History of Watford F.C.

[2] After the resumption of Southern League football following a four-year hiatus due to the First World War, Watford missed out on a second consecutive title in 1919–20 on goal average.

[1] Taylor returned as manager in 1997, and for the second time in his career led Watford to consecutive promotions, although he was unable to prevent relegation from the Premier League in 1999–2000.

[11][12] The club was formed as Watford Rovers in 1881, when George Devereux de Vere Capell, Earl of Essex and owner of Cassiobury Park, gave a group of boys permission to use the grounds for football.

[13] Matches played when the club was not entering competitions included the first recorded fixture against future rivals Luton Town; a 1–0 home win to Watford on 5 December 1885.

Pressure from the owner eventually forced the manager, Harry Kent, to look for a new permanent ground which he found in 1914 at Vicarage Road, the club's home today.

Ron Burgess, the former Tottenham Hotspur player was manager during the promotion season, which was largely attributed to Cliff Holton's 48 goals.

of Barry Endean, who kicked off an unbeaten run after Christmas to help Watford secure the league title in the April home match against Plymouth Argyle.

Hampered by a lack of funds and the need to sell players to survive (Scullion, Garbett and Franks all joined Sheffield United), Watford fell back into the Third Division in 1972.

[citation needed] The 11-point margin that Watford achieved that season was particularly impressive considering that the Football League still only awarded 2 points for a win at the time.

Any doubts that Graham Taylor's team were good enough to stay in the First Division were soon confounded as they achieved comfortable wins over big clubs Everton, West Bromwich Albion and Southampton during the opening weeks of the season, finishing September with an 8–0 demolition of Sunderland.

[24] There was no title challenge in 1983–84, and the UEFA Cup adventure - the first time the club had experienced European football - lasted to the third round where they were defeated by Sparta Prague of Czechoslovakia after eliminating Kaiserslautern of West Germany and Levski Sofia of Bulgaria.

[26] Watford performed erratically during 1984–85, achieving impressive victories over big clubs including Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur as well as holding Liverpool to a 1–1 draw on New Year's Day, but they also suffered some defeats in crucial games which restricted them to an 11th-place finish.

[27] 1985–86 began with a heavy 4–0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, but was followed with comprehensive wins over Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion, the teams who occupied the bottom two places in the league at the season's end and finished well short of survival.

Watford's best chance of success that season came in the FA Cup, where they progressed to the quarter-finals and were paired with Liverpool, holding them to a goalless draw at Anfield on 11 March 1986.

Watford eventually finished 12th in the final table and ended the season on a high note by demolishing sixth placed Chelsea 5–1 at Stamford Bridge.

However, his task to carry on the good work at Watford was complicated by the fact that established England international John Barnes left the club before the start of the 1987–88 season.

The club did win the FA Youth Cup in the 1988–89 season, beating Man City 2–1 after extra time; David James was in goal for the Hornets.

Graham Taylor returned to Watford as Director of Football in February 1996,[19] with former player Kenny Jackett as head coach, but was unable to stop the club from sliding into Division Two.

The transition proved a success; Watford secured the Division Two championship in 1997–98, beating Bristol City into second place after a season-long struggle.

The Premiership season started brightly with an early surprising victory over Liverpool, but soon faded away, and Watford were relegated after finishing bottom.

Graham Taylor retired at the end of the 2000–01 season (although just months later he returned to football management at Aston Villa),[19] and was replaced in a surprise move by Gianluca Vialli,[33] who had recently been sacked by Chelsea F.C.

[40] The ongoing financial difficulties saw a large number of players released that summer, including record signing Allan Nielsen and strikers Tommy Smith and Gifton Noel-Williams.

His sacking was controversial, and many fans were unhappy at the loss of a man who had led the club to two cup semi finals in three seasons, enduring considerable financial hardships.

At the age of 34, Aidy Boothroyd was appointed manager of Watford after serving at Leeds United as a coach; 70-year-old Keith Burkinshaw was recruited as his assistant.

Against all odds Watford generally sustained 3rd position all year with Marlon King top scoring in the division and players such as Ashley Young and Ben Foster flourishing.

Following a 3–0 away victory at Crystal Palace and a subsequent 0–0 draw at Vicarage Road in the semi-finals Watford reached the playoff final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Watford then beat Leeds 3–0 in the final to gain promotion to the Premier League and an estimated £41m as a result (all 13,000 available season tickets were quickly sold out).

After a disappointing start to the 2008–09 season, Boothroyd left the club "by mutual consent" on 3 November 2008, with Watford languishing 21st in the Championship table.

[48] On 5 November 2008 Sir Elton John ended his formal involvement with the club by resigning as honorary life President in protest.

On 10 December Watford recorded their first win under Rodgers against Norwich City, and eventually secured their position in the league with one game to go, finishing a creditable 13th.