ...
's third as manager – Watford struggled. Despite the return of Graham Taylor as caretaker manager in February 1996, the club was relegated to Division Two.
Following the relegation, Taylor became director of football, with former Watford midfielder 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 ...
as manager. After a mid-table finish in Division Two in 1996–97, Jackett was demoted to the position of assistant manager. Taylor returned as manager, and won the Second Division title in 1997–98 – Watford's second league title under his management. A second successive promotion followed in 1998–99, thanks to a 2–0 play-off final victory over Bolton Wanderers. Watford's first Premiership season started with an early victory over Liverpool, but Watford's form soon faded, and the club were relegated after finishing bottom. Graham Taylor retired at the end of the 2000–01 season, and was replaced by Gianluca Vialli. Wage bills at the club rose by £4 million during Vialli's tenure, and the club finished 14th in the division in 2001–02. Vialli was sacked at the end of the season, following a dispute with the club's board over the wage bill. He was replaced by Ray Lewington
Raymond Lewington (born 7 September 1956) is an English retired footballer. He was most recently assistant manager of Watford.
Born in London, he started his playing career in the city at Chelsea. He went on to play for Vancouver Whitecaps, W ...
, who had joined the club the previous summer as Vialli's reserve team manager.
Financial struggles
Watford's weak financial position was exposed in 2002–03, following the collapse of ITV Digital
ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network. Its main shareholders were Carlton Communications plc and Granada plc, owners ...
. The club was facing administration, but an agreement by players and staff to a 12% wage deferral helped the club's cash flow, and a run to the FA Cup semi-final generated vital revenue. Financial constraints saw a large number of players released that summer. After consolidating in 2003–04, the following season started well, with the club in the upper half of the Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
at the end of September. Poor form, however, saw the club drop towards the relegation zone. Despite reaching the semi-final of the League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
, Watford's league form did not improve, and Lewington was sacked in March 2005. His successor, Aidy Boothroyd
Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur.
At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...
,[ led the club to Championship survival.][
]
Return to the Premier League
Watford finished third in the league in Boothroyd's first full season,[ and defeated ]Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
3–0 in the play-off final to gain promotion to 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 ...
.[ But the team did not record a Premier League win until November, and ]Ashley Young
Ashley Simon Young (born 9 July 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger or full-back for Premier League club Aston Villa, where he is club captain.
Young started his career at Watford and made his first senior appea ...
was sold to Aston Villa for a club record fee of £9.65 million in January 2007. Watford finished bottom after only winning five league games,[ but did reach the semi-finals of the ]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 ...
. Boothroyd continued as manager, and spent heavily on players, including a then-club record £3.25 million for Nathan Ellington
Nathan Levi Fontaine Ellington (born 2 July 1981) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a striker.
Ellington started his playing career with non-League side Tooting & Mitcham United. Having played once for the club, he sw ...
. Watford led the Championship by several points early in 2007–08, but only finished sixth;[ Boothroyd's team were defeated 6–1 on aggregate by ]Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
in the play-off semi-finals. Boothroyd left the club by mutual consent three months into the 2008–09 season, with Watford 21st in the Championship table.
Under Boothroyd's successor, Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City.
Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed ...
, Watford finished 13th. Rodgers left to manage Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
at the end of the season; Malky Mackay
Malcolm George Mackay (born 19 February 1972) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player, who is currently the manager of Ross County. Mackay, who played as a defender, began his playing career in Scottish football with Quee ...
, who had previously served as caretaker manager, was his replacement.["Mackay appointed Watford manager"]
BBC Sport. 15 June 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2012. Amid the departures of several key players during Mackay's tenure, including Tommy Smith and Jay DeMerit, and the club coming close to administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...
, Watford finished 16th in 2009–10 and 14th the following season. Mackay left to manage Cardiff City in June 2011 and was replaced by Sean Dyche
Sean Mark Dyche (; born 28 June 1971) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Burnley.
During his playing career, Dyche played as a centre-back, making his professional debut in 1990 ...
. Despite presiding over Watford's highest league position in four years by finishing 11th, Dyche was dismissed as Watford manager in July 2012.
Pozzo family era
In June 2012, Laurence Bassini completed the sale of the club to the Pozzo family ( Gino Pozzo and his father). Following Dyche's sacking, the new owners brought in former Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
international Gianfranco Zola
Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a forward. He was most recently the assistant manager of Chelsea.
He spent the first decade of his playing career playing i ...
to take charge.[Short, Paul (8 July 2012)]
"Zola confirmed as Watford manager"
''The Independent''. Retrieved 14 July 2012. In the 2012–13 season Watford finished third in the Championship, and reached the play-off final where they were defeated in the final by Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
1–0 via an extra-time penalty by Kevin Phillips. The following season, Giuseppe Sannino replaced Zola, as their new manager and the team finished the season in 13th place. Sannino resigned at the start of the 2014–15 season and was replaced by Óscar García, who left shortly afterwards for "health reasons."
Billy McKinlay
William James Alexander McKinlay (born 22 April 1969) is a Scottish football manager and former professional footballer who is assistant manager of West Ham United.
As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for ...
replaced him but, despite twinning 4 points out of a possible 6 under his stewardship, after just eight days he too was replaced, by Slaviša Jokanović
Slaviša Jokanović ( sr-Cyrl, Славиша Јокановић, ; born 16 August 1968) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player. He is the manager of Russian club Dynamo Moscow.
A physical player considered strong in the a ...
. With Jokanović managing the team, Watford finished second in the Championship, after being edged out on the final day by champions AFC Bournemouth, and were promoted.
Watford did not renew Jokanović's contract and he was replaced by the Spaniard Quique Sánchez Flores
Enrique "Quique" Sánchez Flores (; born 5 February 1965) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a right-back, currently manager of Getafe.
He began his professional career with Valencia in 1984, going on to amass La Liga totals of 304 ga ...
ahead of the 2015-16 season. Under Sánchez Flores Watford finished 13th in the Premier League, and reached the semi-finals of the 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 ...
, ending Arsenal's bid to win the competition for three successive times, but were beaten 2-1 by Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
. Near the end of the season, in May 2016, Sánchez Flores and the club enacted a break clause in his contract, he and was replaced by Italian coach Walter Mazzarri
Walter Mazzarri (; born 1 October 1961) is an Italian former footballer and head coach, most recently in charge of Serie A club Cagliari.
After a 14-year playing career with Italian clubs including Reggiana and Empoli, Mazzarri coached several ...
who signed a three-year contract. At the end of the next season, in May 2017, Watford finished 17th and Mazzari resigned, replaced by Marco Silva
Marco Alexandre Saraiva da Silva (; born 12 July 1977) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a right-back, currently manager of club Fulham.
He played for a variety of Portuguese clubs, finishing his career with a six-year spell at ...
. The new coach was sacked after approximately six months, in January 2018, and the club hired Javi Gracia
Javier "Javi" Gracia Carlos (; born 1 May 1970) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder.
He played 430 matches both major levels of Spanish football combined, in a 15-year professional career. Afte ...
. In April 2019 Watford came back from 2–0 down to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
to reach the FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...
for the second time in their history, with Gerard Deulofeu
Gerard Deulofeu Lázaro (; born 13 March 1994) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Serie A club Udinese. Mainly a forward, he can also play as a winger on both flanks.
He started his career with Barcelona, first appearing with ...
scoring twice and Troy Deeney
Troy Matthew Deeney (born 29 June 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for and captains club Birmingham City.
Deeney started his professional career at Walsall. He spent a brief spell on loan with Southern Leag ...
scoring a penalty in the 94th minute to take it to extra time. They met Manchester City in the Final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
* Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
and were defeated 6-0, a joint record margin of victory for an FA Cup Final. In the league Watford finished 11th, with 50 points, both club records for the Premier League era.
After four games of being in charge in the 2019–20 season, Gracia was sacked due to poor form in the league. 30 minutes after he was sacked, former manager Quique Sánchez Flores was again appointed. He survived only until 1 December 2019 after getting only one win since his appointment in September. A caretaker manager was appointed for one game before Nigel Pearson
Nigel Graham Pearson (born 21 August 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player, currently the manager of Championship club Bristol City. During his playing career, he was a defender and played for Shrewsbury Town, Shef ...
came into management. Watford ended Liverpool's unbeaten run of 44 top-flight games in February 2020, but Pearson was sacked 2 games before the end of the season, and the club were relegated, finishing 19th out of 20.
Watford finished the 2020-21 Championship season in second place, gaining immediate promotion back to the Premier League, but again finished the following season 19th out of 20 and were relegated back to the Championship.
Club identity
Watford's kit has changed considerably over the course of the club's history. The club's kit featured various combinations of red, green and yellow stripes, before a new colour scheme of black and white was adopted for the 1909–10 season. These colours were retained until the 1920s, when the club introduced an all-blue shirt. After a change of colours to gold shirts and black shorts for 1959–60, the team's nickname was changed to The Hornets, after a popular vote via the supporters club. These colours remained until 1976, when Watford's kits started featuring red, and the gold was changed to yellow. That colour scheme has continued into the 21st century.
Watford's initial nickname was ''The Brewers'', in reference to the Benskins Brewery
Benskins was the pre-eminent brewery in Watford, and Hertfordshire's biggest brewer until its acquisition by Ind Coope in 1957.
While Benskins has not existed as an independent company for over half a century, the brand continues to be well kno ...
, which owned the freehold of Vicarage Road. This nickname did not prove particularly popular, and upon the adoption of a blue-and-white colour scheme in the 1920s, the club became predominantly known as ''The Blues''. When Watford changed kit colours in 1959, supporters chose ''The Hornets'' as the team's new nickname, and the club later introduced a crest depicting a hornet.[ In 1974 the design was changed to depict Harry the Hornet, the club's mascot.][ The club's nickname remains, but in 1978 the hornet crest was replaced by a depiction of a ]hart
Hart often refers to:
* Hart (deer)
Hart may also refer to:
Organizations
* Hart Racing Engines, a former Formula One engine manufacturer
* Hart Skis, US ski manufacturer
* Hart Stores, a Canadian chain of department stores
* Hart's Reptile Wo ...
– a male red fallow deer– on a yellow and black background. A hart represents the town's location in the county of Hertfordshire. Until Barnet and, later, Stevenage joined the Football League, Watford were Hertfordshire's only league club. Other nicknames have since been adopted, including ''Yellow Army'' and ''The 'Orns''.
Until April 2019, when Watford played at Vicarage Road
Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200.
History
It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cas ...
their players traditionally entered the pitch at the start of the game to the ''Z-Cars
''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debut ...
'' theme tune
Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at som ...
. However, in mid-April 2019 the team changed their entrance song to Elton John's "I'm Still Standing
"I'm Still Standing" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, from John's 1983 album ''Too Low for Zero''. It was the second single released from the album in the UK, and the first single released in the Un ...
". The club returned to Z Cars as the theme to welcome players to the pitch in August 2019 at the start of the 2019–20 Premier League
The 2019–20 Premier League was the 28th season of the Premier League, the top English professional football league, since its establishment in 1992, and the 121st season of top-flight English football overall. The season started on 9 August 2 ...
season, following fan pressure and petitions.
Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors
Stadium
Watford Rovers played at several grounds in the late 19th century, including Cassiobury Park, Vicarage Meadow and Market Street, 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 ...
. In 1890, the team moved to a site on Cassio Road, and remained there for 32 years, before moving to Watford's current stadium at nearby Vicarage Road
Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200.
History
It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cas ...
in 1922.[ The new stadium was initially owned by ]Benskins Brewery
Benskins was the pre-eminent brewery in Watford, and Hertfordshire's biggest brewer until its acquisition by Ind Coope in 1957.
While Benskins has not existed as an independent company for over half a century, the brand continues to be well kno ...
; the club rented the ground until 2001, when it purchased the freehold outright. However, the club's financial situation worsened following the purchase, and in 2002 Watford sold the ground for £6 million in a deal which entitled Watford to buy the stadium back for £7 million in future. Watford took up this option in 2004 using a campaign backed and funded by the fans called "Lets buy back the Vic".
Vicarage Road is a four-sided ground with a capacity of 21,577. The East Stand, part of which was constructed in 1922, was closed to the general public in 2008 for health and safety reasons, although it still hosted the dressing rooms and the matchday press area. In November 2013, the East Stand was demolished and in its place a new steel-framed, 3,500-seater stand was constructed. The stand opened fully on Boxing Day 2014 and was named The Elton John Stand after the club's longstanding chairman. The Graham Taylor Stand (previously the Rous Stand), built in 1986, has two tiers and runs the length of the pitch, with the upper section containing the club's corporate hospitality. At either end of the pitch, The Vicarage Road Stand is split between the club's family section and away supporters, while the Rookery Stand is for home supporters only. Both stands were built in the 1990s, financed by proceeds from player sales. In the summer of 2015, The Elton John Stand was revamped in order to accommodate an extra 700 seats. This number was revised a day later to around 1,000 extra seats following the announcement of an expansion in the north-east corner.
Between 1997 and early 2013, Watford shared Vicarage Road with rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
side Saracens F.C. The stadium has hosted matches for the England under-21s, and senior international football between overseas teams. Elton John has also used Vicarage Road as a venue for concerts: He first played at the stadium in 1974 and returned in 2005 and 2010 to stage fundraising concerts for the club. Former events include horse and carriage shows[ and greyhound racing.
The Watford Training Ground is located on the ]University College London Union
Students' Union UCL (formerly University College London Union) is the students' union of University College London. Founded in 1893, it is one of the oldest students' unions in England, although postdating the Liverpool Guild of Students which ...
(UCLU) Shenley Sports grounds in St Albans, Hertfordshire.
Luton rivalry
Watford fans maintain a rivalry with those of Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
. The two sides met regularly in the Southern League between 1900 and 1920, and continued to do so in The Football League until 1937,[ when Luton gained promotion from Division Three South. Luton remained in a higher division than Watford until 1963.][Harrison, David (March 2002)]
"Herts rule Beds"
. ''When Saturday Comes
''When Saturday Comes'' (''WSC'') is a monthly magazine about football, first published in London in 1986. "It aims to provide a voice for intelligent football supporters, offering both a serious and humorous view of the sport, covering all the ...
''. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Watford and Luton met sporadically. Despite this, the rivalry grew in significance, particularly following an ill-tempered match between the sides in 1969, in which three players were sent off.[ Both sides won promotion to the First Division in the 1981–82 season, with Luton taking the championship ahead of Watford.][ They were also relegated together from the new Division 1 in 1995–96, with Watford finishing 23rd ahead of bottom-placed Luton.][ Watford's promotion from Division 2 in 1997–98 meant that the two sides did not meet again until Luton won promotion to the Championship for the 2005–06 season.][ The only meeting between those seasons – a League Cup tie in the 2002–03 season – was marred by violence inside Vicarage Road.
On 2 January 2006, Watford won 2–1 at Kenilworth Road in the Championship, followed by a 1–1 draw between the sides, on 9 April 2006, a point that secured Watford's place in the 2006 Championship play-offs, from which they eventually won promotion to the Premier League for the second time, beating Leeds United 3–0 at the Millennium Stadium in ]Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
.
Over a fourteen-season span, Watford have played in a higher division than Luton between 2006–07 and the 2019–20 season, with Luton dropping out of the football league altogether for six seasons between 2009–10 and 2014–15.[Brown, Tony]
"Watford history 1975 to date"
. Statto.com. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
The rivalry between the two clubs resumed in the 2020–21 season. On 26 September 2020, Watford won the first league match of the season between the two clubs 1–0 at Vicarage Road. On 17 April 2021 in the reverse fixture at Kenilworth Road, Luton won 1–0, so the spoils for the season were shared. With Watford's promotion back to 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 ...
for season 2021–22, the rivalry did not commence that year; although it is set to resume for the 2022-23 season after Watford's immediate relegation from the Premier League, whilst Luton remained in the Championship.
The head-to-head record between the clubs, in competitions which currently exist, stands at Luton 39 wins, Watford 27 wins, with 23 draws. Watford have remained the higher ranked team at the end of every season since 1997 (and for 28 of the last 29 seasons, with only 1996–97 seeing Luton finish higher in the league than Watford) whilst Luton still have a many more years in a higher league throughout both teams history.
Players
Current squad
Out on loan
Under-21s and Academy
Managers
Watford's team was selected by committee until 1903, when former 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 ...
international 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 ...
was appointed player-manager
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...
. The impact was immediate, as Watford secured promotion to the Southern League First Division in 1903–04. Goodall retired as a player in 1907, and left the club in 1910. He was replaced by his former captain, Harry Kent, who become known for his financial management of the club; under Kent, Watford frequently made a profit in the transfer market. Kent led the club to the Southern League title in 1914–15, and missed out on a second title in 1919–20 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 ...
, before resigning in 1926. His three immediate successors – 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 ...
and Bill Findlay – all played for Watford before and during the early part of their managerial tenures. None were able to lead the team to promotion from 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 ...
, although Findlay did lead Watford to a Third Division South Cup win in 1937.
Up until Findlay's departure in 1947, Watford had been managed by five managers in 44 years, all of whom played for the team. By contrast, six men managed the club between 1947 and 1956, only two of whom were former Watford players.[Jones 1996, pp. 267–274.] After a further three years under McBain between 1956 and 1959, Watford's following three managers presided over improved teams. Ron Burgess led Watford to promotion from the Fourth Division in 1959–60. Bill McGarry
William Harry McGarry (10 June 1927 – 15 March 2005) was an England international association footballer and manager who spent 40 years in the professional game. He had a reputation for toughness, both as a player and as a manager.
A right- ...
was only in charge for one full season (1963–64), but Watford recorded a finish of third in the Third Division, the club's highest Football League finish until that point. His successor 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 ...
matched that achievement in 1966–67, and led Watford to the Third Division title in 1969, before taking the club to its first 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 ...
semi-final in 1970. Following Furphy's departure in 1971, Watford entered a period of decline, experiencing relegation under subsequent managers George Kirby and 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 ...
.
Graham Taylor 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
The 1984 FA Cup Final was contested by Everton and Watford at Wembley. Everton won 2–0, with one goal by Graeme Sharp and a controversial goal from Andy Gray. He was adjudged by many to have fouled the Watford goalkeeper Steve Sherwood by he ...
. Taylor left the club at the end of 1986–87. Under the six subsequent permanent managers (Dave Bassett
David Thomas Bassett (born 4 September 1944 in Stanmore) is an English football manager and a former player. During his career he has managed Wimbledon, Watford, Sheffield United, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, Barnsley, Leicester City a ...
, Steve Harrison, Colin Lee
Colin Lee (born 12 June 1956) is an English football manager and former footballer. He is currently head of football at South Dartmoor Community College in Ashburton, Devon along with Chris Beard.
Playing career
Lee began his football career ...
, Steve Perryman, Glenn Roeder
Glenn Victor Roeder (13 December 1955 – 28 February 2021) was an English professional football player and manager.
As a player, Roeder played as a defender for Arsenal, Leyton Orient, Queens Park Rangers, Notts County, Newcastle United, Watfo ...
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 ...
), 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
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 1999–2000. Since Taylor's retirement in 2001, Watford have had twelve managers. Of these, Aidy Boothroyd
Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur.
At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...
took Watford back to the Premier League in 2006, but Watford were relegated in 2007, and Boothroyd departed in 2008.
Following Watford's takeover by the Pozzo family, Gianfranco Zola
Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a forward. He was most recently the assistant manager of Chelsea.
He spent the first decade of his playing career playing i ...
was appointed head coach, replacing former centre back Sean Dyche
Sean Mark Dyche (; born 28 June 1971) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Burnley.
During his playing career, Dyche played as a centre-back, making his professional debut in 1990 ...
in July 2012,. Zola took Watford to third position in the Championship in 2012–13 but resigned on 16 December 2013. He was replaced by fellow Italian Beppe Sannino in December 2013. Sannino guided the team to a final league position of 13th.
Despite winning four of the first five league matches of the 2014/15 season, and with Watford sitting in 2nd place, Sannino's position had become the subject of much speculation following rumours of dressing-room unrest and some players taking a dislike to his style of management. Sannino resigned from his position as head coach on 31 August 2014 after just over eight months in charge. His final game in charge was a 4–2 win at home to Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...
the day before.
Sannino's departure initiated a bizarre sequence of events which led to Watford having three further head coaches in little more than a month. On 2 September, Watford confirmed the appointment of former Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
head coach Óscar García as the successor to Sannino, beating off competition from fellow Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
side Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
for his services. García, however, resigned from his position on 29 September 2014 for health reasons, having been admitted to hospital with chest pains a couple of weeks prior. Billy McKinlay
William James Alexander McKinlay (born 22 April 1969) is a Scottish football manager and former professional footballer who is assistant manager of West Ham United.
As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for ...
, who had only been appointed first team coach on 26 September 2014, was appointed as his immediate successor on the same day – his first position in management. A week later, McKinlay was released by mutual consent and former Partizan Partizan may refer to:
Sport
* JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs:
**AK Partizan, athletics
** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling
** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo
**FK Partizan, association fo ...
coach Slaviša Jokanović
Slaviša Jokanović ( sr-Cyrl, Славиша Јокановић, ; born 16 August 1968) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player. He is the manager of Russian club Dynamo Moscow.
A physical player considered strong in the a ...
appointed in his place, apparently because the club favoured a head coach with greater experience.
On 4 June 2015, Quique Sánchez Flores
Enrique "Quique" Sánchez Flores (; born 5 February 1965) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a right-back, currently manager of Getafe.
He began his professional career with Valencia in 1984, going on to amass La Liga totals of 304 ga ...
was announced as the new head coach as the replacement to Jokanović, who had failed to agree contract terms. Despite going on to lead the newly promoted Watford to a comfortable mid-table position in the Premier League and the semi-final of the FA Cup, it was announced on 13 May 2016 that Sánchez Flores would be leaving the club at the end of the season.
Following Sánchez Flores's departure, Walter Mazzarri was announced as Watford's head coach starting on 1 July 2016.
Mazzari's tenure as manager was terminated at the end of the season.
On 27 May 2017 Marco Silva
Marco Alexandre Saraiva da Silva (; born 12 July 1977) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a right-back, currently manager of club Fulham.
He played for a variety of Portuguese clubs, finishing his career with a six-year spell at ...
was appointed head coach.
On 21 January 2018, Javi Gracia
Javier "Javi" Gracia Carlos (; born 1 May 1970) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder.
He played 430 matches both major levels of Spanish football combined, in a 15-year professional career. Afte ...
was appointed as head coach following Silva's departure. Gracia has been met with widespread praise since his appointment after a successful 2018–19 Premier League campaign which saw Watford finish with their highest points tally ever in English Premier League football.
After a disappointing start to the 2019–20 season, Javi Gracia was sacked and replaced by previous manager Quique Sánchez Flores. Then Quique Sánchez Flores was fired again after a 2–1 loss to Southampton on 1 December. On 6 December 2019, Nigel Pearson
Nigel Graham Pearson (born 21 August 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player, currently the manager of Championship club Bristol City. During his playing career, he was a defender and played for Shrewsbury Town, Shef ...
agreed to take manager's job, with Craig Shakespeare as his assistant, on a short-term contract to the end of the season. He was sacked on 19 July 2020 with two games to go with Hayden Mullins appointed as interim coach until the end of the season.
In the 2020-21 season, there were two more coaches, beginning with Vladimir Ivic
Vladimir may refer to:
Names
* Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name
* Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name
* Volodymyr for the Ukr ...
, and followed by Xisco Munoz, who ultimately steered Watford towards promotion to the Premier League. Xisco continued to coach the team for the 2021-22 Premier League campaign until October 2021, and was subsequently followed by Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023.
Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in ...
from October 2021 to January 2022. Former England manager Roy Hodgson took hold of the reigns from February 2022 until the season's end, where Watford finished in 19th place and were relegated from the Premier League. Rob Edwards was announced as the new manager for the 2022-23 EFL Championship Season, but was released by the club in September 2022 after 11 games in charge. Slaven Bilić
Slaven Bilić (; born 11 September 1968) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. He is the current manager of EFL Championship side Watford.
Bilić, who played as a defender, began his career in 1988 with his hometown c ...
was announced as his replacement on an 18-month contract.
Club officials
Honours
Records
Striker 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, ...
holds the record for Watford appearances, having played 503 matches in all competitions between 1976 and 1992, and his 415 appearances in The Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...
during the same period is also a club record. Blissett holds the corresponding goalscoring records, with 186 career Watford goals, 148 of which were in the league. The records for the most league goals in a season is held by 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 ...
, having scored 42 goals in the 1959–60 season. The highest number of goals scored by a player in a single game at a professional level is the six registered by Harry Barton against Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...
in September 1903.["Watford FC club records"](_blank)
Watford Football Club. 15 December 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2012. Archived fro
on 18 July 2011.
Watford's biggest ever competitive win came in 1900, when the team defeated Maidenhead 11–0 in the Southern League Second Division. The team's biggest Football League winning margin is 8–0; this first occurred in a Third Division South match against Newport County in 1924, and was repeated in a First Division match against Sunderland in 1982. Both of these matches were at home – Watford have won an away league match by five goals on six occasions, most recently in the 6–1 win against Leeds United at Elland Road in 2012. The most goals scored in a Football League game involving Watford is 11, in Watford's 7–4 victories against Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...
, Torquay United
Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...
and Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
in 1934, 1937 and 2003 respectively.[Brown, Tony]
"Watford records"
Statto.com. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
The club's highest home attendance is 34,099, for a fourth round FA Cup match against Manchester United on 3 February 1969. The record home league attendance is 27,968 against Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
in August of the same year. Watford's home capacity has since been reduced due to all-seater requirements; it currently stands at 21,577.
Footnotes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
Watford statistics
at Soccerbase
''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 60 ...
Watford Legends – Interviews with former Watford players
Hornet History – History of Watford Football Club from 1940s
Forza Watford – Watford news and opinion
Play-Off record for Watford
{{Authority control
Football clubs in England
Premier League clubs
Former English Football League clubs
Association football clubs established in 1881
Southern Football League clubs
1881 establishments in England
Football clubs in Hertfordshire
Sport in Watford
Elton John