On This Day...

That is a lovely kit!

 

From memory, there was a very harsh winter that year with many postponed matches so weeks without football in some cases (hard to believe now). At the same time we had a Cup run with lots of replays - two against Man City, one against Bury and another against Liverpool in the quarterfinal. All these had to be fitted in between the freezes, which left games to be played every midweek for the rest of the season. I don’t know when the Arsenal home game was originally scheduled, but the only option to play it was on the Tuesday night directly after Easter Monday, which happened to be the Arsenal away game.

 

Yes, looking at this https://watford.fcdb.info/index.php?page=matches&p=5&o=&q=1986&mf=

We played no league matches between 1st Feb and 15th March, only 5 cup games, including no matches at all between 6th Feb and 5th March.

 

A friend drove us up to the second Man City replay, which was only on because they were one of the few clubs at that time to have undersoil heating. We trundled up the M1/M6 on compacted frozen snow all the way. That was before global warming kids!

 

It's odd, I was at university that year and have no recollection of this harsh winter at all.

Possibly too much time spent in the student bar?

 

Studying in the library, more like !

 

Christ, I was trying to forget Guy Whittingham was at Watford until that program reminded me.......

Mad game that one!!

 

The game at Highbury was always scheduled on the 31st March which was Easter Monday. The home game against Arsenal was meant to be played on Boxing Day but was postponed because of bad weather. It was rescheduled twice but again postponed as others have said because the weather was awful that winter and because we kept needing to arrange cup replays. Eventually a date of 1st April was agreed meaning we played each other twice in 30 hours. Can just imagine the moaning from the top six if it happened today.

 

On this day 41 years ago, we beat Luton Town 5-2 at Vicarage Road, our first win over them for 11 years. Luther Blissett scored twice along with goals from Richard Jobson, John Barnes and Nigel Callaghan.



https://oldwatford.com/1983/04/04/4th-april-1983-division-one-watford-5-luton-town-2/

 

Correcting grammar, no doubt.

 

The first couple of months of 1985 were bad, with postponement after postponement.

Villa A on Jan 12, off

Sunderland H in the Milk Cup on Jan 15 postponed twice and eventually played on a ice rink on Jan 23

Man United H on Jan 20 was supposed to be the live ITV game but snowfall meant it was called off and ITV showed The Smurfs and Terrahawks instead, if my memory is correct.

Then in February, West Ham at home was postponed, as was Sunderland away and Ipswich home leaving us with just two games in the entire month, neither of them at home.

 

One has to start somewhere.

 

Great game. Smurfs beat Terrahawks 2-1 IIRC.

 

One of the best all time performances I've ever seen. Absolutely tore them apart

 

It was a great day because we had waited so long for a win against them, but I seem to remember it was a bit iffy in the first half. Weren’t we 2-1 down before Jobson scored a vital equaliser just before half-time?

 

You have a better memory than me!! I couldn't tell you who scored only that we outplayed them in both halves yet somehow it was 2-2 at half time. Everything worked out in the end though!

 

On this day 21 years ago, the 7-4 win away at Burnley.



https://oldwatford.com/2003/04/05/5th-april-2003-new-division-one-burnley-4-watford-7/

 

On this day 9 years ago, a fine 2-0 win over Middlesbrough who'd started the day top of the table, as our automatic promotion prospects start to become more realistic.



https://oldwatford.com/2015/04/06/6th-april-2015-championship-watford-2-middlesbrough-0/

 

Yes sorry to be late with this today.

On this day 5 years ago Gerard Deulofeu stole the show, Freddie Mercury style, at Wembley Stadium.



https://oldwatford.com/2019/04/07/7...derers-2-after-extra-time-at-wembley-stadium/

 

On this day 46 years ago a Roger Joslyn goal gave us a 1-0 win at Scunthorpe and secured us the Fourth Division title with six games to spare.



https://oldwatford.com/1978/04/08/8th-april-1978-division-four-scunthorpe-united-0-watford-1/

 

My memory of this game was Bobby Watts (older fans might remember him as one of the "lads" of the day) getting on the pitch before the start in his camel coat and taking a ball off a ballboy and then shooting towards us away fans before being escorted off the pitch

 

Went up to that with my ex-brother-in-law and a couple of car loads of his (Holywell) mates. Leaving Scunny after the game, we thought we were being followed by a car of local lads, until they turned off….but then as we rounded a bend in the road they’d obviously taken a short cut as they were parked up in a lay-by and started lobbing bricks and stones. Not the best course of action as two cars full of p155ed off lads swerved into the same lay-by and proceeded to persuade them to desist.
How different things were back then!

 

High quality printing and graphics on that programme cover!

 

On this day 41 years ago, Nigel Callaghan scored with a fine long distance shot that even had the locals at The Hawthorns clapping as we beat West Brom 3-1.



https://oldwatford.com/1983/04/09/9th-april-1983-division-one-west-bromwich-albion-1-watford-3/

 

He scored a few crackers, but this has to be one of the very best ? I love the one at Levski Spartak, two at Notts Co, and I think he scored a brilliant goals at newcastle in a 0-1 away win ????

 

Not forgetting the one against Southampton in the 7-1 win

 

The 2nd goal in this 3-0 win over Luton wasn't bad either !
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=257988795212967

 

On this day 25 years ago, goals from Micah Hyde and Tommy Mooney saw us beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0 at Vicarage Road. We would, of course, repeat that result against them the following month.



https://oldwatford.com/1999/04/10/10th-april-1999-new-division-one-watford-2-bolton-wanderers-0/

 

On this day 26 years ago GT's programme notes focussed on Coronation Street as a Jason Lee goal saw us beat Wrexham 1-0 at Vicarage Road.



https://oldwatford.com/1998/04/11/11th-april-1998-new-division-two-watford-1-wrexham-0/