The Player You Most Regret Leaving Watford…

Agreed. But Ian Bolton was my first Watford hero and would put him as our best defender above big John. Personally I'd add Luther and Bobby Downes who lived very close to where I grew up. Would even have a a little kick about in the park with us.

 

Dean Holdsworth. After the failed campaign to get back to Division One he was just what we needed. Instead, we sold him for pennies.

The self-destruct button was evident after GT left. Players like Malcolm Allen, Tim Sherwood, Iwan Roberts, Dave Bardsley etc. could have been the basis of a Div 2 winning team, but they were squandered. Instead, we spent a wilderness decade struggling in the second tier and briefly, below.

 

Barnes for me, was too young to understand why and signalled the end of an era.

 

I vaguely thought Hodges came back on loan for half a game.

 

Gary Penrice was an extremely good finisher in his first spell when he played as a striker alongside Paul Wilkinson, particularly in one-on-ones with the keeper.

 

We did. Holdsworth spent most of the semis on the bench.

We had a poor season, given the expectations, but did well to reach the semis given the damage done. But the deep foundations left by Taylor and Whalley should still have left us in good stead for a return the next year.

 

There's no " h " in Walley a fine fine servant of WFC!

 

That was a strange season. Seemed to be loads of transfer activity in and out every second month. First wave had Wilkinson/Falconer/Bamber/Holden. Then I remember Neil Redfearn. Garry Thompson at one point? Glyn Hodges had a good season. Lee Richardson arrived as well. Iwan Roberts in and out of team.

 

Had a quick look and it seems he didn't come back. He is 59 years old now and I feel very old!

 

I wondered whether I should have mentioned him but for some reason his departure didn't bother me as much as the others I listed. Maybe it was a bit of apathy brought on by a combination of being used to so many players coming and (to a greater extent) going starting with Young's departure and my having gone off football somewhat during the time, combined with the fact we seemed to have a different squad every season following relegation in 2007 so it was hard to form a long-term bond with the players and that even with Graham's goals and other good players we never finished anywhere near the play-offs during the four years before the Pozzos transformed our fortunes, so it didn't matter that much to me whether or not he was in the team.

 

That season was well before my time, but based on the results I looked up it was more a case of slipping out of the automatic places - we only finished four points from 2nd place Manchester City with a better goal difference! A pile-up of fixtures due to an extended cup run (this was when we still had unlimited replays in the FA Cup and we had an extra domestic competition following the ban on English clubs in Europe) seemed to have scuppered our automatic promotion hopes.

Also without checking our head-to-head I think our really bad run against Palace came later...

 

Honestly can think of nobody that I regret leaving, except maybe Marvin Sordell only because of the way it was handled.

The closest I can get is a player missing for a game which was Wilf Rostron for the 84 Cup Final.

 

Marlon King.

Absolute scum bag but I loved him as a young teenager and I'm still yet to see a better striker for us than I think he was in 05/06. Pace, power, great finishing and that arrogance of knowing he was good.

Like a poor man's Thierry Henry, just less va va voom and more va va violence.

 

The half game was Steve Hodge. At a guess we beat Tranmere 3-0.

 

My late dad's best mate.

 

Agreed

 

Mo Johnston and Luther even though A C Milan was a prestigious move at the time.

 

I was pretty miffed when Ron Wigg was sold to Rotherham for 10k of something similar, he had been for a couple of years our only decent goal scorer fell out of favour not sure why, Oliver Phillips always said when he scored a goal it always looked like a goal, ie not scuffy!

 

Yes, Ian Bolton was quality . I loved watching him take a penalty. He couldn't half smash a ball. Him and Steve Sims at the back were superb.

 

Robbo. Should have spent his whole career with us

 

Used to live up the road from my childhood home in Bricket Wood,I can still hear him bellowing at the juniors at Woodside"LOUCAS LOUCA" I remember ( apologies for the spelling).
I had lunch with Cliff Hilton and saw Tony Currie playing tennis at Radlett when he was at QPR I think.
Very languid mover and great timing.
Someone mentioned Billy Jennings (Teide 1?)
I remember being sad when he left to join Spam but I was quite young. When was that ?
'74? He played in the '75 cup final I think?

 

Came here to say the same thing; shocking deal and a player I was genuinely gutted to see move on.

 

I didn’t mention Billy Jenning, but yes he was a very good player once he appreciated the talent he had and used It effectively, we sold him to West Ham for around £110,000 in 74 I believe for what was easily our record sale for quite a few years. Kept it local went to the Orient after WH and then sadly played a few games for L*ton

 

He came to our youth 'set-up' when Larry McGettigan asked if it was 'OK to bring a mate along next time. He's quite good.' Amazingly good in the air for his height with a knack of jumping early and seemingly 'hanging' before having an attempt on goal.
In response to a question about whether the players were concerned by his apparent lack of chasing back, Laurie Craker commented 'I'll do all his running every game if he keeps on scoring goals and getting us our win bonuses.' In the days when actually winning games contributed a major part of players' wages.

 

73-74 was his big season, scoring 29 goals and missing a penalty in the last game to make it 30 I believe. After a relatively early retirement, for a time he ran a wine bar under Holborn viaduct (while it was still there).

 

Danny Graham is probably the most regrettable for me. He was with us at exactly the wrong time, when we didn’t have a pot to piss in, but he was the type of striker any promotion chasing team or new PL team would want. I think Malkys team was so close to being a promotion winning side just shy of the required investment.
The departure of Marlon King and the timing was nearly as equally regrettable as we basically ****ed ourselves out of promotion for a quick buck

 

Charlie Livesey: Sold for `peanuts` to Northampton - what a player (would be worth a fortune in today`s market) he used to terrorize defences with his strong running in zigzag patterns. Another is Ross Jenkins - a shame so few will remember such talent.
1956–1959 Southampton 25 (14)
1959–1961 Chelsea 39 (17)
1961–1962 Gillingham 47 (17)
1962–1964 Watford 64 (26)
1964–1965 Northampton Town 28 (4)
1965–1969 Brighton & Hove Albion 126 (28)
1969–1970 Crawley Town

 

I agree with the other posters who mentioned Tony Currie. He was only 17 years old when he made his debut as an attacking midfield player. He scored 6 goals in his first four games for Watford and he scored a second hat-trick in the 7-1 defeat of Grimsby (which included Graham Taylor at fullback). Currie played only 17 games in midfield for Watford (scoring a total of 9 goals) before being sold (just after his 18th birthday) to Sheffield Utd. for a club record fee of £26,500. I was just a school boy, but I remember that I was upset when Currie was sold because it was obvious that he was a very special player. It is true that he made little impression in some matches (especially away games), but he was still only 17 years old. Keith Eddy (then the club captain) mentioned in a recent interview that he told Ken Furphy (the manager) that he thought that the club was making a mistake when they sold Currie. Tony Currie went on to become a legend at both Sheffield Utd. and Leeds Utd. and he also played 17 times for England.

https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/s...d-career-sheffield-united-legend-tony-currie/

 

Your last paragraph could be what the Watford fans are reading after this coming season in the Championship

 

I didn’t see him play for Watford, except in a testimonial, but he was a terrific player even when he pitched up as QPR’s number 10. The fact he only got 17 England caps is a disgrace.

 

Terrific cheesy Liz Truss finish there Willis!
Hat tip from me.
https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/989/520/5c1.gif

 

Yes but only twice I think!

 

Paul Robinson. He also received one of the best receptions I've seen for an ex player at the Vic when he came back with WBA.

Kevin Phillips - it felt like we were getting under the odds for him.

Helguson was another I was sad to see go - he had more fight & desire in his little finger than any of the current mob.

On a slightly different scale, Stuart Slater was a player who was excellent when he was fit and firing but that was just not very often, sadly.

 

All good shouts. Yo can go back as far as you like - certainly to John Barnes - for examples of Watford getting less than they ought to have done for players, all because they have needed to sell them to finance the club.