The club have confirmed that Ken has passed away. Sad news. I thought a new thread would be good for people to remember him by. http://www.watfordfc.com/news/article/150119-watford-fc-ken-furphy-2213166.aspx
You beat me to it Yorkie! Have to say that the BBC has produced a very nice piece. Ken was before my time but my uncle used to rave about the changes he implemented and how it had such a positive impact on the club and the town. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30878391
http://www.bsad.org/victory/swindona.html I was very fortunate to be at the promotion defining away game to Swindon which we won 1-0. Those were perhaps my first Watord glory days
Classic match of the day this.... 4' 19" ( in the highlights) Endean scores.... in our home win to Liverpool 1970 Cup game What a team! Mike Walker, Duncan Welbourne, Johnny Williams, Ray Lugg, Walter Lees, Tom Walley, Stewart Scullion, Terry Garbett, Barry Endean, Mike Packer, Brian Owen In the fourth round we beat Stoke 1970 1-0 vs Stoke City Fourth Round: Saturday January 24th 1970 Attendance: 23,394 Scorer: Colin Franks Team 1:Mike Walker, 2uncan Welbourne, 3:Johnny Williams, 4:Keith Eddy, 5:Walter Lees, 6:Tom Walley, 7:Terry Garbett, 8:Colin Franks, 9:Barry Endean, 10:Ray Lugg, 11:Stewart Scullion Great Colin Franks goal etched in my memory
I too was at the County Ground for that game, like most Horns fans in the home end. One of the most memorable games I went to. My abiding memories of Ken were: - as a player, the wide armed stance as he drove the ball over to the far post for George Harris to climb above the defenders and nod the ball down into goal - as a manager, the immortal quote (after the Lynn Anderson song) of "I never promised you a Rose garden", when fans complained about the constant struggle against relegation during the first three seasons in the old Div. 2 RIP Ken
In many ways he was John the Baptist to GT's Messiah. I know it sounds pseudish and pompous, just how I feel about him.
Sorry, had to 'like' all these comments. As with Dan, he's from before my time, but the fact he is known to me speaks volumes, as my children are aware of GT. These pieces of film are very familiar to me now, thanks to the wonderful yorkshire, who introduced many of us to these on BBC606. Thanks again, yorkshire. I love each of them for different reasons. RIP Ken. Hornet Forever.
It's interesting - a common slur that rival fans like to throw at each other is "you've got no history". The passing of Ken Furphy is sad, of course, but, as Yorkie's video postings demonstrate, it's a nice reminder for the younger fans (no I don't quite put myself in that bracket!) that every club has its history. Ours just happens to be one to be very proud of!
RIP Ken - you achieved what many Watford fans thought was not possible under Jim Bonsor's tight financial control and took us to the second tier - great times
rip ken knowing you gave a lot of fans (mostly watford ) some very happy days . i put you up there with gt you got us promoted without the backing of cash
thank you so much for this it brings a tear to my eyes to hear ken and some of the team that i could name by looking at the faces
i still remember coming home in the back of my mates dads car thinking about all the great teams we would be beating next season o to be young again lol
the club was small then and each fan felt part of what ken was trying to do in the 6/7 years he was with us
