Vicarage Road

between 1991 and 1993,[5] and to rugby union side Saracens from 1997 until they moved to their new home of Copthall Stadium in north London in February 2013.

The hosts thrashed the visitors 6 – 0 with braces from Craig Dawson and Henri Lansbury and single goals from Jordan Henderson and Martyn Waghorn.

Previously an open terrace, the all-seater stand was built to comply with the Taylor Report and raise the standard of the ground.

[9][10] Originally a mere earth bank when the club moved to the ground, it was gradually transformed into a conventional terrace.

The stand cost £1.6 million to build, approximately £300,000 of this figure was contributed by the Football Trust, with the remaining money coming from the £2.3m sale of Paul Furlong by then-owner Jack Petchey in 1994.

The Supporters' Club eventually raised funds to enable the Rookery End to feature concrete terracing under cover, and this aim was realised in 1959.

As part of redevelopment work in conjunction with the Watford Health Campus, 164 units of affordable housing, known locally as The Wrap, were built on and around the Rookery end.

The upper tier, complete with executive boxes, was constructed first, and temporary seats forming a lower-tier were added later.

The Sir Elton John Stand sits on the east side of the ground, and contains the changing rooms & tunnel.

The redevelopment of the east side of the stadium began in 2013, with the aim of developing a 3,000 seater capacity stand which would also house the players changing rooms, television gantry and tunnel.

On 8 June 2015, the club confirmed that 700 extra seats were being installed in the recently built Sir Elton John Stand.

New LED floodlights have been added for the 2015/16 season including lights on the top of the Sir Elton John and Graham Taylor stands.

The station was officially opened on 4 December 1982 by Elton John and Lord Aberdare, chairman of the Football Trust.

The inaugural train rolled into the station five minutes late, bringing away fans of Manchester United to Vicarage Road; the match that day ended with a 1–0 defeat for Watford.

However the provisional NGRC licence was cancelled as early as 1 November 1928, forcing the track to race independently (unaffiliated to a governing body).

[28] Derby winning trainer Barbara Tompkins was attached to the track and won the Buckinghamshire Cup at Slough Stadium in 1975 with Houghton Girl.

[29] The shape of track was very sharp due to the nature of the bend design around the football pitch corners and this led to criticism within the industry that it was not safe enough.

Vicarage Road
Vicarage Road
Rugby game at Vicarage Road, 2005.
Part of a stadium, consisting of yellow and red seats. A grass football pitch is visible to the left.
The Rookery Stand.
A two-tiered seating area featuring red, yellow and black seats, running along the length of a football pitch.
The Graham Taylor Stand and incomplete south west corner (left), pictured in 2012.
The now demolished Main Stand.
The old and new stations on the Croxley Rail Link near Vicarage Road