John Goodall: Watford's First Manager and Oldest Ever Player

Hi fellas,

Shared a piece on former Watford man Jack Reynolds back in June and got a great response, so just thought a few of you might be interested in this one too. For those of you who don't know, John Goodall was Watford's first ever manager. He is a Football League legend, having been the talisman of Preston's 1888/89 Invincible season and Steve Bloomer's mentor at Derby County. Goodall became the Hornets player-manager in 1903, hanging up his boots in 1907 but continuing to manage the club up until 1910. Not a member of the Football League at this time, Goodall took charge of a Watford side who had just been relegated to the Southern League second tier. In his first season the club was crowned champions, winning 18 and drawing 2 of their 20 games to make it the second invincible season of Goodall's career. Following a spell in France and Wales, and finally retiring, Goodall lived out the rest of his days in Watford, where he was often seen walking his domesticated wolves around town. He died in 1942 and was buried at Watford North Cemetery, sadly in an unmarked grave.

Anyhow, for those of you who are interested, the article is here:

https://ahalftimereport.com/2016/04/21/john-goodall-the-invincibles-talisman/

Cheers.

 

Not interested

 

johnny come lately

 

QSF take note.

 

Ha! Fair enough.

On a side note, as someone who hasn't visited the forum since June, I was a little surprised to see the general doom and gloom on here. From the outside looking in I think most people would say Watford have had an excellent season. Survived comfortably with a decent cup run. In fact it reflects our first season up in 2013/14 pretty well (Hull City fan). Obviously the second season can be a killer but I think you should be alright. Don't think there's much to fear among any of the promoted teams, I expect 2 to come down at least next season and provided you keep the goals in your side (thinking Ighalo primarily), I think you'll be alright.

Out of interest, why does the mood on here seem to be so sombre? Is it just because I've come on here following a disappointing defeat at Wembley and an end-of-season slump? Or is there more to it? Certainly surprised me given when I came on here 10 months ago, the vast majority seemed to be expecting relegation at that time, thought you'd be rather more pleased with this seasons accomplishments.

 

Mind your own business

 

Friendly bunch; you were much chirpier a year ago. Guess that's what the Premier League does to you.

Ta ta.

 

I ****ing was not!

 

Jurado has irreversibly affected the Moog.

 

I'd like to see a piece on Ron Burgess, the guy who achieved our first promotion, there've been plenty of posts on here on Ken Furphy who's understandably seen by many as the guy who really got the ball rolling, but very little on Burgess (in fairness most would be too young to remember).

Sadly he died before this forum existed otherwise there might have been tributes.

 

I know of Burgess as Spurs' title-winning captain, but must admit to knowing little about his time as manager of either Swansea or Watford. I shall do some digging and maybe put something together in the future.

 

moog I hate you and everything you stand for.

 

It is literally because the majority of Watford fans are aching simpletons who need putting down

 

Getting back on topic a bit, if John Goodall was our first manager in 1903, what went on between 1881 and 1903 ? Was it merely a captain on the field took a quasi manager roll but without the title ?

 

Spoken like a true simpleton.

 

In football's early years teams tended not to have managers. Most clubs were run by committees, who between them carried out the various duties a modern manager would look after today. In the late 1880's, 'secretaries' started to creep into the game, who were responsible for much of what we would now consider a managers duties. Most clubs didn't start bringing in 'managers' or 'head coaches' until the 1900's and 1910's, so in many ways Watford were actually quite early to bring in an official manager in Goodall, given that the club wasn't a Football League member at this time.

 

ftfy.