David Vernon Watson (born 5 October 1946) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a defender. During his club career, he played for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

and

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

. Watson is regarded as one of Sunderland's greatest defenders of all time. He won 65 caps with the England national team and was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on three occasions.

Club career

Watson was born in

Stapleford, Nottinghamshire Stapleford () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire, England, west of Nottingham. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 census was 14,991, at the 2011 census it was 15,241, and 15,453 at the 2021 ce ...

, and started his career in 1966 as a striker with hometown club

making 26 appearances in two seasons, before moving to Second Division

in 1968. Watson was signed by

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times bet ...

in a player exchange deal which involved Keith Pring going to Notts County and the Millers paying £1,000. He was thrust into a relegation battle with Rotherham in 1967–68 which was unsuccessful and led to Docherty's departure. After four seasons at Millmoor where he made 141 appearances and scored 21 goals, he caught the attention of

manager Alan Brown who paid £100,000 for his services in December 1970. At

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated; it h ...

, Watson began at centre forward, which many believed hindered their chances of gaining promotion. It was not until

Bob Stokoe Robert Stokoe (21 September 1930 – 1 February 2004) was an English footballer and manager who was able, almost uniquely, to transcend the traditional north-east animosity between the region's footballing rivals, Newcastle United and Sunderlan ...

took over in November 1972 that Watson began to play at centre back. Sunderland reached the 1973 FA Cup final where they beat First Division

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

1–0; he was able to keep Leeds's strike pairing of Allan Clarke and Mick Jones quiet and was praised by Stokoe. Following Sunderland's cup success the expectation was now for the club to gain promotion but they missed out by two points in both 1973–74 and 1974–75. In the summer of 1975, Watson joined First Division

for a fee of £175,000 in a deal which saw Jeff Clarke move the other way. Watson spent four seasons at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest attenda ...

which saw Man City miss out on the title in 1976–77 by one point. They did win the League Cup in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

beating

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

2–1. He left Manchester City in the summer of 1979 for German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

side

. His time at Bremen was short as after making his debut in a 1–0 win over

Bayer Uerdingen KFC Uerdingen 05 was a German football club in the Uerdingen district of the city of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The former Bundesliga side, which had its greatest successes in the 1980s, plays in the fourth-level Regionalliga. In 2025, th ...

he was sent off in his second match against

1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; ''sechzig'' locally ; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of the German football pyramid. Their current home gr ...

for "pushing" Hermann Bitz and banned by the German FA for eight weeks. He was fined by his club and refused to travel to an away match against

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, ...

because of an injury before turning up to play for England. He returned to England by October with

. Watson played 31 games in 1979–80 and 44 games in 1980–81 as the Saints finished 8th and 6th respectively. However, he was dropped by

Lawrie McMenemy Lawrence McMenemy MBE (born 26 July 1936) is an English retired football coach, best known for his spell as manager of Southampton. He is rated in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' as one of the twenty most successful managers in post-war English ...

during the next season and he joined

in January 1982. He played 24 times for Stoke in 1981–82 helping them to avoid relegation. He then played 40 times in 1982–83 as Stoke finished in a mid-table position of 13th. Watson spent the summer of 1983 with the

. He spent a season on loan at Derby County where he made 34 appearances. Watson ended his league career at his first club Notts County, but continued playing into his 40s at non-league club

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Latimer Park. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in 1976, and have ...

International career

Less than a year after the FA Cup victory and despite playing in the Second Division, he was given his debut for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in a friendly game against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in Lisbon. Watson – quite advanced in years for a debutant at 27 – was one of six first-timers on show (among the others were

Trevor Brooking Sir Trevor David Brooking (born 2 October 1948) is a former England national football team, England international Association football, footballer, manager, pundit and football administrator; he now works as director of football development in En ...

) in what would prove to be

1966 World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the final to win their first ever ...

-winning manager

Alf Ramsey Sir Alfred Ernest Ramsey (22 January 1920 – 28 April 1999) was an English association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. As a player, he represented England national football team, the England national ...

's last game in charge. Later in 1974, Watson won his second cap in a 2–0 defeat by

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

, Glasgow, coming on as a substitute for Norman Hunter. His first competitive game at international level was his seventh appearance in all as England defeated

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

3–0 at Wembley in a qualifier for the 1976 European Championships. Despite this scoreline, England would not ultimately qualify for the finals while the Czechoslovak team would go on to win it. Watson did not miss another England game until 1980. During the same year, Watson's establishment as England's first choice central defender was galvanised by a 4–3 victory over

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in Copenhagen which set the seal on a qualification for

UEFA Euro 1980 The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship finals tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first European Championship to feature eight teams ...

– England's first major tournament qualification for a decade. Watson continued his England career, earning his 50th cap against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in a warm-up game prior to the European Championships in Italy. Watson duly played in all three of England's group games – against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, Italy and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

– but a draw, defeat and victory respectively was not enough for England to progress. His final appearance for England came against Iceland in June 1982 having gained 65 caps. He was excluded from the squad for the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...

, with manager

Ron Greenwood Ronald Greenwood (11 November 1921 – 9 February 2006) was an English football player and manager. He is best known for being manager of the England national football team from 1977 until 1982, as well as being manager of West Ham United for ...

selecting only three central defenders,

Phil Thompson Philip Bernard Thompson (born 21 January 1954) is an English retired footballer, who played as a defender for Liverpool in the 1970s and 1980s. During this time, he also represented the England national football team on 42 occasions, and capt ...

Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps in a ten-year international career that feature ...

and

Steve Foster Stephen Brian Foster (born 24 September 1957) is an English former footballer. Football career Born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, Foster was an associate schoolboy with Southampton, but was not offered a professional contract. He started his prof ...

. He did however, appear in the video for " This Time We'll Get It Right", England's 1982 World Cup song. Watson remains the most-capped England player never to play in a World Cup finals match.

Personal life

Born in Stapleford, just west of

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, he played youth football for Stapleford Old Boys and left school to work as a farm labourer and then as an electrician. His elder brother,

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, was also a professional footballer. Married to Penelope Watson MBE since June 1969. In February 2020, it was reported that Watson, aged 73, was suffering from a

neurodegenerative disease A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Neuronal damage may also ultimately result in their death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, mul ...

with his wife, Penny, suspecting that "head injuries and repeated heading of the ball" were the cause.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Sunderland *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

1972–73 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...

Manchester City *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

: 1975–76 England *

British Home Championship The British Home Championship (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotlan ...

: 1973–74 (shared), 1974–75, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1981–82 Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 1973–74 Second Division,Lynch, Tony (1995). ''The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes''. London: Random House. p. 140. 1974–75 Second Division, 1978–79 First Division, 1979–80 First DivisionLynch. ''The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes''. p. 143.

References

External links

* * *
Dave Watson Interview
at talksport.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, David 1946 births Living people People from Stapleford, Nottinghamshire Footballers from Nottinghamshire Men's association football central defenders England men's international footballers English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers Notts County F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players Derby County F.C. players Fort Lauderdale Sun players Kettering Town F.C. players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players United Soccer League (1984–85) players UEFA Euro 1980 players SV Werder Bremen players Bundesliga players Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in Canada English expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Association football players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy