Originally from Dimboola in western Victoria, Watson made his senior VFL debut for Essendon late in the 1975 season.
Watson left Essendon at the end of 1978 and joined Fitzroy for the 1979 and 1980 seasons where he played fours games for the Lions while not kicking a goal.
[3] Larry Watson was one of a number of ex-VFL players in The Bloods 1983 Premiership team, including Craig Williams (St Kilda), Bernie Conlen (Sydney), Mark Dreher (Collingwood), Mike Smith (Sth Melbourne) and captain Ian Borchard (Richmond).
In 2002, Watson's son Jake died at the age of 18 after an on-field collision in an Under-19s SANFL match for West Adelaide.
Following Jake's passing the West Adelaide Football Club retired his number 13 jumper at the Under-19 level as a mark of respect.