Best Watford game of last 20 years?

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by ITK platypus, Apr 8, 2019.

?

Best game?

  1. vs Wolves 2019

    35 vote(s)
    58.3%
  2. vs Leicester 2013

    16 vote(s)
    26.7%
  3. Other

    9 vote(s)
    15.0%
  1. ITK platypus

    ITK platypus Squad Player

    I am torn.
     
  2. PhilippineOrn

    PhilippineOrn First Team

    Perfect Sky or Between Two Lovers?
     
  3. Teide1

    Teide1 Squad Player

    Definitely one of the best results, but best game would I think be where we didn't have to come back from two goals Down!

    i.e. Away to Liverpool 1-0
    Away to Arsenal 2-1
     
  4. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    Definitely yesterday. So much more at stake, bigger stage, classier goals and the team had work so hard to earn the right to win from 0-2. As a single moment I doubt anything will top Deeney's goal against Leicester - though a winner on 18th May might.
     
    scummybear likes this.
  5. By best game do you mean best performance or the best moment?

    One of the top 5 moments in the Pozzo era. We've had some down the years though, I think you have to add both Bolton and Leeds play off finals to the list.
     
    Happy bunny and lendal like this.
  6. PhilippineOrn

    PhilippineOrn First Team

    Don't think I agree with that, surely promotion to the PL is worth more than getting to the Cup Final? Appreciate it didn't pan out like that but at the time we never knew.
     
  7. Diamond

    Diamond First Team

    Brighton away 2-0 and the afternoon that followed as we got promotion.
     
    Knight GT likes this.
  8. Otter

    Otter Gambling industry insider

    Good question, how about this one though...

    Since this book was produced just after the 2010-11 season

    [​IMG]

    How many matches from August 2011 to present day would get in there?


    Obvious ones may be:
    31/03/12 2-0 at Leeds, Iwelumo double.

    18/08/12 3-2 at Palace, the Pozzo era begins (excluding the cup win over Wycombe the week before)
    10/11/12 6-1 at Leeds.
    12/05/13 3-1 v Leicester, Deeney day.

    10/08/13 6-1 v Muff.

    09/08/14 3-0 v Bolton, as perfect opening day as you'll get.
    30/08/14 4-2 v Huddersfield, Saninno's last match but down to 10 men but I felt that this was going to be our season.
    05/12/14 5-0 at Fulham, my son's first away game!
    17/01/15 5-0 v Charlton
    24/01/15 7-2 v Blackpool
    10/02/15 2-1 at Brentford
    14/02/15 4-3 at Bolton - these two games we just never gave up.
    06/04/15 2-0 v Middlesbrough, put the hoodoo of not beating another top 6 club to bed.
    25/04/15 2-0 at Brighton, promotion day.

    12/09/15 1-0 v Swansea, first win back in the big time
    24/10/15 2-0 at Stoke, Deeney's first Prem goal
    20/12/15 3-0 v Liverpool.
    13/03/16 2-1 at Arsenal (FAC6)

    10/09/16 4-2 at West Ham, great comeback
    18/09/16 3-1 v Man Utd
    31/01/17 2-1 at Arsenal

    14/10/17 2-1 v Arsenal
    05/02/18 4-1 v Chelsea, Gracia's first win

    02/09/18 2-1 v Spurs
    20/10/18 2-0 at Wolves, put the upstarts back in their place
    22/02/19 5-1 at Cardiff, Del boy Prem hattrick
    07/04/19 3-2 at Wembley v Wolves, put the upstarts back in their place


    Any more that I've missed?
    That's 27 I've included that would have been worthy of the book in my opinion.
     
  9. brinnyboy1985

    brinnyboy1985 First Year Pro

    Yesterday sits just above Leicester for me simply because it was a momentous moment of how far the fan base has come.

    1881 has transformed the experience of following the club and to totally outsing a club like Wolves is good going.

    The next aim is to recoup greater numbers and a unique song. Top work 1881
     
  10. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    Yesterday and the Play off semi final against Leicester. Both swung on Michael Oliver last minutes penalties.

    Ultimately we lost to Palace in the final so it's slightly tarnished as it didn't mean much in the end. Getting to an FA Cup final in the way we did, has to make it arguably the most special match of our history.

    Beating Bolton and Leeds in play off finals were fantastic, but again, it led to just one season in the Premier League before we found ourselves back in the Championship.

    Beating Plymouth in '84 to get us into our first ever final was great, but it was expected. It would have been a major giant killing had we lost that.

    Ok, we may lose the final, but we've made it to a final when we are all but out. We're going to be part of the biggest domestic cup match in England, so that's very special in itself. It will part of our honours list, be it runners-up or winners.
     
  11. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    Well I suppose the fair comparison would be to compare a promotion with actually winning the thing, as both were semis. Either way, we've all seen our fair share of promotions, and I'm sure there'll be more when we eventually do get relegated next season (), but **** knows when the next cup final will be? Will be the first time I and many others will have seen the 'Orns in a cup final!
     
  12. Relegation Certs

    Relegation Certs Squad Player

    Wembley 1999 the best of the lot for me.
     
  13. Cthulhu

    Cthulhu Keyboard Warrior Staff Member

    Leicester 2013 for me.
    Getting revenge on that little cheating twerp Knockaert, the justice of it, resonates with me.

    Although yesterday also up there as a close 2nd
     
  14. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    Still v Leicester for me, although there are some strong similarities between the two games. I was also absolutely, completely and totally convinced we were out of the playoffs in the Leicester game; at 2-0 yesterday with 11 minutes to go, the balance of play was such that I could see us equalizing.

    I tend to disagree with those who feel the Leicester result didn't matter in the end because we lost the final; for me, football is about moments and games, not outcomes. To me, that line of thinking is like saying life doesn't matter because we all die in the end. The Leicester game stands on its own merits. It's fair to say it would have been enhanced by a final victory, but it was still a legendary game as individual games go. Everyone who watched that match will remember how they felt as events unfolded (and that includes the poor Leicester fans).

    If the only thing that matters is the eventual outcome we might as well just liquidate every club outside the big 6.
     
  15. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    Still think yesterday was better, but an excellent point, well noted!
     
  16. nascot

    nascot First Team

    Wolves for me. Such a big prize at the end of it.
     
  17. Cthulhu

    Cthulhu Keyboard Warrior Staff Member

    Maybe consider a change of name then?
     
  18. Hornet4ever

    Hornet4ever WFC Forums Last Man Standing Winner 2018/2019

    1) 99 play off Final
    2) Yesterday
    3) Leicester

    However on 18th May there might well be a new no.1
     
  19. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Agreed. Yes, our comeback from 0-5 down with only 2 mins left on 18/5 will top the lot.
     
  20. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    The Deeney moment was just that, a moment not a match, so yesterday was better. But 1999 was the best of all, not least for what it meant to GT.
     
    Rozerhorn likes this.
  21. Relegation Certs

    Relegation Certs Squad Player

    Exactly. It was GT's redemption after all those years of mockery, and it was glorious.
     
  22. Hornet4ever

    Hornet4ever WFC Forums Last Man Standing Winner 2018/2019

    I think we are all perhaps guilty of not giving enough respect or mention to Cardiff 06 nowadays, effortlessly dispatching Leeds in the manner in which we did was also an incredible achievement that day.
     
  23. Relegation Certs

    Relegation Certs Squad Player

    too easy and a match devoid of quality.
     
  24. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    Absolutely. I think it gets overlooked because the result just never seemed in doubt. We smashed them from start to finish. Leeds absolutely bottled it, no question.
     
  25. Relegation Certs

    Relegation Certs Squad Player

    Yep, we nearly scored in the very first minute if I remember rightly (or close to it).
     
  26. tonycotonstache

    tonycotonstache Squad Player

    Wembley 99. Such a great team performance
     
  27. LondonOrn

    LondonOrn Squad Player

    Absolutely, not taking anything away from the 1999 victory, but I'm surprised enough that most people put it above Bolton in greatest Watford games, let alone rarely even giving it a mention.

    For me, that game is better because it sealed an even more unexpected promotion and brilliant play-off run where we cruised past Palace and Leeds without conceding a goal, and a better and more consistent season than 1998/99 with better football. But I supposedly most people look back more fondly on the earlier season because GT is god and it was his long-awaited return after years of stagnation at the club, and the way Aidy turned out diminishes the glories of the 2005/06 season for some.
     
    MarlonsCellMate likes this.
  28. Relegation Certs

    Relegation Certs Squad Player

    We dared to dream after 1999. In 2006 we knew we were in for nothing more than a season full of frightful beatings.
     
  29. LondonOrn

    LondonOrn Squad Player

    Hmm, I naively thought with Aidy the football genius at the helm anything was possible, and I thought a return to the glory days of the 1980s was imminent. Admittedly that thought was somewhat tempered by reality when we didn't win our opening 10 games, got undone by last minute goals and poor refereeing decisions and threw away a 2-0 goal lead at home to Fulham when King was still in the team...
     
  30. hornetto

    hornetto Academy Graduate

    The 2006 final was superb. We utterly outclassed a dreary Leeds side on a massive occasion to clinch an unexpected promotion- regardless of what followed it was an amazing day that tends to get unfairly overlooked.

    However the 99 final was easily on a par with that; it was an astonishing achievement really.

    Ultimately though I’d plump for the Leicester game. The whole game was such an incredible spectacle which had the most magical moment I’ve ever witnessed in football as a climax. It was the birth of a new era, the writing of Troy into Watford folklore and still gives me goosebumps whenever I watch it. Yesterday’s game was definitely up there though, and the stage and the significance of the game may be altered by the result in the final. We won’t stage a comeback like that against City; we’ll be fortunate to escape with a scrappy 1-1 or a win on penalties. There’s every chance we get beaten 5-0. So this will be the best game we play in the FA Cup this season and possibly ever.
     
  31. EnjoytheGame

    EnjoytheGame Reservist

    If you want to read the whole countdown from the book 100 Greatest Watford Wins, it's online for free (because the book had a limited print run, sold out in weeks and can't be reprinted, sadly)...

    Click on the menu and you can browse through the countdown from match 1oo to one: https://goldandblack.me/

    And if you want to hear the edition of the From the Rookery End podcast that discussed which games from the 'Pozzo era' would make an updated list, it's here: http://fromtherookeryend.com/2018/02/17/8-35-100-greatest-watford-wins-the-addtions/
     
    Hornpete likes this.
  32. PotGuy

    PotGuy Forum Fetishist

    I voted for other. It was definitely that 0-0 loss on penalties to accrington stanley in the league cup second round at the vic after extra time, some time in the mid 00s.

    Halcyon days
     
    ITK platypus likes this.
  33. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    A dull 0-0 against City, followed by a win on penalties, would represent the greatest moment in the club’s history, be remembered for ever and no-one would care what the game was like.
     
    wfcmoog and Happy bunny like this.
  34. Happy bunny

    Happy bunny Cheered up a bit

    Nobody has mentioned the turnaround at home to Kaiserslautern or the 2-1 win over champions Liverpool which clinched our runners-up place in the top tier, with Martin Patching playing a blinder and scoring in what was expected to be his last game.

    A long time ago, I know
     
    Rozerhorn likes this.
  35. LondonOrn

    LondonOrn Squad Player

    Top 10 for those who want to save themselves a bit of clicking:

    1 Bolton 1999
    2 Plymouth 1984
    3 Levski Spartak 1983
    4 Leeds 2006
    5 Manchester United 1978
    6 Liverpool 1999
    7 Kaiserslautern 1983
    8 Everton 1982
    9 Scum 1997
    10 Southampton 1980

    Very reasonable list, good to see Leeds so high, but I'm not sure Plymouth should be above them, as it was more about Watford making history than the match itself - although I didn't see the game, a narrow win against a struggling third division side in a match we were overwhelming favourites to win suggests it wasn't exactly a classic. Forgotten about Levski Spartak, but this was well before my time as a WFC fan. All the ones I would expect to be in the list (including Kaiserslautern and Southampton) are there.

    Unfortunately this thread is about Watford games from the last 20 years - not even the 4-0 at the Kennel would make it, though it sure doesn't seem like more than 20 years ago!
     

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