More Memries of Watford

[grafikhaus]

Boxing Day sees our return fixture with Watford and the halfway point in our season. The Blades Go into this game in fifth position in the Premier Leaguer while Watford’s defeat of Manchester United shows that this game will not be a foregone conclusion. Watford’s Doucoure misses this game through suspension.

Since our 0-0 draw at Vicarage Road on 5th October (Watford website report), The Hornets have sank to the bottom of the Premier League. Not much to report since our last match (apart from a new manager…), highlighted in my original ‘Memries of Watford’ which had some cracking contributions for – among others - Silent Blade.

Prior to that match, our last meeting against The Hornets was over eight years ago – a 0-3 defeat at Vicarage Road in The Championship. The Blades were then in turmoil, had four managers that season (Kevin Blackwell, Gary Speed, John Carver as caretaker and Micky Adams) and would be relegated to League One at the end of the season (Watford finished 14th).

Our first-ever meeting with The Hornets came in an FA Cup 5th Round match at Bramall Lane on Feb. 20th 1960, a 3-2 win marvellously evoked by HodgysBrokenThumb here.

Although officially founded in 1881, Watford spent many years in the lower leagues, only beginning to rise up the pyramid when Elton John became chairman in 1976. Boxing Day is only the 36th time the Blades have met Watford in the league.

Recent games against Watford



Full history Sheffield United v Watford

Full League Record v Watford:

Home: P: 17 W: 7 D: 5 L: 5 F: 26 A: 18

Away: P: 18 W: 7 D: 5 L: 6 F: 19 A: 20

My first ‘Memrie of Watford’ came on a sun-kissed Saturday at Bramall Lane on the last day of the 1970-71 season (1st May). The previous Tuesday (April 27th) United had crushed fellow promotion-contenders Cardiff City 5-1 in front of 42,963 at still-three-sided Bramall Lane. Against Watford, 38,857 saw United win 3-0 and gain promotion to the top-flight amid delirious scenes:

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A few days later, we signed Watford’s Stewart Scullion.

I also went to the FA Cup 4th Round replay at Watford on 30th January 1990 where goals from Brian Deane and Paul Stancliffe saw Dave Bassett’s Blades win 2-1 after drawing 1-1 at Bramall Lane:

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This win continued a cup run that would end with a 0-1 home defeat to Manchester United in the 6th round.

There are very few YouTube videos available of United games v Watford – most are of poor quality. Here’s our 2-0 home win in The Championship on 15th August, 2009:

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FA Cup 3rd round, January 1968. Tony Currie was a regular for the Watford team that season but he was left out of the side playing against us. He wasnt aware that Watford had already agreed a deal with us that he would join us for a fee of £27,500 after Watford had been knocked out of the cup. We won with a Mick Hill goal and TC joined us a few days later.

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[grafikhaus]

Premier League Table:

United are fifth while The Hornets remain rock-bottom of the PL table:



Full Premier League Table

Form Guide:

With just one win in their last six games, (one draw, four losses), Watford are second-bottom of the 2019-20 form guide while United’s 11 points out of 18 sees us in sixth place.



Full Premier League Form Guide

Shots on Target

The Hornets are bottom of the ‘Shots on Target’ table with just 58 shots (on target) in 18 games, with the Blades not far ahead…

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Full Premier League ‘Shots on Target’

Top Scorers:

Watford’s poor start to the season is reflected in their lack of stand-out goalscorers. Troy Deeney’s penalty against Manchester United on Sunday was his first league goal since April.



Men to Watch:

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From left, Gerard Deulofeu, a cracking player and wasted at Watford, Troy Deeney, missing from our previous encounter with injury, Roberto Pereyra and Andre Gray.

On August 8, Watford signed Ismaila Sarr from French Ligue 1 side Rennes for a fee ‘in the region of £30m’.

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[grafikhaus]

The Manager:

Since our last meeting, Quique Sánchez Flores has left Watford and been replaced by Nigel Pearson on 6th December. Pearson is Watford’s sixteenth new permanent managerial appointment in the last eleven years.

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Significant Others:

In the (fairly) recent past, many players have joined United directly from Watford. These include:

Danny Webber, Tony Currie, Steward Scullion, Keith Eddy, Rob Page, Glyn Hodges, Colin Franks, Tony Agana and Barry Hartle.

and, moving the other way, Leigh Bromby.

But possibly the most significant person to move from Watford to the Blades (?) was Dave Bassett.

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Dave Bassett was in charge at Vicarage Road for just 28 games and he was sacked in January 1988 with the club bottom of the First Division and relegation to the Second Division looking inevitable. United had just lost 0-5 at home to Oldham on 2nd January 1988 in the Second Division with the shockingly-bad Billy McEwan ‘in charge’. As I trooped off the kop, I said to a bloke next to me ‘That could be the best result of the season if it means that t**t McEwan is sacked’. McEwan was sacked that evening and I still remember looking at Ceefax later that week where it was announced that Watford had sacked Dave. I said to my dad that ‘it could be very good news for United.’ Bassett became United’s manager on 21st January but couldn’t prevent an extremely poor Blades team getting relegated to the Third Division (via relegation play-offs to Bristol City.) The rest, as they say, is history.

 

[Blade for Sale]

I remember playing them in the 1st match back in the 2nd tier after THAT relegation v Chelsea. We battered them 3-0, Flo notched and Mitch Ward scored 2 belters, we all left the ground optimistic that we'd shaken off the heartbreak, Flo had found his feet and we were set for a quick return to the promised land. Seldom was a dawn so false as the season degenerated into a relegation battle and fans scrapping over the fate of Bassett. The seaon was saved by Kendall, cue another false dawn....

 

[Radders]

I still tend to think of Watford as the 3rd division (league 1) club who were a bit of a "feeder club" for us back in the 60s and early 70s. Of course they've risen up the leagues over recent decades and overtaken us at times.

Ironically, younger fans of Watford probably think of us as a league 1 club and are surprised to see us in the top flight

I'm loving being back among the elite. Onwards and upwards!

 

[BLADES1988]

I can't wait to see how mad everyones gonna go when didz finally gets one in the onion bag on boxing day. The roof is going to get fucking blown off!

If Didzy scores were on the pitch.

 

[Digs blade]

Note of caution that we must keep check on Deeney. A quality player who can do some damage if he’s on form.

Optimistic that our red and white wall will do a job on him though

 

[Karaoke Blade]

and, moving the other way, Leigh Bromby.

And Steve Kabba.

 

[Revolution]

I remember playing them in the 1st match back in the 2nd tier after THAT relegation v Chelsea. We battered them 3-0, Flo notched and Mitch Ward scored 2 belters, we all left the ground optimistic that we'd shaken off the heartbreak, Flo had found his feet and we were set for a quick return to the promised land. Seldom was a dawn so false as the season degenerated into a relegation battle and fans scrapping over the fate of Bassett. The seaon was saved by Kendall, cue another false dawn....

You are so right. I thought we were going to walk the division after that (although you are one season early with the Kendall stuff - we finished 8th that year, fading after a good run mid season that saw us in the playoff zone. The trouble and Bassett's departure came the season after).

Ward got 2 great goals...and didn't score again that season.

The game is memorable for me for another reason: it was the only game I ever attended with my Grandad, a Blade since the 1920's who hadn't been for a decade. We sat on the Kop and I remember him being amazed at the changes to that stand. He'd never sat down there, of course. In fact he missed Flo's goal at the Kop end as he wasn't quick enough to get out of his seat as the cross came over. That was his last visit to the Lane.

Now I think on it, a sunny 3-0 win was the exact opposite of the first league game that my father and my son attended without me - the 1-0 defeat at Preston in December 2017 when United were crap and they both almost froze to death. Revolution Jr was in bed for 5 days with flu after that!

 

[Woodwardfan]

I went to the Edgbaston Test Match with a neighbour whose family are all Watford fans ( he supports WBA from a boy) and there were 3 generations of them at the game which was fantastic even though we lost ( Steve Smith Spectacular No. 1 Test).

They were all absolutely buoyant after the precious season's success and really had no appreciation of United's potential, most were polite but a grandson certainly was not after a few beers. We meet up again over Xmas as they are up here in force.

Until the Amazon coup I was to arrange tickets for 6 for the game, maybe even a box, but thankfully Amazon rescued me from a challenging day watching the game with devoted Watford fans; win or lose it is never easy and distracts from the game.

In the summer they recommended Doucoure and Capoue for my Fantasy Team but they have flopped. Still pleased the former misses our game though.

I must say I expected Watford to kick on this season. They have not but I think this game is a real challenge after their win against the Mancs. Another win and we are set up to have a real go against the two Giants who can only be knackered by the time we play them. In the past we would not even be dreaming of anything but with this manager we are. That's progress!

As for Watford, it's a 'must not lose', probably a 'must win' game. It affects my Xmas, particularly with all these Watford fans around.

 

[Woodwardfan]

I went to the Edgbaston Test Match with a neighbour whose family are all Watford fans ( he supports WBA from a boy) and there were 3 generations of them at the game which was fantastic even though we lost ( Steve Smith Spectacular No. 1 Test).

They were all absolutely buoyant after the precious season's success and really had no appreciation of United's potential, most were polite but a grandson certainly was not after a few beers. We meet up again over Xmas as they are up here in force.

Until the Amazon coup I was to arrange tickets for 6 for the game, maybe even a box, but thankfully Amazon rescued me from a challenging day watching the game with devoted Watford fans; win or lose it is never easy and distracts from the game.

In the summer they recommended Doucoure and Capoue for my Fantasy Team but they have flopped. Still pleased the former misses our game though.

I must say I expected Watford to kick on this season. They have not but I think this game is a real challenge after their win against the Mancs. Another win and we are set up to have a real go against the two Giants who can only be knackered by the time we play them. In the past we would not even be dreaming of anything but with this manager we are. That's progress!

As for Watford, it's a 'must not lose', probably a 'must win' game. It affects my Xmas, particularly with all these Watford fans around.

Edit: ' Must not lose' / 'Must win' for them that is. And us I suppose = for Champions League anyway!!

 

[metalblade]

I think this will be a very tough game they have some quality players but of course it doesn't help when you change your manager every week or two. Speaking of managers I really hope we hammer them now they have that pig twat Pearson in charge, the thoughts of him getting any joy from us turns my guts . That aside I rate these as a better team than Norwich or Villa but they need some stability it just seems crazy the amount of managers they go through.