Maurice Cook, Pat Jennings, Tony Currie, Barrie Hartle, Mo Johnson, John Barnes, and even Luther, all sold for one reason or another. Very sad at the time, but this is the reality of trying to keep professional football alive at a club the size of ours.
The 60s were a hard time for fans in that regard, especially when you add names such as Cliff Holton, Dennis Bond, George Harris and Charlie Livesey. Maybe not all household names, but the loss of each of them was hard to take as they were each outstanding players for us.
When I started watching Watford Division 2 was the Holy Grail Under GT and Elton it became Division 1 Now we have the Premier League the Championship is in reality the old Division 1 In terms of a club our size we have reached and held the Holy Grail and every year we spend in the Premier League or reach a Cup Final we are exceeding all our original goals and achievements and should be happy with that Having said all of that I want us to succeed in the Premier League and win a cup, dont we all, BUT I would not have changed supporting Watford for the last 56 years because the highs always beat the lows
When I started watching -1959 - we seemed to play Reading every week. I didn't think about promotion, at all . Ken Furphy made the first difference. But, it takes a very long time in the top flight continuously to establish the base that makes top flight presence likely. I am happy to accept GT's observation that WFC are a top 30 club. So any time spent in the top flight is on the positive side of that assessment. Any time spent below halfway in the second flight - we are not doing so well.
It's funny how things stick in your mind - when I started watching in the 60s we seemed to play Southend every week, bolstered by the fact that we were drawn against them in the FA Cup four time in five years I suppose. In fact, Southend were the opponents in my first ever match - going by their current situation, I'll be a long time before we play them again - outside of the Cup that is.
My first match was against Portsmouth.....who we seemed to play a lot........along with yes Southend, Reading etc etc
