Best and worst Watford games seen!

There are best games as matches in themselves and best experiences in terms of the whole trip to the game and all the baggage with it.
One trip that was special for me was the 5-0 away win against Lincoln in 78 or 9. I was living in the West Mids at the time and hitching cross country was not easy. I got dream rides there; saw us win handsomely; and had the worst cup of tea I have had anywhere in my life. On the trip back I ended up sleeping in a workman's hut on the side of the road before getting a ride at 5,30 the next morning that took me nearly to my door.

 

Very true NZ - and that put me in mind of a worst experience back in the 60's, a winter game at Walsall to which I hitch-hiked. Not confident of getting there in time, I had left the night before - bit silly when you look back at it - and actually got there about 2:00am. Having nowhere to stay and with nowhere open (ever arrived in Walsall at that time?), I had to hunt around for somewhere to sleep and eventually settled for a space under a very large hedge in someone's garden.

Unfortunately for me, it snowed rather heavily in the early hours, covering the hole I had crawled in through. Just as I dug my way through the snow and emerged from under the hedge, the homeowner opened the front door to collect her milk - took one look at me, gave an ear-piercing scream and slammed the door shut again! I didn't hang around to apologise. To cap it off, we got a tanking from Walsall - 0-3 if I remember rightly.

 

I can't choose a single best or worst game because there are so many that are too close to call.

Wrexham at home in 82 was special for me not only because we got promoted to the top flight for the first time but because I was mascot!!!
But then there is Southampton 7-1, Wembley 99 and The Kennel in 97. All great days that stay with you for life.

The worst game I can think of was Fulham on Boxing Day when we lost 5-0. I swear I have never been so cold and my turkey sarnies actually froze. But there are many many more.

Remember the best games are always better because of the worst games.

 

Very profound and very true lb although I have never been more devastated than losing the cup final!!! I went there and was so convinced we were going to win !

 

Best -
The Bolton 4-3 after being 3-0 down - Porter hat-trick
The Leeds play-off final. The fans thought they only had to turn up, so great to do them over! The Bolton final was pretty special too.
Arsenal away, 3-1 win in the FA Cup ('87). Which leads onto my first worst...

Worst -
FA Cup semi v Spurs. I was too young to go to the '84 run (or my dad thought so anyway), but to go to this when I was 8 and lose the way we did....
The Bristol City game a couple of seasons ago where we lost at home... just an awful perfomance!
Any Luton loss....

 

Don't know where this one stands in context of the OP but this was the first Saturday game my Dad took me to! Took me to see the reserves in the Midweek League (Combination???) as often as he could though, being a shop manager, Saturdays were a no-no.

Best match? Probably the 5-1 dismantling of Spurs at White Hart Lane, alas was the day of the Valley Parade fire so it is rarely remembered. Tore them to pieces.

Worst match? Home to Barnsley 0-3 April 2008. Gutless, spineless, witless, passionless and utterly painful performance.

Best home experience? Probably Gary Porter's hat-trick to win 4-3 v Bolton. Kaiserslautern, Southampton, Forest a couple of weeks after, Sunderland... just goes on and on.... great being a Hornet!

Best away experience? As a day... Wembley '99 by a distance. Perfect from the champagne breakfast through to the nightcap before bed! Peterborough (4-3) Oxford United (1-0 to stay up) and the frequent successful trips to Arsenal in the 80's and 90's are in the chasing pack.

 

Best Watford Game:

The most exciting was the 7-1 v. Southampton in the League Cup in 1980. Fancy being 6-1 up in extra time and hanging on knowing a second goal for Saints would knock us out before Poskett got the 7th. Attendance at that game was just over 95,000 judging by the number of people that 'were there that night'.

Most rewarding game has to be Wembley 99. Cardiff 2006 came close, but 99 was the first time and was with GT. Sunderland 8-0 was pretty special too. Plymouth at home in 1969 was extraordinarily emotional – first promotion ever out of Div. 3 (my Dad had watched Watford for 40 years and never seen them promoted - he cried that night!).

Worst games – many!! But very few in the top 3 divisions. You had to experience the first 2 seasons in the old 4th Division in the 70's really to appreciate the years that followed. But 'lowlights' of those seasons included:

Aug 1975 - Losing at Darlington to go bottom of the 4th Division with no points and no goals after 3 games. SEJ was the travelling director in charge - he wasn't a happy bunny.

Sept 1975 – Being hammered 4-1 at Cambridge Utd (yes Cambridge Utd!) on a Tuesday night

Jan 1977 – The infamous Northwich Victoria Cup game (2-4)

The 1971-72 season was as bad as I can remember, with 10 (yes ten!) successive home defeats (9 in Div. 2 and a cup-tie against Notts County from 2 divisions below us which ended 1-4). One game which does stand out from the awfulness that season is the game at Blackpool on New Year's Day 1972 when the Horns ran out in white shirts, black shorts (L***n's colours then) and were loudly and persistently booed all game – George Kirby, then manager, stated in the Wobby that the fans should have cheered the team whatever colours they were wearing. He didn't realise!

A curiosity from earlier in 1971, a portent of things to come, when Bonser's parsimony was in full swing, was a game at St Andrews against Brum, when we had 4 full-backs on the pitch (Welbourne, Williams, Butler & Packer). We were 2-0 down at HT (a certain T Francis on fire) and we showed our intent when Packer kicked off to Butler at the start of the second half.........dreadful!

But I suppose that the worst I have ever felt after a game was the last game of the 1963-64 season when we lost 2-1 to L***n at the Kennel and finished 3rd behind Coventry & Palarse (only 2 went up in those days). John O'Rourke scored one and sat on Pat Jennings for their second. Tears flowed and a very dark and deep hatred was sown that day.

Nothing since has come close to that feeling – not even relegation to the 4th in 1975.

The recent trials and tribulations in the Premiership and Championship pale into insignificance!

 

Vic. Northwich was 3-2. It was a long journey home in a Cortina for me. If memory serves we wern't good enough to win that day.

 

Best...many of the above already mentioned, especially the play off games. I remember getting absolutely drenched watching us beat Bradford City 7-2 scoring 5 in the first half I think. Worst: 0-0 against Wimbledon in the old first division was 90 minutes of dire head tennis and a 0-0 away at Oxford United in which I don't think there was anything to keep anyone awake. The 5-0 Fulham Boxing Day defeat was so cold a friend of mine, taking his son to his first Hornets game, had to take him home at half time to avoid hypothermia setting in.

 

Another "Best" game for me was Sept 85 away to Crewe on a Tuesday night in the League Cup. My dad worked for Rolls Royce and they had a factory up there, so he was taking my older brother and mates so he could meet up with some colleagues. Being only 9 at the time, I obviously protested a little too much, so he let me take the day off school and go with them.

I can't remember the game too much, although I remember us winning 3-1. The reason it was one of my best games is because as we all know, night games back then were magic and away games are magic. Combine the two at the age of 9 and you are onto something special. The Watford fans sang "Eltons Johns Taylor Made Army" for the entire 2nd half. No stopping.

That game is the reason I still go to away games, in the hope that the experience can be matched. It rarely is!!!

 

lb you reminded me of our Anfield trip ,loads of us squashed into a corner ! we were 3 down very quickly ,thus started an Elton Johns Taylor made army chant that lasted the rest of the game and until they let us out the ground! There was one break when Wilf Rostron scored 1 but it was picked up again soon after!

 

and.....

As a youngster winning away at Swindon in the old div 2 and clinching almost promotion to div 2
Beating Stoke 1-0 and that wonder goal from Franks (if my memory serves me well)

 

I remember this - I don't think my feet touched the terracing for about 20 minutes as we were that tightly packed in the corner.

 

Great fun though wasnt it Warrington , kinda didnt matter that we had been beaten, the travelling Orns got an ovation from the Kop as well!

 

Another strange game that I enjoyed was at home to Rochdale in 1975/76 when Kevin McCarthy scored his only Watford goal as Watford won 3-1. I seem to remember Dennis Bond having a blinder!

 

It certainly was great Norway - happy memories.

Mind you, beating them 1-0 at Anfield in the Premier League was special. I had such fun at work on the Monday with all the Liverpool fans!!

 

One of the few highlights of the fourth division was when we played WBA, then in the top division, at the Hawthorns in the League Cup. We lost 1-0 but played really well and for the last 5 minutes until we left we sang "We're proud of you, we're proud." I don't mind getting beaten if we play well and are beaten by a better side.

 

If this about really bad games, I went with Mme. to the Vic one Tuesday evening to see the Horns play Swindon.

The entire game was played in the middle third of the pitch, and there was not a single shot from either side during the entire 90 mins.

I do not remember when it was and don't really wish to talk about it as it was so bad.

 

I was there too! Couldn't speak for a week after. Brilliant atmosphere.

 

what a great thread

here's a couple of mine:
for the best, then yes, wembley 99, 7-1 vs S'thptn, and thanks to BB for that memory for the game against Wednesday - I was in the main stand (RIP) as Jack Charlton (then Wednesday manager) threw off his flat cap as the 4th went in on about the 25th minute

But my top ones would be either the brilliant 3-1 away cup win at Arsenal (Steve Williams, where are you now?) or a relatively mundane game, early 80's, home to Cardiff - we won 4-2, the pitch was so bad that Les Taylor had to change his shorts at half time - it just seemed like every game involved loads of goals, and we always won - truly the best of times

The worst - either just not performing in the semi v Spurs in 87, and having a shocking train journey back or maybe the win (bear with me) against Torquay in the cup. Torquay we dreadful, we were worse, it was freezing cold, and someone equalised just before the end...taking it itno extra time. Torture.



as for a couple of off the wall great memories? I used to live in the North, so saw a handful of dire games as an away fan during the early 90s - Tranmere, Stoke, Barnsley, you get the picture.

The one that sticks in my mind was a cup game against Blackburn, before their ground was redeveloped. We lost 6-1, but never stopped singing, albeit mostly 'Bobby Mimmis is a W****r'. Was anyone else there?



I might also start a thread about the best game you missed - mine would be the 8-0 Sunderland match!