[1] Watson was born in Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, and started his career in 1966 as a striker with hometown club Notts County making 26 appearances in two seasons, before moving to Second Division Rotherham United in 1968.

[6] Watson was signed by Tommy Docherty in a player exchange deal which involved Keith Pring going to Notts County and the Millers paying £1,000.

[8][9] After four seasons at Millmoor where he made 141 appearances and scored 21 goals, he caught the attention of Sunderland manager Alan Brown who paid £100,000 for his services in December 1970.

[12] His time at Bremen was short as after making his debut in a 1–0 win over Bayer Uerdingen he was sent off in his second match against 1860 Munich for "pushing" Hermann Bitz and banned by the German FA for eight weeks.

[15] Watson – quite advanced in years for a debutant at 27 – was one of six first-timers on show (among the others were Trevor Brooking) in what would prove to be 1966 World Cup-winning manager Alf Ramsey's last game in charge.

[15] His first competitive game at international level was his seventh appearance in all as England defeated Czechoslovakia 3–0 at Wembley in a qualifier for the 1976 European Championships.

[19][20] Watson continued his England career, earning his 50th cap against Argentina in a warm-up game prior to the European Championships in Italy.

[7] He was excluded from the squad for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, with manager Ron Greenwood selecting only three central defenders, Phil Thompson, Terry Butcher and Steve Foster.