Favourite Watford Matches

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by ITK platypus, Jun 5, 2020.

  1. Big Al The Tank

    Big Al The Tank Academy Graduate

    Earliest memory, '73,plymouth home in the cup! They stormed the pitch, those Janners are something else.
    Home to Brentford, around 75/76 lost 1 nil Gordon Sweetzer scored.
    Mr Taylor arrived,we took off! Walked div 4,then div 3,then div 2,home to West Ham! Remember Luther scoring a header after his initial shot cannoned up of Phil parkes!bedlam all game and before the start, West ham everywhere, won 2 nil, always remember all the London sides or most would be under the scoreboard.
    Bit sketchy after this, remember a massive away support for sheff weds and few years later we beat them 4 nil at ours, more trouble.
    Fa Cup final84, I've never cried at a football match, this was the closest I was 18,we were robbed by Andy Gay, I meant that spelling!
    85/86/87 good seasons,
    My top 5,
    1, Birmingham away, cup quarter final atmosphere was electric. 84.
    2,forest away semi final lost 3-1my first away game77/78?.
    3.bolton, Wembley play off, only game I went to where I knew we wouldn't get beaten, only time I have felt that, emotionally drained.
    4,any win against the spuds.
    5,Birmingham away semi final playoff, how we pulled that off I don't know,
    Other games are coming to me, I lost my dad on the way home from game against Brentford won 2-1 mate vydra thumped home the winner, last goal my dad saw!
    Went to every away game bar 2 after dad passed, kinda saw it through for him!!
    Many other games coming back, lost at Shrewsbury in Fa Cup rnd3! 4-1it rained it snowed it was sunny it was cold,
    Sunderland away in Fa Cup, smithy penalty.
    Like most they are the ones you remember because they probably have a meaning, over 45 years that I can remember and a couple from 69/70.
     
    sherwood, dennyboy, CYHSYF and 2 others like this.
  2. Big Al The Tank

    Big Al The Tank Academy Graduate

    I remember going to QPR a few years back, I asked a copper which ways the ground, he said follow the crowd,, I ended up in Westfield!!
     
  3. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    Thanks for this. Some great memories.
    I’m struggling with the Plymouth one. We didn’t play them in the Cup around then - maybe it was a league game?
    That Cup defeat at Shrewsbury was horrible.
     
  4. Warrington Hornet

    Warrington Hornet Reservist

    That Plymouth game was in the league. I was in the Rookery when the charged across the pitch!
     
  5. Davy Crockett

    Davy Crockett Reservist

    And I couldn't make the Forest semi 1st leg and watched midweek sport special without
    knowing the score and when Luther put us 1-0 up !......
     
  6. Davy Crockett

    Davy Crockett Reservist

    Gary Shaw played for Shrewsbury that day if I remember.
    Now that was a bad day at the office . Not as bad as Northwich
    but bad all the same !.
     
  7. We hate 48

    We hate 48 Reservist

    IIRC there were L*T*N in the rookery well before kick off egging them on-Feb 75-Plymouth were going up -L*T*N were in Div 1 getting at least twice the crowds we were and were away that day.
     
  8. Big Al The Tank

    Big Al The Tank Academy Graduate

    Yes sorry league game! It was spuds a couple of years later!
     
  9. Big Al The Tank

    Big Al The Tank Academy Graduate

    Yes I was! What stood out was walking to the ground a lot of Leicester fans were saying should of stayed at Filbert Street, but it was impressive then and still is now,
     
    Filbert likes this.
  10. Filbert

    Filbert Leicester supporting bloke

    Brilliant! A slice of history there. Who could have guessed that just 14 years later that Stadium would be host to one of the most remarkable spectacles in sporting history.....

    Yes that’s right folks, the Premier league debut of a £35 million Islam Slimani!
     
    Pozzo Out, Knight GT and iamofwfc like this.
  11. Filbert

    Filbert Leicester supporting bloke

    @Moose Nice little like from my boi :p;)
     
  12. Hussar

    Hussar Academy Graduate

    4 November 1997
    Evening trip to Roots Hall.
    Absolutely convinced on leaving for the game that the only possible outcome was a Watford win.
    And the boys duly delivered 3-0 courtesy of a Peter Kennedy hat-trick.
     
  13. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    Hat-tricks at Southend were all the rage back then. Remember Darren Bazeley in ‘95?
     
  14. Nuandy

    Nuandy Academy Graduate

    watford 5 man u 1 13/5/85
    chelsea 1 watford 5 5/5/86
    watford 5 luton 2 14/4/83
    watford 1 plymouth 0 14/1/84
    Arsenal 2 watford 4 27/11/82
    Spurs 1 Watford 5 11/5/85 (yes we put 5 past spurs and manu in the space of 3 days)
    Watford 7 blackpool 2 24/1/15
    watford 7 southampton 1(AET) 2/9/80
    Lton 0 Watford 4 4/10/97
    Watford 4 Luton 3 (AET) 10/1/84
     
    iamofwfc likes this.
  15. The Voice of Reason

    The Voice of Reason First Team Captain

    The ones we win of course Duh! :D
     
  16. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    ...and another 3 at Liverpool the following Friday, albeit in a 4-3 defeat. So 13 goals in 6 days against some of the big boys.
     
  17. V Crabro

    V Crabro Reservist

    40 years ago this evening! The Evening Echo souvenir photographs and the commemorative biro are in the loft somewhere.
     
    Eastcoastorn likes this.
  18. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    Evening Echo! When did that go defunct? It can’t have been long after that Southampton game.
     
  19. CYHSYF

    CYHSYF Academy Graduate

    I had a paper round delivering the Echo in North Bushey would have been around 1982-83 so it was still going strong then.
     
  20. V Crabro

    V Crabro Reservist

    The Evening Echo is the reason I have been a WFC supporter for more than 50 years. I was born and bred in St Albans and began to be interested in football in the last year of primary school which coincided with our 1968/69 promotion season. The back pages were full of news regarding the promotion push. We had the Echo delivered every evening (can you imagine that now!) so my interest grew from being almost unaware of WFC to full on obsession in a few months. Before long I was on the "Abbey Flyer" rattling over to the Junction on match days.

    I believe the Post-Echo was based on the Hemel Industrial Estate. The Post covered Luton/Dunstable (and featured LTFC), the Echo circulated in Hemel/Watford. I wonder who made the decision to include St Albans within the Echo's area? I have a lot to thank them for!
     
  21. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    It closed in 1983 apparently. One of my earliest memories of going to Watford matches in 1970 was of Echo placards on all the lampposts in Wiggenhall Road advertising the forthcoming match report of the current game.
     
    CYHSYF likes this.
  22. leighton buzzard horn

    leighton buzzard horn Squad Player

    The last 18 months have been terrible to watch but the Liverpool home game last season, in particular the second half, was an absolute joy to watch. Currently it gives frustration as it showed what we were capable of with a bit of effort, but make no mistake the second half performance was just brilliant.
     
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  23. leighton buzzard horn

    leighton buzzard horn Squad Player

    My old man missed that game as he had pneumonia and the hospital wanted to keep him in. Being 4-0 down from the first leg he wasn't too bothered as it was a dead rubber as far as he was concerned. He had to sit in Watford general with his ticket next to him listening to the cheers as each goal went in.
     
  24. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    Younger forumites might not know that in those far-off days, when you could generally just turn up to matches and pay at the gate, season ticket holders had an additional allocation of four (I think) tickets for home cup ties. Back then Watford didn't usually get knocked out at the first opportunity but if any of these Cup tickets remained at the end of the season they would be set against the cost of the next year's ticket.
     
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  25. LondonOrn

    LondonOrn Squad Player

    Interesting and depressing to note that this thread was revived and added to (including by yours truly) during a time when confidence among the fans was back up and we looked on course for survival...

    Ah well, hopefully there'll be more favourite Watford matches to add from this coming season, I had three matches listed from 2014/15.
     
  26. Otter

    Otter Gambling industry insider

    Hopefully we will be allowed to go to matches again.
     
  27. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    I would be surprised if we are able to have full grounds before the end of this season.
     
  28. Otter

    Otter Gambling industry insider

    I see Cambridge United have been selected for two test crowds in first team matches next week. Their opening league match v Carlisle will have up to 2500 people.
     
  29. Davy Crockett

    Davy Crockett Reservist

    Beating Arsenal on consecutive days around '85 or '86 .

    Matches on Good Friday , Saturday and Easter Monday happened
    in the '70s didn't it ?
     
  30. WeveGotSteviePalmerNo1

    WeveGotSteviePalmerNo1 Academy Graduate

    Not sure if it should count as a favourite match, as the first 70 mins were abysmal, but the Watford v Bolton 4-3 comeback, with Gary Porters hat trick, and perhaps most remarkably of all a Ken Charlery 25 yarder was a phenomenal ending and victory (and I don't think its been mentioned here).

    Would also throw in Keith Waughs heroics v Newcastle when we beat the barnstorming Kevin Keegans geordies on their brilliant promotion campaign.
     
    WillisWasTheWorst likes this.
  31. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    Yes. There was always a full programme on the Saturday and clubs would play two other games on the Friday, Monday or Tuesday night. So the schedule would be: Fri, Sat, Mon or Fri, Sat, Tue or Sat, Mon, Tue. If Easter fell late, i.e deep in April, many relegation or promotions issues would be settled over this period.
    Going back well before my time to the early 60s and before, games were played on both Christmas and Boxing Day, often against the same opposition home and away.
     
  32. Big Al The Tank

    Big Al The Tank Academy Graduate

    Like I said Monday.... Any win against the spuds!!
     
  33. Bish Shrodells

    Bish Shrodells Academy Graduate

    In keeping with drawing Oxford Utd in the EFL cup today, a few memories of A Trio of visits to the Manor Ground in the space of 16 months

    My first WFC away league game in the new (to WFC) 2nd Division was 6th Sept 1969 at the Manor ground: Oxford Utd 2-1 Watford:
    As was usual at these times i went with my Dad & Granddad, we paid on the turnstiles and stood in the covered home end (The London Road Terrace) along with many other Hornets.
    A couple of things standout for me at this game (please remember this from my memory) I am pretty sure we went one nil up through (Barry Endean), however as the score indicates Oxford went onto win 2-1, and one of their goals was scored by their forward punching the ball out of Mick Walker's hands as he was about to kick up field, and then tapping the ball into an empty net, this was missed by both the ref and linesman and was allowed to stand.
    The second thing I remember is Watford played in an all white strip (I will come back to this). As in keeping with any WFC game I attend the attendance was 12,768

    Twelve months later the three of us returned to the Manor ground for another Div 2 match 19th Sept 1970: Oxford Utd 2-1 Watford:
    The only differences from our visit 12 months earlier was, Ron Wigg scored our goal, the three of us got seats in the Main stand at Oxford, and Watford played in an all red strip, this kit colour particularly sticks in my mind as, I recall asking my Dad at the time why weren't we playing in all white kit like the previous season, a WFC fan sitting in the row immediately in front of us, quickly turned round to me and said Watford always wear all red at away games and certainly did not wear all white at this fixture the previous season. I was only 10 and far to scared to argue with this WFC fan sitting in front of me, however I am pretty sure he was wrong, but I can not find any picture of that game in 69 to show what colour kit we wore, minor point I know, but it has always stuck with me. Attendance 13,270

    Four months on from the game above and we were back at the Manor ground again, this time it was FA Cup 4th Rd 23rd Jan 1971 Oxford Utd 1-1 Watford:
    Now this game I remember quite well, Dad, Granddad and myself stood in the open terrace (Cuckoo Lane End) and it poured with rain for the whole match (genuinely cannot remember the colour kit we wore), the game ended 1-1 and Ron Wigg got our equaliser pretty late on.
    However the thing that really stands out from the match is the following:
    The covered home terrace (London Road End) was very packed (i guess the rain had something to do with this) and at the front of the terrace running its complete length (width across) was a white brick built 3.5 foot high wall, a few minutes into the game and with what looked like severe over crowding (caused most probably by late arrivers) a section of the brick wall just collapsed, it was quite alarming and scary to watch from the other end of the ground.
    The game was held up for about 15 minutes while the police and red cross / ambulance workers poured onto that part of the ground to deal with those injured, after this period, bales of hay were put in place of were the collapsed part of the wall had been. I do not know how many people were injured or any other details and have only ever found one small news write up on these events on the internet, it is almost like it never happened, I have yet to meet a WFC fan who was also at this game to discuss this with, doubt that I ever will now. The attendance was a scarily packed 17,843, cannot imagine it has been bettered many times if at all, at that quaint old ground. PS we lost the Reply 0-2 at the Vic and the highlights were shown on TV (Sports night)
     
  34. StrikerLB

    StrikerLB Academy Graduate

    Not sure if anyone agrees but my favourite game was the FA cup final we lost to Everton. I was 13. We sang our hearts out. We rocked Wembley. We had Elton. Will remember going with my dad till my dying day.
     
    Knight GT likes this.
  35. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    Congratulations. You were at the Manor Ground the last time Watford lost there. For me I think it’s the only ground I’ve been to multiple times (11) and never seen us lose.
     

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