The story of the lonely Udinese fan got me thinking⦠Since the take-over by the Pozzo family, Watford FC have been referred to under numerous tags, suggesting the club as a less attractive, less capable younger brother to Udinese Calcio, expected to be abused and exploited for the aim of bringing the Champions League trophy to north-eastern Italy. They have frequently been referred to as the âUdinese B teamâ (which is a bit funny), a shop window for Udinese rejects, a finishing school for Udinese starlets. Firstly, we should get rid of the garish yellow strip, and opt for a classic black and white stripe. Secondly, and more importantly, what if Watford were purchased with the intention of being the spear-head of the Pozzo Project? The more I think about it, the more it seems logical. What first sprang to mind, after reading the story of Arrigo Brovedani, could you imagine if one Watford fan turned up to an away match?! Looking further in to Udineseâs attendances, for a club with Champions League aspirations, who (recently) regularly finish in the top half of one of the worldâs best leagues, they had an average attendance of 16625 for the 2011/2012 season (a stat which I am not overly confident about). I know we arenât exactly renowned for packing a stadium with ardent, 90-minute-singing, passionate fans, but I am pretty confident we would over take that. The image to the left is Udinese's support for their away match against Sampdoria on 10 December 2012. The image to the right is Watford's support for their away match against Port Vale on 18 May 1963. Watford is in a prime geographical position for a top football club: The biggest team in Hertfordshire (soon to be over taken by Stevenage), a county three times smaller than the region in which Udinese is based, but boasting an equal population. The densely populated London is a 20 minute train journey away. Connected fantastically to both the north, and London, making it easy to support both home and away. There is clearly the capacity to attract a decent crowd. And, according to recent statistics, the Premier League attracts on average 14,000 more fans than Serie A on a club-by-club basis. Udinese, on the other hand, is almost the total opposite, tucked away in the âgrim northâ. As an example, Udine to Milan would take about 4 hours to drive, and Udine to Rome, about 6 hours. Shockingly, for a fan to walk from Udine to Manchester would take 14.125 days, without a break! And, traveling by public transport is literally impossible. It is so easy for Watford fans, 6000 of them are doing it! It is looking like, on the crowd front, Watford has the upper-hand over Udinese. But, football is a business. It is about making money. Fair enough, you may get a couple of thousand Pounds (or Lira) for a game, but that isnât going to make a huge difference. As I have mumbled on enough already, I will end on this: Lowest Paid Team in Premier League (2011/12): Wolves â £39,084,461 Highest Paid Team in Premier League (2011/12): Manchester City â £60,602,289 Lowest Paid Team in Serie A (2011/12): * Highest Paid Team in Serie A (2011/12): * * I havenât got a clue because I couldnât find the data. Any help on this would be ideal. But, Gareth Southgate, and some other people, once said the Premier League is the most lucrative league in the world. So, it must be true, right? To conclude, I believe it is Watford who are in the position to be the Pozzo Project Spear-Head, with Udinese (and Grenada) wimpering away in the corner, dwarfed by our successes*. * I also expect Nordin Wooter to be the new manager, after Gianfranco Zola makes a shock return to professional football.
I've had a few odd dreams lately too...but have not yet mastered typing in my sleep. Joking aside, those premier League wages might be a sticking point, even at the lower end.
If we did it would be Matt Rowson. Who is a fine fella by the way - just not as photogenic as Arrigo Brovedani.
But to be serious - if we do (and it's a big 'do') get promoted this year - the financial reward for the Pozzo's would dwarf our 'sister' clubs. We would quickly become the darling of the empire.
Perhaps they could carry on loaning players to us and we could reciprocate with a couple of hundred supporters. Just got to go and check up on what Udine has to offer between September and April.
I was at that Port Vale away game in 1963 pictured above. There were 47 chartered trains from Watford Junction to Burslem that day along with 293 coaches - which were chartered from as far away as Stoke to get Horns fans to the game. Port Vale gave us three quarters of Vale Park and packed their own 2,947 fans into one small terrace. It was all very worth while as we won the game 8-3. This is still our record away win in the League. Incidentally, due to congestion at Rugby, the last train got back into the Junction at 8.15 am Monday morning. What a weekend!
Nice bit of poetic licence there BBW Strange you should pick on that season - it was a shocker, memorable for three consecutive home defeats of 2-5, 1-4 and 1-4. The match you mentioned was only supposed to be an away fixture - it was actually played at The Vic as Port Vale refused to play at home on the grounds that we had already thrashed them there earlier in the season. They got their revenge too
