‘Portrait of Promotion’ was written by manager, Ken Furphy following Watford’s historic Division 3 Championship triumph of 1968-69, marking the first time the club had ever attained Second Division status. The book is long-since out of print and relatively scarce, but its text is reproduced below.
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Foreword
by Watford F.C. Chairman Mr. Jim Bonser
IT IS WITH PLEASURE that I write this foreword for the first-ever book written by a manager of Watford Football Club. Portrait of Promotion places on record in one volume, much that was written, said and photographed by many people, when after years of struggle, promotion to the Second Division of the Football League was well and truly earned in May 1969.
For 49 years numerous managers had sought after the right blend of players that they felt would achieve this ambition. Despite all attempts the final prize was as elusive as the Scarlet Pimpernel—until last season.
Initially it started like many of the previous seasons with only seven points being obtained out of the first 16. Then slowly but surely, the picture began to change, hearts began to beat faster, the results came, promotion became a possibility and following one or two anxious moments, not only promotion but the championship as well.
It was due to the guidance of Manager Ken Furphy and the efforts of the players and staff that this was achieved and at the time they rightly received the credit due.
I feel now that Ken is to be congratulated on his Portrait of Promotion, which I am sure will be eagerly read by many Watford supporters and will no doubt find its way in many a youngster’s Christmas stocking or pillow case on December 25th. For them and all youngsters who aspire to be a professional footballer, the pages on hints to young players will provide many useful tips.
The human mind was recently described as the most wonderful computer in the world and I am sure that many of you will vividly recall many incidents as we approached the end of last season and will continue to remember them as years go by. Nevertheless, this book will serve a very useful purpose as a permanent record of all that happened in the 1968/69 season so far as Watford Football Club was concerned until the day when the final Third Division Table saw Watford at the top.
Author’s acknowledgments
In writing this book I would like to acknowledge the help, co-operation and contributions made by the “Watford Observer”, their former Sports Editor, now Assistant Editor, Mr. Malcolm Waller, his successor Mr. Oliver Phillips, Graphic Photos, the “Evening Echo” and all those who helped to make the subject of this book possible.
INTRODUCTION
THE LONG WAIT WAS OVER. April 15th, 1969, 9.20 pm. Suddenly it was all over. The long blast on the referee’s whistle ended a tense and exciting game. It also ended a forty-nine-year wait for promotion to the Second Division. The 1-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle and those two vital points brought the dreams of thousands into reality.
What a night to remember. I had spent the match on the trainer’s bench and I was immediately surrounded by congratulations. Four years of hard, hard work and heartache had reaped dividends for all of us. The supporters invaded the pitch—a privilege at Vicarage Road, and we toasted them all from the heights of the directors box.
It was an occasion that none of us will ever forget. An occasion for tears and laughter and an occasion for relaxation. The bitter disappointment at missing the prize two seasons before, was purged for ever from our memories.
Breaking free from the celebrations I sought out Club Chairman Jim Bonser. We both had much to say but words would not come and the handshake more than expressed our feelings. For him it was the end of years of endeavour. Years in which he devoted all his spare time to leading the Club from the chairman’s chair and propping up the finances in times of trouble. At last it was all worthwhile.
For me it was a second success. Two years at Workington had been sufficient to win promotion but one is always on trial in football and this was a further justification of my ability in the managerial field. Each club presents different problems and circumstances. Success is the only yardstick.
The next day the headlines claimed, “Furphy steers Watford to Division 2”. “Furphy does this” or “Furphy does that”. I was singled out for special publicity but this was a team effort and it is all too easy to forget the contributions made. I would like to pay tribute to the other members of that team.
The board of directors backed my judgment and provided the money with which I made several key signings. George Aitken too was an invaluable aide, giving confidence and assistance while in reality he was suffering more than most on those touchlines.
Pat Molloy was another key figure. He kept Barry Endean fit to play and the speed with which other players recovered from injuries was testimony in itself to Pat’s efforts.
Secretary Ron Rollitt shouldered the additional work which success always brings and his contribution was an undoubted help to the smooth running of the team. So too was that of the Club Medical Officer, Dr. Edwards and his partner, Dr. Black, the Watford Supporters’ Clubs, the pools staff and their agents, groundsmen Les Simmons and John Ford, Juniors’ manager Frank Grimes, Dennis Cutler and the many background helpers and workers.
It was team effort and it was that team and the team which I thought about when I got home late that night we won promotion. Sleep would not come and so I thought my way through the season again – reliving the problems, disappointments and brilliant performances the past season brought. When that was done, my mind went back to the day I saw an advertisement …
CHAPTER 1
Disenchantment—the Watford vacancy—my intuition—the job’s mine!—problems
PROMOTION into the Second Division was the end of the success story for Watford but for me the Watford story had started almost five years previously in a little village in Brigham in the Lake District. I was then manager of Workington F.C., and we ourselves were also in the Third Division and sitting in third position in the league. We were promoted the previous season and had high hopes of going straight through into the Second Division
The most disappointing feature at that time, however, was the lack of support given to the team despite its very high position in the league, We were, at that time, only drawing 5,000 paying spectators, which in itself was something of an achievement, considering that two years before, the average gate was only 1,000. So, I had to consider my position very seriously in relationship to the security that professional football managership offered to my family, and I decided that it was time that I should move on to a club where the prospects of gaining further promotion were better.
It was not until the September that I noticed an advertisement in the “Daily Express” stating that applications were being invited for the vacant position of manager of Watford. Bill McGarry, the former manager, had departed to Ipswich and left a vacancy there. For some unknown reason, which I still cannot explain, and perhaps you would call it intuition, I knew then that this was a job that I could get if I applied for it. I immediately told my wife that I intended sending an application for the job, and this I did.
I was invited down for an interview within a week and having arrived early in Watford, I felt the need of smartening up a little bit, so I searched found for the nearest public convenience. I found one which is now no longer there because of the erection of the new multi-storey car park. I went in for a wash and brush-up and got chatting to the attendant, and I asked him what kind of a team the town had, and what kind of a club Watford was.
His immediate reply to me was: “Well, they’re not a bad club, but they always sell the young players because they don’t really want promotion. When they get a good young one they always sell him.”
I didn’t make an answer at the time, but I just thought to myself, “well we’ll have to change that if it’s possible, and the question of wanting promotion”. When I was at Workington I learned full well the necessity of selling players in order to survive.
The interview itself was very pleasant but when I left to make the long journey back to Workington via the sleeper train, I had no idea at the time whether or not I had been successful in my application. Yet from the Press the following morning, it became apparent that Arthur Rowley, the manager of Shrewsbury, had been offered the position and I regarded it as a closed incident. At that time I wondered to myself what had prompted me to write for the job and why I had thought at the back of my mind that I was certain to get it.
It began to look as though my intuition had failed. However, the following weekend, when Workington were playing at Peterborough and winning 4-0, I entered the visitors’ dressing room after the match and was told that I was wanted on the telephone. When I went along, it was Ron Rollitt, the Club Secretary, telephoning me to say that the job was mine if I wished. So I accepted the position and made arrangements to travel down for a further interview with the chairman of the football club, Mr. Jim Bonser, the following week. Workington were fully aware at the time that I had made the application and my reasons for doing so, and I know that I came down to Watford with their good wishes. On my return from Watford, having agreed my salary and conditions with the chairman, I then had to make an application to the Workington board for my release, and it was here that we hit the first snag.
At that time I was still an active player with Workington and I intended joining Watford only as a manager. I felt that at 34 I had played for almost 16 years as a professional footballer and that the two jobs, player and manager, were becoming too onerous for me to carry on effectively. However, Workington insisted that if I did become manager of Watford I would also have to have my registration as a player transferred, and therefore Workington asked for a transfer fee for me. This Watford agreed to pay, so perhaps I became the first player/manager to become transferred to another Club.
My arrival in Workington two previous seasons before had certainly not set the town alight. A practically unknown player from the North-East wasn’t anything for the supporters to glamorise over, and I felt that I had a similar reception on my arrival at Watford. Arthur Rowley, the Shrewsbury manager, had in fact been offered the post, but for some reason turned it down, and my intuition in applying for the job in the first place had not let me down.
How was it going to work out? Would I be able to manage the team in a successful bid for promotion into the Second Division? It was anyone’s guess, but I was determined to do everything in my power to bring it about.
I was not in Watford for long before I realised the task that lay before me. At that time they were operating a staff with 28 professionals, with a differential wage structure, and also three-quarters of the staff were in the veteran stage. It was apparent that a big rebuilding job would have to be done and I had very, very early doubts whether or not I would be able to achieve in two years a similar success as I had at Workington. The overdraft was not in a healthy position either and this meant there was absolutely no possibility of spending money on players.
Following a long board meeting with the chairman and the board of directors, we hammered out a policy which we firmly believed would put Watford back on the football map, and eventually gain us promotion. It needed patience and tolerance, but we were determined we would succeed.
The main problem at that time was to consolidate our position in the Third Division because we were perilously close to the bottom in the October. However, by the end of the season we finished in tenth position in the league, and our first task of consolidation was completed.
We immediately reduced the staff to 18 and fixed a definite wage structure. All players coming to the Club had to accept our offered wage or else we did not sign them. So, in other words, we put our financial house in order. Not that any manager likes to operate a football club with a playing staff of 18, but finances dictated this. There is always the fear that injury to one of your vital first-team players can ruin all your hopes for another season, and in effect this is what happened during the following year.
I was also soon to learn off by heart the history of the former idol, Cliff Holton. His feats for Watford were indelibly printed in the memory of the majority of the supporters and his transfer to Northampton some time before had caused a tremendous rift between the Club and its supporters. The rights and wrongs of his transfer have been fully discussed before and would bear no relationship to this particular story, but needless to say I had to try to win back this valuable support which had been lost.
CHAPTER 2
Setbacks—Slater, Garvey, Garbett and Scullion arrive— more setbacks—the Bond deal
TO A CERTAIN DEGREE, I was no more than a caretaker manager during that first season (1964-65) but with the arrival of the summer I was able to sit down and start to plan for the future on the playing field once we had hammered out the overall Club policy.
The end of that first season saw the arrival of Dave Carr from Workington for a small fee, and, during the close season, I was fortunate to secure. the services of goalkeeper Bert Slater from Dundee, and centre half. Brian Garvey from Hull City—both on free transfers,
I brought Bert down and we put him in the goal on a recreation ground near Vicarage Road. Dennis Bond and a few of the young apprentices fired shots at him and his ability and courage showed even then. I signed him after that.
Brian Garvey was with Hull City for several seasons and I played with him on many occasions. I was working with the Football Association on coaching course at Lilleshall during the summer and he was in one of the groups I was working with. It came to my notice that he was on 3 free transfer and during that week I persuaded him to join us. Brian came to the Club and despite not being well received initially by a certain section of the spectators, he settled down to become one of the mainstays, and perhaps one of the best centre halves in the Third Division.
The 1965-66 season saw the advent of Dennis Bond and Johnny Williams into regular places in the Watford side. With the return of CI Holton. we thought that this would be our promotion year. Indeed, we started well bug then a bad car accident involving Dave Carr tragically put an end to hie career and also quashed our hopes of staying in the promotion race along with Millwall and Hull City. The purchase of Carr and Holton tapped our resources to the maximum and the accident was an even greater blow. especially as we placed so much reliance on the success of their partnership in the forward line.
At about that time Stewart Scullion played against our reserve team for Charlton, and trainer Pat Molloy mentioned his display—as all officials are asked to do if there is a good player playing against us. Following this report we played Charlton Reserves at home and Pat again noted Scullion’s form for Charlton, and so did the Chairman, Mr. Bonser. Later I was chatting to him about the game and he said he fancied the little outside right who played really well and so with this in mind I got a quick look at him. I then rang Charlton but was quoted a figure approaching five figures and it was decided to drop the matter.
It was not long before Holton was transferred to Charlton Athletic, and before the transfer was duly completed, I persuaded Bob Stokoe, the then Charlton manager, to throw in Stewart to round off the deal. This he did and Stewart has since proved one of the greatest successes in the Watford team for the past four seasons.
Although always on the fringe of the promotion group, it was evident towards the end of this season that we would not be able to keep up with the leaders. With this in mind, I placed a greater reliance on youth over the last 6 or 7 matches, including such players as Sandy Pate, who was later to move on to Mansfield and to give them good service. That year we finished twelfth. As always, it was the goal-scoring position that was causing us most concern and during this period I approached Middlesbrough for the transfer of Terry Garbett, their reserve team centre-forward.
Terry joined the Club shortly before the 1966-67 season started. He was
recommended to me by a representative of mine in the North-East who had
seen him playing on several occasions. He had been rather unfortunate to be
out of the team—one of the youngsters who was invariably left out of the side
after a defeat
[travelled up to the North-East to see him play in a special practice match
put on for my benefit. Horsefield, another recommended player, and Terry
played in the same match. Horsefield was not available but Terry was, and
I negotiated a transfer for him.
Eventually he settled down in a semi-centre-forward role, supporting the striker rather than being a main striker, although he played as a main striker for two or three seasons when he first came. Once the combination of the team was such that he was able to play in a second centre-forward position, he revealed his ability to the full.
Several years earlier while at Workington I had noted the performance, on his debut against Workington, of the Barrow wing half, Keith Eddy. He was then a 17 year old and showed every promise of being a very good player indeed. Over the years, however, his progress was hampered by injuries and on several occasions when I inquired about him, I was unable to secure his transfer. I felt that I needed a wing half to complete my staff during that year, and I made attempts to sign him. The quoted fee of £7,000 was still far beyond my reach and in his place I signed Alec Farrall, almost near the veteran stage, from Lincoln City. I played against Alec, who was captain of Gillingham, and I had a great admiration for his type of football. Alec had suffered from trouble with his knee but on being assured that he had fully recovered I negotiated and he signed his contract for us.
Alec was soon to find that he was not a favourite with the crowd, but during the following years he more than proved his worth. My staff was now at the limit of 18 and we were fully prepared to begin the season with that number. Then a call from Barrow informed me that the manager had decided that he could release Keith Eddy at a reduced fee, which I immediately agreed.
I was fortunate that I had at Watford F.C. the Chairman, Mr. Bonser. We were not then in a position to pay the fee, but I was assured by Mr. Bonser that the money would be available and I was to go ahead with the deal There is no doubt that this particular transfer played a great bearing on the team’s eventual promotion to the Second Division.
That season saw the players make a tremendous effort to win that rise in status. As we approached that Easter we were regarded as firm favourites to 20 up with Queen’s Park Rangers. Then just before the holiday period we played Middlesbrough at Middlesbrough. During the game Bert Slater was injured in a collision with the opposing outside left and had to leave the field. Keith Eddy went into goal, and the match we eventually lost 3-1 The irony of it was that Middlesbrough in the finish pipped us to promotion into the Second Division by one point.
At the time we had several forwards injured and we had a discussion to decide whether or not to try and sell Dennis Bond. We were in with a very good chance for promotion. Dennis was one of our better players, although he was still being carried by some of the members of the team at some stages of the games and in certain situations.
It looked as though we were coming to the Easter matches with only two recognised forwards and Dennis was one of them. However, after a meeting we decided that we would have to do our best with the players at our disposal and that we were not going to sell Dennis. Then he suddenly developed chickenpox on the Tuesday and the doctor told us that he would not be available for five matches. Well, we only had ten games to play and he was going to miss five of them and these included the vital Easter matches. This considerably reduced our chance of getting promotion and I had a very awkward decision to make.
Should I try and sell Dennis and buy two or three players with the money that would give us the stimulus we needed and the extra players? Or not? With this in mind, I approached Colchester for their top goal scorer, Stratton, the ex-Fulham player, who had at that time scored many goals in the Third Division. I also approached Coventry for Denton, the outside right, who was in their Reserve side and I approached Arsenal for Tom Walley. I made a temporary agreement with Arsenal that I had first choice on the player and I also made the same agreements with Colchester and Coventry I could not arrange a definite fee for these two, but the terms were around £4,000 for each, which was as much as I wished to pay for them.
So I went ahead and negotiated the sale of Dennis Bond to Tottenham, who had always been interested in the inside forward without making a definite offer for him. I contacted Tottenham and we finally agreed on a fee.
In order to add an extra player to our staff we took Roy Low from Tottenham, the Watford boy who had been watched on several occasions. In this way we did hope to let Dennis go, get four players and still have about £9,000 left.
Once I agreed with Tottenham and the fee was on its way and Dennis signed, we could not do anything until we actually had the cheque in our possession. We had a terrible delay waiting for the post on the Monday and as each post came and went it still had not arrived. However, I could not leave it any longer with the transfer deadline approaching and as I was assured that it was in the post, I contacted Arsenal and went across at lunch time and met Tom Walley at his home and talked to him.
I eventually signed Tom on at the agreed fee bringing the situation to two coming with one going. Then I contacted Coventry and Colchester for Denton and Stratton, about their transfers. Unfortunately the news of the Bond transfer had leaked out and both these players were only available at very increased fees. This put me in quite a spot as quite honestly I did not feel that these players were worth signing on at these extra fees.
One was scoring goals but was getting on for the 28/29 mark and it was obvious that it would be difficult to recover the fee if he did not fit in at Vicarage Road. Denton was a comparatively unknown player who had quite alot of obvious faults and who needed a lot of work spent on him, and one is not always certain when you have to sign on this kind of a player, that he will eventually develop into a very good player. I thought, however, that he would add considerably to our staff. He was very, very quick and I felt I could have used him at the time.
Thus two deals fell through which meant that I had only Roy Low and Tom Walley out of the four players I had tried to sign. Then just as the deadline approached, I heard that Jimmy Lawton, an old team mate of mine at Darlington, who was still only around 24/25 and had gone to Swindon for a very big fee. was available. Jimmy had received a lot of injuries to his knee and was available for a very small fee, so I jumped in quickly there in order 10 add an extra player to the staff. We signed three players in exchange for Dennis and had cash left in hand. I think Dennis will go down on record as being one of the few players transferred while he was in bed.
CHAPTER 3
Easter nightmare—the nail- biting finish—L-i-v-e-r-p-o-o-l – Lewis and Hale arrive —Currie goes
TOM WALLEY was “covered” by our scouting system when he was playing in London Combination matches and I saw him on two occasions. I was aware of the need for a valuable blend in mid-field, with a constructive player on one side, playing the quick, first-time short balls with an eye for the quick, short opening, and on the other side, an aggressive, quick-tackling, quick-moving player who was always looking for the long ball. In this latter role, Tom suited us ideally.
He had his little problems, especially with the usage of his left foot. He is inclined to favour it a great deal but in effect this was easily overcome, once we had ironed out the position he was taking the balls in. Then he was never committed to turning round on the ball. In fact Tom came on to every ball, going in a forward direction which was what he needed, and once he had mastered this he never looked back.
With Tom, Roy Low and Jimmy Lawton to call upon, we looked to the Easter period with renewed confidence. Yet it turned out to be a nightmare. Young John Cowan, thrown into the first team with very little experience, was in goal in place of the injured Bert Slater, who had undergone a serious operation on his finger. I doubt whether the events in those matches will ever be erased from my memory. It is worth recalling that in the game against Brighton on the Good Friday we were leading 1-0 with only seconds to go having outplayed them for long, periods. The referee, for some unknown reason, awarded a penalty against John Cowan. The goalkeeper had collided with the opposing outside right while saving the ball
I have never been able to understand this decision. The penalty cost a valuable home point, and worse was to follow. On a bone hard ground with the winds swirling the ball about, we were beaten 3-1 at home the following day by Leyton Orient who included Cliff Holton in their attack. This was a terrible setback. Then on our visit to Brighton on the Monday we went down 1-0 despite having a lion’s share of the play. We lost the following match at Gillingham and so, having taken only one point from ten, it looked as though our hopes were doomed.
Desperate to redeem the situation, I discussed the goalkeeping situation with Bert Slater who, although not fully recovered and with his finger twice its normal size as a result of the operation, bravely volunteered to return to the side at Grimsby. We had to win the game at Grimsby to stand any chance of keeping in the race. I will never forget this act of heroism on the part of Bert. He was soon to prove his mettle by saving an almost certain goal in the first minute. The defence seemed to grow in confidence from this save of Bert’s and we went on from strength to strength and eventually won the game. Next came the trip to Scunthorpe. Once again a doubtful decision by the linesman in not flagging for a definite offside, meant that we went down 1-0, and it looked as though we were to fall by the wayside.
The situation resolved itself and with two matches left to play, one at home to Colchester and one away to Oldham, we needed four points to be promoted. Then Middlesbrough, even if they won their two remaining matches could not overhaul us. For the Colchester game the Watford crowd turned out in full force for our best gate of the season, with over 20,000 people present. In the ding-dong struggle, which was more like an F.A. Cup tic than a League game, we eventually ended in a 0-0 draw. I personally pushed myself into the forward line in the latter stages of the game and I shall never forget that diving header in the last minute which beat the goalkeeper only to hit the foot of the post and rebound into his waiting arms.
So we dropped a valuable point, and in my heart then I knew that the task was beyond us. Middlesbrough duly won their match and gained a point on us, and we went to Oldham knowing that we had to win the two points to stand a chance of going up on goal average. Here, on a dust bowl of a pitch, we fought a valiant first half with the pressure decidedly on us. With a score 0-0 at half time, we had high hopes that we could still come into the game and win the match, but a goal against us shortly after the interval set us back.
All the players responded magnificently to the challenge and it was Alec Farrall who fired in the equaliser. The last ten minutes seemed to fly with the speed of sound. Numerous shots rained on the Oldham goal but the goalkeeper did everything to stop us scoring and as we trooped wearily off the field at the end of the match with a 1-1 draw. We knew our fate rested with Middlesbrough who had one game to play against Oxford.
That was one of the three longest days in my career. The result was phoned through from Middlesbrough on that fateful Tuesday evening. Oxford were well and truly beaten and Middlesbrough were up.
The tremendous disappointment was almost too much, not just for the players and the board of directors, but the supporters too. It was a tragic blow to us all.
Although the 1966-67 season saw the realisation of our ambitions snatched from our grasp, we did achieve one pinnacle. In many ways the F.A. Cup tie with Liverpool put the Club back on the map. We reached the third round proper and drew the then league champions at home.
We broke the attendance record at Vicarage Road of 34,000 although 35,000 tickets were sold but several hundred would-be spectators did not use them. During this game, which finished 0-0, we more than had the edge on the league leaders and it was a tremendous boost to the morale of our team. The return match at Liverpool provided their highest gate of the season.
My principal pre-match decision was for all the team to line up in front of the Kop and give a wave. This idea was not greeted too well by some of the players but I insisted that this should be carried out, and so we all trotted out for what was certainly one of the highlights in my own playing career. When we lined up in front of the Kop, a tremendous roar rose from the crowd, I am certain it was a roar of approval for our action and the Kop were quick to applaud our efforts from then on. The game itself was played in a tremendous sporting spirit and I think there was only one foul in the entire game. Eventually after 35 minutes of very good play, we went behind. and the final score was 3-1.
For the whole of that season we had not been able to field a regular left winger and our efforts to sign one were not successful. Brian Owen, who for many seasons was considered a utility player and was then, and still is, the longest-serving player on the Club’s books, showed a preference to the left wing position. Several ankle injuries, however, retarded his progress and with this in mind I went to Cardiff to watch Tom Walley play in an Under-23 match for Wales.
As a result of that trip, I negotiated the transfer of the Cardiff City outside right Bernard Lewis, who played in that game for Wales. So with Bernard able to play on cither flank, we had three wing forwards to pick from — Scullion, Owen and Lewis,
We started off the 1967-68 season as heirs-apparent to the Division 3 crown. The players had matured with the experience of the previous near miss and I felt confident that this would indeed be our year. Before the season started I bought Dixie Hale from Workington, a player who I signed for Workington after winning promotion to Division 3. I felt that Dixie was a player who would help still further in bringing about that vital blend in mid-field. He seemed to me to be the perfect foil for Tom Walley. An ebullient Irishman, he was the sort of player vital in linking defence with attack.
The 1967-68 season was incredible. I doubt that in our promotion year did we ever match the brand of football which we produced in the previous campaign. The scouts started flocking to Vicarage Road as we set an incredible scoring sequence. In no time at all, we were the highest home scorers in the Football League.
Yet could we win a match away from home? Time after time we paralysed the opposition with entertaining, attractive football but luck seemed against us. Goalkeepers made great saves, we hit the post and bar many times and were. then punished for lone defensive errors. We would return to Vicarage Road with the Press understandably reporting that we needed a striker. On the following Saturday we would go out and produce a feast of goals at home, only to go away again and return empty handed.
Everyone seemed to be struck by this goal famine. Tony Currie, who created quite a sensation with his hat-tricks, seemed to be lost in away games, The need for someone to help out Terry Garbett in front of goal was apparent and it was then that I started to take an interest in Newcastle United’s reserve, Peter Noble.
Earlier that season, rumours reached the cars of Chairman Jim Bonser. A greyhound company were prepared to invest a considerable sum of money in purchasing the lease to the Vicarage Road ground. As our own lease had only a few years to run, we were naturally rather concerned. Mr. Bonser took up the cause and spent months in negotiations with Ind Coop. Eventually we were able to announce the purchase of a 150-year lease at a price of £50,000. The lease assured everyone that football on a professional basis would continue at Vicarage Road for the duration of our lives.
One of the Club policies had been to put our financial situation on a sound basis so that should we reach a position where players were needed to strengthen the promotion challenge then we had money in hand to do so. The chairman and directors rallied and provided £15,000 of the money on interest-free loans and the balance of £35,000 was loaned to us by our bankers.
Then, by coincidence, interest we aroused in the football world by our scoring record at Vicarage Road paid dividends. A near £55,000 offer for Tony Currie and Stewart Scullion was submitted by Sheffield United—then a Division I club. After a lot of thought, we decided to allow one player to £0 and, of the two, I agreed to release Stewart. The emphasis was switched to Tony, however, when Stewart decided that he had a better future at Watford and turned down the move. Tony was in the reserves at the time and although I personally thought that once he increased his work-rate he could be a great prospect, agreed to let him go for a record fee for a Watford player.
The deal enabled me to redouble my efforts to find an experienced goal-scorer. Just after Christmas we seemed poised to move to the top of the Division with three successive home matches facing us, but we lost them all despite having all the play. We could see our promotion chances slipping, so with some of the money from the Currie transfer, I tried to bring Peter Noble to Vicarage Road. He declined the move—eventually signing for Swindon, the team which was later to chase us into Division 2.
I quickly switched my attentions to Barry Dyson, the former Tranmere top scorer who was then at Crystal Palace. A large four-figure fee brought him to Watford.
What a debut he made at Bristol Rovers! What a goal! His 18 goals in 20 matches took us back into the role of promotion outsiders but in the end we failed again. But as I reviewed the staff situation that May, I was confident that over the months, the teachings and the blend created over the past two years would make itself felt in the strongest-ever challenge for Division 2 football.
CHAPTER 4
Preparation for ‘‘Promotion ‘69” —A “lad” called Barry Endean—Green, Lees and Walker—established players
VICARAGE ROAD awoke from its summer slumbers with the arrival of the players early in July for their pre-season training. Tom Walley looking as fit as a fiddle, arrived back from Wales. Keith Eddy, who summered in Costa del Barrow, was pleased to learn that we were to cut out the Dunstable Downs training sessions. Brian Garvey had been coaching in Zambia, and looked brown and very fit
The local residents Bert Slater, Duncan Welbourne, Brian Lewis and Terry Garbett had all kept in touch during the summer months and were consequently ready for the “off”. Brian Owen seemed to have fully recovered from his troublesome injuries and looked forward to holding a regular first-team place which, because of those ankles, had proved so elusive. Roy Low was determined 0 go all out to hold on to the place he earned towards the end of the last season and newcomer Walter Lees was eager to make a quick mark in English football. There was some keen competition for the eleven places in the team. The search for additional cover in the goalkeeper and centre-forward positions had been unsuccessful despite several offers and bids. However, the search was still going on.
Towards the end of that season, a visit which seemed insignificant at the time later proved to be one of the keys to our promotion success. Our representative from the North-East, Mr. Cuthbertson, sent down a youngster called Barry Endean, under the impression that at that time Barry was 19 years of age.
Barry arrived and played his first game as an amateur in the reserve team against Millwall. During the game he had very little opportunity to show his worth except that he was certainly very, very aggressive and a very good header of the ball. During the game he didn’t have one shot at the goal and this was a match we lost quite heavily
However, I asked him if he would come down again. His age turned out to be 22 and I asked him if he could come down and play the following week All the arrangements were made for Barry to be met at the station. Terry Garbett, who was a playing companion of his during his junior days with Chester-le-Street, went to meet Barry at Kings Cross for me, but he failed to put in an appearance.
Apparently Barry was injured and we were not notified that he could not come down. I tried unsuccessfully to bring him down towards the end of that season, but it was to no avail. Our interest was stimulated again during the summer and after several contacts with the Pelton Fell secretary, Barry arrived. At that time, he was playing for two teams—the Black Bull in a Sunday league, and Pelton Fell in a Saturday league. He was a prolific goal-scorer and the previous season he notched a total 220 goals for both clubs.
So, Barry played another game in the reserves at the beginning of the season and he was immediately signed on after the match.
I well remember a spate of letters I received at the time telling me that it was no use me signing on a raw 22-year-old amateur from a pub team. “This would not ensure promotion,” they said. How I hoped at that time that he would make them eat their words!
During the pre-season training, however, we only had Terry Garbett and Barry Dyson as our two strikers, and nobody of experience to deputise for them in the event of injury or loss of form. This was causing me a great deal of concern and I spent many hours trying to seek adequate cover. Eventually Rodney Green, the former Charlton player, came on to the market at Luton, and I signed him for a small fee. Rodney decided to go into the insurance business and wanted to play football on a part-time basis which suited us.
The signing of Walter Lees, although it did not cause a lot of publicity, was in fact to prove of great benefit to us in our run-in for promotion. Walter was recommended by our Scottish representative, and I flew up to Scotland to see him play. The game was played at Port Glasgow, very close to the shore and in a torrential downpour of rain. There was absolutely no cover and for 45 minutes I stood and got absolutely soaked, in fact at the beginning of the second half I decided to do something about it and picked up one of the old corrugated iron sheets used as a boundary fence. They had been blown down by the wind, and I stood there holding this 9 ft. long sheet on the top of my head and allowing the water to drain off.
The game was played in absolutely atrocious conditions, with pools of water all over the field. It was very difficult to make a real assessment of Walter’s ability, but as he had already spent a week training down with us at Lilleshall the previous season, I decided that I would try to sign him. The journey back was something of a nightmare, too, due to the stormy weather and the flight from Glasgow was, to say the least, more than uncomfortable, and very frightening indeed. I remember thinking at the time, “Well, I hope this player has been worth it”.
Already established in the team was Johnny Williams, a junior with the Club when I arrived. Then he was playing in the junior side and in the reserve team at left back and centre half. He made one appearance in a League Cup tie, but I gave him his first match in the team against Southend in a friendly match shortly after I arrived. In the second season, he played a few games in place of Bryn Jones. He was one of the youngsters who I kept in the side along with Sandy Pate in an attempt to develop them for the following season. Dennis Bond was also in this category.
Duncan Welbourne, too, was an established player with Grimsby before he joined Watford. When I came, he was an established wing half. I always felt a greater need for players with a more constructive ability than Duncan in midfield and having only seen him over a short space of time I felt certain that he could be developed into a very good full back. He was very tenacious, very quick and I felt these attributes would be better employed as a full back than as a wing half.
I was playing at full back at the time and as Duncan was too valuable a member not to be in the side, I played him as a wing half for most of the time until I eventually left myself out of the side and he made the right back position well and truly his own. He had a few faults and at one stage I was very concerned that hie was not going to cure them, but in the promotion year, after a very faulty start, he recovered and developed the necessary understanding of the full-back position to be really one of our outstanding players.
I know I have already mentioned Keith Eddy, but here again I always thought that Keith would make a better dual-centre half in a semi-sweeper role, than as a link man. He played as a link man at Barrow for several seasons, and I think this certainly retarded his progress. His ability was undoubtedly best suited to the semi-sweeper position and, of course, when I signed him on, this was where he played. He went from strength to strength and is perhaps one of the outstanding players in the Second Division even now.
Michael Packer was the first apprentice I signed on for Watford. He was taken on as a full-professional and he was regarded as an understudy for Johnny Williams at left back. I personally was scheduled to understudy Duncan Welbourne in the right-back position, with Walter Lees covering Brian Garvey at centre half, Dixie Hale, Roy Low, Tom Walley and Keith Eddy competing for the wing-half position. The forward line was to be selected from Scullion, Lewis, Owen, Garbett, Dyson and Green, prospects certainly were very rosy. But, there was still no cover for Bert Slater.
Before signing Micky Walker I went to watch Pat Wright playing for Derby reserves. I was so disappointed in the game and the player, that I travelled that same night to Chesterfield to see Chesterfield play York and it was here that I saw Micky Walker play in the evening. I covered him again on the Monday at York and we signed him on after the match.
CHAPTER 5
We train away—a point to start with—the old faults— those missed chances . . . again
IT WAS UNDERSTANDABLE that memories of the last season were still fresh in my mind. Could we fuse the defensive strength of the 1966-67 campaign with the good football and lust for goals which marked the opening and the end of the 1967-68 term. But those repeated defensive errors were a worry as I planned the pre-season training.
First one player, then another had spells of indecision which seemed to inevitably to a goal missed and the loss of vital points. This was especially the case in away games. Over and over again we lost matches 1-0 and our players were applauded off the field for their entertaining football. We were determined to do everything we could to see that the human element was. kept in check and mistakes not repeated.
Our pre-season games were therefore geared to away performances with seven out of eight scheduled away from home—the lone home game being against Fulham behind closed doors. We visited the North in the main to foster the team spirit so vital to any team success and to adapt ourselves to difficult grounds—those which were, in the main, smaller than our own,
The first casualty in pre-season was Terry Garbett, in a position we could ill afford, which left no cover in the centre of the field. So, we began our first match against Bristol Rovers with Walter Lees, the young Scot, making his debut for Watford as a centre forward and not in his usual position of centre half. The game itself proved to be an entertaining one after rather a quiet start on our part. It is worth noting that the team for that match was Slater in goal; Welbourne right back; Williams left back; Hale right half; Garvey centre half; Walley left half; Scullion outside right; Dyson inside right; Lees centre forward; Eddy inside left; Lewis outside left: Owen substitute.
Keith Eddy of course was playing in his familiar double-centre-back role even though he was wearing a number 10 shirt and we opened the season playing our familiar 4-2-4 formation. It was evident throughout the first half in this particular match that Walter Lees was having great difficulty in adjusting to the pace of the Third Division. This in itself was not surprising in view of the fact that his previous experiences were confined to Scottish junior football —but he gave of his best and at half time with the score 1-0, I made immediate use of our substitute Brian Owen. There were narrow escapes on both sides but it was left to Bernard Lewis to score a brilliant goal by crashing the ball home as he moved in from the right wing. It was a well-taken goal and we thoroughly deserved the equaliser. The game ran to the close with both sides missing one easy chance, but we certainly did deserve the point.
Our second game was against our old friends Luton Town at Luton and we suffered our first defeat of the season, going down 3-0. Luton hustled and bustled us completely out of the game and thoroughly deserved their 3-0 victory. It was a very short stay in the Football League Cup and we were very disappointed at our defeat. We hoped to win a good deal of money from this competition, but we had to be content with a gate of 20,167 at the Hatters’ Kenilworth Road ground. Terry Garbett returned to his familiar position of centre forward for this game but in the meantime I negotiated the transfer of Rodney Green. This was not the only signing made during that week. The other proved to be one of the turning points in the history of Watford Football Club. Barry Endean, brought down for a second trial from the North-East. convinced me during the game that he was a player of the future and I immediately signed him up on professional forms.
Shrewsbury Town were our first visitors. They only missed promotion the previous season by one point, but they had still to earn one this season. We made a very nervous start to this game and one gained the impression that the players felt that once again they were on trial. They certainly seemed anxious to please and worried about losing. It took a brilliant goal from Dyson in the 56th minute of the game to set us on the right path. Keith Eddy made certain with a goal from a penalty after Scullion was brought down and so with three points out of four we got off to our best start since the 1965-66 season. But there were still faults to be ironed out!
Rodney Green gave the attack both weight and height but it was obvious that he was far from match fit. One interesting feature about this game was that Dixie Hale was replaced by Terry Garbett at wing half and Dyson and Green were acting as a dual spearhead. Otherwise the team was unchanged from the one which opened the campaign at Bristol.
Our next visitors were Walsall. They have always been tough opponents and we expected a very hard game. A crowd of 9,361 turned out for this game and we were encouraged by the size although unhappily the game itself did not live up to expectations, for it ended in a 0-0 draw. Not that the football was in itself disappointing. In fact we played a great deal of cultured and entertaining soccer, but, once again, the old failures in front of the goal came to the fore and we were unable to score despite having most of the play.
During this game Johnny Williams suffered an injury which caused us grave concern. Dixie Hale came on as substitute and it was Tom Walley who stood in the left-back position. Still, on occasions in the past we would have become over-anxious under these circumstances and possibly we would have lost the game 1-0. This happened so many times in previous seasons that, despite dropping a point, I regarded this as a point won.
For the first time in many years the Football League had used a computer to compile the fixtures and ironically five games out of the first six were at home. Our third home game being against Stockport County and the attendance of 8,481 showed a drop of almost 1,000 on the previous match. This was very disappointing. Keith Eddy and Terry Garbett each played their 100th game for the club and Bert Slater totted up his 150th appearance. Michael Packer made his league debut on what was a day of anniversaries. It was also to be remembered as the day of our first league defeat. That
old fault was back again. Despite having the lion’s share of the exchanges and playing attractive football, we missed a number of chances and it was no surprise to me when after a quick breakaway, which found us totally unprepared in defence, Fry headed a good goal. This was a repetition of our previous failing and I was very disheartened that at this stage that the lesson did not seem to have been learned, despite the example of the 0-0 draw with Walsall. “When counting to win, one must not lose.” This was our watch- word and here we were already having lost a vital home game. One blessing was the good display by Mike Packer.
At that time I had no special desire to seek a replacement for Bert Slater. In effect I was at York looking for an understudy, but after seeing Mike Walker’s display I decided it would be better to have two good goalkeepers on the books rather than one youngster. I made a four-figure offer. Mike was due to play on the Monday for York and I travelled North again to watch him play and he agreed to join us at Watford.
The decision to include Kim in the first team in place of Bert Slater for the following home game against Swindon was not an easy one to make. I had always been a great admirer of Bert’s ability in goal and his tremendous courage and determination not to lose was always an inspiration to me. I decided, however, that Mike’s extra height could be of great benefit and I included him in the side against Swindon. It was evident right from the outset that Swindon were determined not to lose and adopting a defensive formation they closed the game up despite all our efforts to make it an entertaining game. This proved to be impossible and the game petered out to a 0-0 draw. We could, and should, have won, but in the end we could not begrudge Swindon their well-earned point, which they justified by their sound defensive organisation. Walker’s was a successful debut and the clean sheet was due to two fine saves he made during the course of the game. Another case of a point gained even though one had been lost.
Our visit to Northampton Town did not bring an end to our fitful opening to the season. In fact we lost this game 2-0 despite dominating territorially. We were still susceptible to the quick counter-attack and it was a very despondent side that returned that evening from Northampton.
It was certainly a mixed start to the season, but undoubtedly earlier results showed that we were capable of supplying some very fluid football even though we were still getting caught out by the counter-punch. Further problems were created by our strikers Green, Garbett and Dyson. They were not able to finish off as accurately as I had hoped Our “derby” game at Reading turned out our finest performance so far that season and a Garbett goal towards the end gave our team a well: deserved victory. Stewart Scullion was rested from the previous game in which he played as substitute and this seemed to have done him good for he was back {0 his scintillating best at Elm Park. At times, led by our former top scorer George Harris, Reading mounted strong pressure. Mike Walker was particularly impressive against his old club and we successfully “contained and then destroyed” the opposition. But had we turned the corner? No! We went to Hartlepool the next week and this proved to be one of the most disappointing games that I have ever seen a team of mine involved in. After
taking the lead through an own goal in the third minute, we had the Hartlepool team scrambling on the floor. But we failed to produce the knock-out punch. In the 59th minute, Ron Young scored for Hartlepool and a rather doubtful penalty awarded against Tom Walley gave them the lead from a spot kick. Oddly enough this was Barry Endean’s first appearance for the Watford club. Symbolically he came on in place of Barry Dyson who I took off at half time.
I was not prepared to accept any player who was not giving me 100% effort. As far as I was concerned, they were letting me, the Club and the public down. It was undoubtedly our meeting with a team which was physically strong, which upset a lot of our rhythm, the players were not giving of their best under these circumstances and I was determined that such a display would not happen again. It was made perfectly clear to all the playing staff that I would not tolerate a repeat performance even if it meant stepping on the corns of several of the experienced and regular first-team players.
The following home game didn’t turn out to be an epic but at least the 1-0 victory against Bournemouth got us back on the right track and broke our run of bad home performances. The team then was beginning to take shape and it is interesting to note that Walker, Welbourne, Williams, Hale, Eddy, Garvey and Walley were to prove to be the most consistent of our back six defenders and it was this formation which played almost unbroken throughout the rest of the season. Yet we were still having problems in the forward line. Chances were still being missed and at outside left neither Low, Lewis nor Owen had been able to make it their own.
Our next game, the 10th of the campaign, was away to Crewe Alexandra and here we emerged as 3-2 winners. It was Scullion’s goal which stands out in my mind at this particular match. This was a shot which was to be repeated in almost identical detail several months later against Manchester United.
The game itself was marred by the sending off of Brian Garvey, who, on tackling a Crewe player, Wallace, was judged to have committed a serious foul and the referee ordered him off the pitch. Wallace broke a leg and this dampened down what was otherwise an entertaining game. Our following game was against Luton Town at home and it is interesting to note that at this stage of the season Luton, having played 10 matches, were top of the league with 16 points; Barrow were in second place with 14; Rotherham third with 14; and Bournemouth fourth with 13. We were languishing in ninth position with 11 points from 10 games. It needed a lot of effort to make up those five points. However, the match against Luton gave us this opportunity to catch up at least two points on the leaders and indeed it proved to be the turning point.
CHAPTER 6
We beat the leaders—15 points from eight games—second place—the Dyson affair—Endean’s moment
THIS CLASH WITH LUTON was plainly more vital than most. Both fans and I suspect players alike, regarded this result as a progress report on whether or not they had improved since that 3-0 defeat at Luton. It has always appeared to me that there is an intense rivalry between the Watford supporters and those of Luton Town. In some cases it seems close to hate although personally I have never felt any antagonism towards Luton, but it is inevitable in these games that the local pride rests on the result and our previous 3-0 defeat at Luton in the Football League Cup was too bitter a pill for too many of our supporters to swallow. This then was an opportunity for us to regain some prestige.
Our 3-2 away victory over Crewe the previous Saturday put the players in good heart and the same team lined up for the Luton visit. The attendance, of 22,176 which was the largest up to date, created a great atmosphere as the players went on to the field, and we could not have got off to a better start when Roy Low, playing in a number 11 shirt, although adopting a midfield role, was in position to score a valuable goal for Watford. This was a game in which we restored a lot of our lost confidence. Undoubtedly we were by far the better side in this encounter and although the eventual result remained at 1-0. Watford did enough to justify a greater victory. Roy Low did not play many games in the first team, but his valuable goal in this encounter helped us materially on our way towards promotion.
It was at this stage of the season that two players, who were later to play vital parts in our eventual victory, were then playing in the reserves. Barry Endean was working extremely hard to gain match fitness and Rodney Green, despite a succession of injuries, battled on gallantly in order to be available should the need arise. The work done by these two players during these months in the reserves cannot be underestimated. Playing in a reserve team can be a thankless task, but nevertheless these two players never let it dim their enthusiasm.
Our next fixtures were away to Walsall on Tuesday, October 5th, and to Oldham Athletic on the Saturday. Although we were later to win many more valuable results, on reflection I do not think that at any stage during the season, did we match the football we played at Walsall, even though the result was only a 0-0 draw. I cannot recall another game during which our work on and off the ball was as good or our passing as accurate. Invariably the only time we lost the ball in this game was when we ended with a shot or an attempt at our opponents’ goal. Despite the windy and wet conditions we certainly watched an exhibition of top-class football that night and our staff watching that night gained great heart from this encounter.
The visit to Oldham Athletic on the Saturday did not bring back happy memories. This was the ground where two seasons before we fought a valiant draw, only to miss promotion when Middlesbrough clinched a victory a few days later. Perhaps this was what stimulated the boys still further and we finished the winners 3-0, with goals from Terry Garbett (2); and Dyson (1). Nevertheless the goals came late in the game against a side which was then beginning to lose confidence. There was no doubt that at this stage of the season we were very concerned at our low scoring. Although we had two three-goal victories, 3-2 against Crewe Alexandra and 3-0 against Oldham Athletic, many of the matches were far closer than they should have been. Our reward for the attractive football we had played and the defensive organisation, did not result in many goals,
Barry Dyson who had scored regularly after joining us from Crystal Palace at the end of the previous season, hit what we presumed to be a lean patch. Terry Garbett and Barry at this stage of the season were top goal scorers with three apiece. It was certainly not a question of lack of effort on the part of cither Dyson or Garbett, but it did seem that Dyson in particular was not having much luck with his shooting. In the 13 matches that he played in at that stage he scored only on three occasions. The cry was once again going round the town “We need a striker”. How often we had heard that cry?
As we approached the Barrow game we had taken 11 points from a possible 14 and this run of results pushed the Club to within two points of Luton Town at the top of the table who were there with 18 points. Despite being only two points adrift we were only in sixth position in the league. It was a very close fight to the top for those all-vital places. In our encounter the previous season with Barrow they adopted a 4-4-2 formation. This inevitably meant that they had lots of possession among the two back banks of four players. So, they were able to push the ball about quite confidently and we had great difficulty in breaking down this type of defensive play. This particular match proved to be a repetition of the first. The first half was one continual run of Watford attacks but against the eight men packed so well back and possessing a good understanding of their responsibilities, we were never able to pierce the rearguard and the score at half time remained 0-0. None of us were prepared for the quick collapse in the Barrow defence which followed on resumption. Four goals came in quick succession from Owen, Dyson, Garbett and Walley, and the 10,000 crowd were rewarded for their patience in many of our previous low-scoring games. Dyson’s goal was particularly noteworthy for he received the “pass” from the referee.
At the time of our visit to Brighton for our next away match they were in a state of turmoil. They had made a bad start to the season and disturbances at managerial level seemed in the air. Despite a pre-match bomb scare, the team settled down immediately in a familiar pattern of controlled football. The teamwork at that time was at its highest and stemmed undoubtedly from our successful run. We might have been in front at half time but for three very good saves from efforts from Garbett and Scullion. The winning goal came after Tom Walley challenged Henderson at the corner flag. Garbett, near at hand, made haste to reach the far post but realising that Tom would have to make an early cross, he immediately switched position to the near post and jumped to glide a great goal over the head of the advancing goalkeeper. It was only justice when Livesey of Brighton missed a penalty. Had he scored it would have made the train robbery look like child’s play. Brian Owen turned his ankle during the game but fought gamely on although, shortly before the end, Barry Endean came on for his second substitute appearance. Barry in the short time he was on the field, showed that he was beginning to wear away some of his established amateur habits and this only added to the brightness of the picture at that time.
Having played 15 games out of our programme, we were then in second place. This great run gave us a total of 20 points, one point behind Swindon, who like ourselves, had made a steady climb up the table. Luton Town were in third place, but their away results were very disappointing and this meant a drop from the role of pacemakers. Bournemouth were always in with a challenge and they were in fourth place with 20 points along with Torquay.
The 2-1 home victory over Gillingham took us to a total of 15 points from the last eight matches. This was the sort of form to make the promotion dream a reality. There were to be many disappointments before us, and we were anxious not to let overconfidence prove our downfall. A run of this kind has to end sometime, but it could not have ended in a more disappointing way than a defeat at home on the evening of Monday, November 4th. Barnsley, a side who spent three-quarters of the game on the defensive, stole victory. An early goal was scored by Brian Owen straight from the kick-off It was the quickest goal ever scored by a Watford player. It certainly inspired our players to dominate the game, but goals suddenly became hard to come by and we struggled in a mesh of our own weaving
It was no surprise to the onlookers, and myself particularly, when on breaking away, Barnsley equalised and eventually beat us 2-1.” This was a great jolt for us, but nevertheless we realised that perhaps this was the best thing which could have happened. It made the players alive to their responsibilities. The following Saturday against Orient, which never an easy place to win points from, in view of the condition of their ground at that time, we came away with more than a well-deserved 1-1 draw. The vital goal stemmed again from Keith Eddy, who was now appearing regularly on our goal scoring chart. Keith adopted a policy of coming up for the corners, and his positioning on many occasions was so good that he was able to net from this particular manoeuvre.
The game at Orient was also worth noting for the first appearance of Barry Endean. In the previous home game I had decided to withdraw Barry Dyson and replaced him with a substitute. On leaving the field he clearly showed dissent to trainer George Aitken, and, following a report from this official at the end of the match, I was left with no alternative but to discipline Barry in the usual way. It was not something I liked doing. I had always been a great admirer of Dyson’s ability in the penalty box, but this incident was one of those cases where I felt that no action on my part would affect team discipline. This is a vital feature in the success of any club and although I did not particularly relish the task, I had no alternative.
In my opinion Dyson, who had then scored only four goals in 18 appearances was lacking the necessary work-rate to maintain a place in the side. Under these conditions he needed a rest and I felt that a game on the touch-line would perhaps serve to refresh him a little and we would reap the benefit in later games. However, when I intimated to Barry that he would not be in the side on the Saturday and that instead he would be substitute, he indicated quite strongly to me that he did not relish this particular position. His heart would not be in it if he were to come on to the field, he told me, and I had no alternative but to replace him as substitute on the team sheet. A transfer request followed and here again I had no alternative under these circumstances but to recommend to the board that we should agree to his request. Barry had been our top goal scorer the previous season despite not joining us until after Christmas. It was a decision which was a very difficult one to make, but I felt that it was being made in the best interests of Watford F.C.
A party of 16 players were due to go to spend the following week after the Orient game at Lilleshall in training and preparation for our F.A. Cup first round tie at Cheltenham. When the coach left the Vicarage Road ground, however, there were only six players on it. Two players were being held back to play in the reserve side on the Tuesday evening, and the rest of the players had injuries and were staying back for treatment. At this particular time we were very, very concerned as to whether we would be able to field a strong, side on the Saturday and at one stage I thought I might have to put my boots on. Luckily, as is wont to happen, everyone recovered and we were able to field our strongest side. One of the injured players was Brian Garvey who had been struck on the nose at Orient. He was suffering from a fractured nose and this was causing him considerable pain. We decided to take the risk of playing Brian at Cheltenham and at the early stages of the game it was apparent that some of his judgment was at fault. However, he stuck to his task and despite this handicap he performed creditably. The game itself was one in which we were always in command, although despite being two goals up we failed to press home our advantage.
One particular memory stands out. Barry Endean, who having worked a good position close to the goal and receiving a pass from Stewart Scullion, attempted to side-foot the ball into the net. He was thwarted by the opposing goalkeeper at the expense of a corner. Barry immediately turned and raced across to the touch-line to where I was sitting on the trainer’s bench, “Take me off, boss,” he implored. He was so disgusted at missing this goal that he felt that he had to give someone else a chance. We anxiously told him that he could not leave the field without the referees permission and shouted to him to stay on the field and get into position for the corner which was about to be taken. I suppose that incident was the turning point in Barry’s career for he had no desire to leave the field after the corner. As the cross came over he rose and bulleted a typical Tommy Lawton-type header into the net to score the first of many goals for the Club. Garbett and Hale added two further goals for a 4-0 win and so we went through to the second round.
CHAPTER 7
We start to impress—on the cup trail—Dyson departs— “We’re top!”
WHILE IT IS FAIR TO SAY that our run of success made us think strongly about our potential to mount and sustain a powerful promotion challenge, the majority of the Watford soccer public were still dubious. Several things may have changed their views. Our success against Manchester United and the avalanche of publicity it brought; our success at Tranmere and later at Swindon or just the proof that we were determined to go places by our snow-clearance operations. Personally, I like to think the seeds of optimism were sewn earlier. Perhaps the performance which really made the doubtful ones sit up and think, was the victory at hitherto unbeaten Rotherham.
Tommy Docherty’s reign at Rotherham had ended and he was then in charge of Queen’s Park Rangers. On our visit to Rotherham we learned that Jimmy McAnearney, the former Watford player, had been appointed caretaker/manager in his place. The game itself was always entertaining, robust at times with no quarter given and none asked. We ran out worthy winners by the score of 2-0, with Scullion and Garbett getting the vital goals, although Barry Endean was booked by the referee. This game was a doubtful starter due to a heavy downfall of rain just prior to the match. We were very grateful to the referee who, in his wisdom, decided that the pitch was playable. It was so heavy in places that it was impossible for the ball to be “worked”, but the effort put in by the team was a credit to the fitness of each player and undoubtedly at the end of that game we finished by far the stronger side.
If there were ever any doubts about our fitness and training methods, then they were refuted by the result of this game and the way in which it was attained. The game was also memorable for a brilliant goal by Stewart Scullion. He beat two men scurrying across the field and hammered in a left foot shot which left goalkeeper Furnell helpless.
We had every reason to be pleased at the way our players adapted themselves to the tactical variations of their opponents and the difficult conditions under which they had been asked to play each week. The 0-0 draw which followed our cup victory over Cheltenham was a set-back due to the fact that we did not use our wing positions as we planned. Players seemed to be drawn like a magnet into the glue-pot centre of the field and our play became bogged down. Conditions change rapidly and players have to be very adaptable in order to show the consistency in their play which is so desirable to continued success. It was important that we did not fall into this mistake again and the loss of a point was the lesson that we had to learn from.
All too quickly it seemed that we were back on the cup trail and our opponents this time were Brentford at home. We were then second in the league after temporarily falling into third place. We were one point behind Bournemouth, who were top having played 19 games with 27 points while we had played 20 with 26. Swindon, who were falling behind a little with their League Cup successes had two games in hand on us.
Walter Lees, the young Scot who I signed to understudy Brian Garvey, had a tremendous disappointment prior to the cup-tie. Brian was definitely out of the side through injury and Walter was selected in his place, but a mysterious virus struck him low during mid-week and he was confined to bed for several days. This meant a quick shuffle in the team and it was Eddy who donned the No. 5 shirt, with Tom Walley adopting a double-centre-half role. The team at this time showed very little change apart from the introduction of Brian Owen to the left wing spot instead of Roy Low. The lads were really settling down with this formation.
Cup-ties are not normally known for their entertaining play. In fact it is the excitement and the anxiety of knowing that there is no return fixture, that it is a “once in a lifetime chance” of getting through, that makes these games so attractive. The Brentford match proved no exception. Although we were worthy 1-0 winners, it was ap anxious game from start to finish. Few will deny the fact that we deserved to get through but at that time no-one realised what a valuable victory it turned out to be. I think I had a feeling that the implications of the victory would be fully felt later in the competition, but when the draw was made for the following round we had to play the winners of Workington or Port Vale at home. It was ironic that I was once the manager of Workington and had also been offered the post at Port Vale. Although our cup game was vital to us financially, we were far more concerned with our progress in the league. This was our ultimate aim, the cup was secondary. We had been too long in the Third Division and I did not intend that any extra emphasis should be placed in winning cup-ties in preference to league matches. So with Oldham Athletic our next fixture, we were all out to complete the double over them and move nearer to that top spot. Our visit to Barrow, a team which had started the season in very bright form but had begun to struggle, ended in their first home defeat for 18 months. A 4-1 victory with goals coming from Endean, 2; Garbett and Eddy I each, saw the team hit the purple patches. Few teams would have lived with us on that afternoon. Endean, who scored the two goals in the victory over Oldham Athletic, notched four goals in two matches to make everyone sit up and take notice of this “unknown”. The victory over Barrow did something else as well. It took us to the top of the Division! It also prepared us for what we considered a great test—a trip up the M1 to seemingly invincible Kenilworth Road.
Before we made that trip, however, an event which six months previously would have been regarded as sensational, severed a ten-month-old connection, Barry Dyson, who the previous season stormed through to become our Club’s top scorer, left just before Christmas to go to Orient. Barry’s departure, was made relatively insignificant by our rise to prominence.
We were to be disappointed, however. The eagerly awaited clash between Watford and Luton on Boxing Day, was understandably postponed at a very late stage. The ground was in a terrible condition, bone hard with frozen snow and although valiant attempts were made to prepare the ground it was evident that play would be impossible. Our next fixture was against the rapidly improving Brighton side at home. It was at this time that my name was linked with the vacant managership position at Leicester City. It was true to say that unofficial approaches were made on the part of Press men who sought my opinion on the matter. I had made it quite clear to them that I felt that my future at that time was with Watford. I told them I was doing everything in my power to complete successfully the job which I had been employed to do, and that was gain promotion into the Second Division.
These irritating newspaper reports could have had a bad effect on the morale of the team and I did everything in my power to make it clear that I was not interested in this particular vacancy. One paper went so far as to state that I had been interviewed for the job at Leicester. At my request a denial and an apology was published the following week.
Very heavy frosts made our ground very hard for the Christmas fixture with Brighton and Hove Albion. They were certainly not satisfied that the pitch was in a playable condition, but at least the ground, although hard, was in a very, very flat condition and the referee had no hesitation in declaring play possible. It was in this game that a future familiar figure began to appear in our substitute spot. Rodney Green, after a succession of injuries, at last gained match fitness and was named No. 12 on the match sheet. This started a succession of substitute appearances which had a vital bearing on the overall success. The game itself had almost run full course with a score of 0-0 when I quickly introduced Rodney. He duly obliged with the winning goal which was to earn us two more vital points.
This tactic was to be repeated successfully and Rodney’s late substitution on several subsequent occasions was rewarded by him scoring the winning goal.
Gillingham is never an easy place to win at but here in January we played under conditions which can only be described as chaotic. The mud was so thick it was practically impossible to move the ball. It certainly placed a heavy demand on the stamina of the side. Perhaps we were fortunate that Gillingham’s Gordon Riddick, after a clash with Brian Garvey, was sent off the field, and this resulted in them playing with only 10 men for the rest of the match. Hale was injured and had to leave the field and Terry Garbett, dropping back to the right-half position, really revelled in this unfamiliar role. Endean came in with our first hat-trick of the season and both substitute Rodney Green and Brian Owen added individual goals to give us our biggest victory of the season. The 5-0 win was also the biggest away win for some- thing like 30 years.
We had then gone eight away games without defeat—only dropping two points in the process and our total returns from away matches were 12 matches played, with an accumulation of 15 points.
As I mentioned earlier, I had a feeling that we were due for another bonanza cup-tie. After the game against Brentford, Press men asked me who I would like in the next round. I said we would probably play Manchester United. The reason behind this “flash of intuition” was simple. Two years earlier I watched Liverpool in action during a scouting trip and subsequently drew them in the cup, The following season another scouting trip took me to Bramall Lane where I watched Sheffield United in action. They too came to Vicarage Road. This season I watched Manchester United in two international cup competitions and so, following the same sequence, I predicted that United were our next opponents. I was however, one round out as first we had to beat Port Vale before earning the right to take on the European Champions.
Our third round opponents in the FA Cup were eventually decided when Port Vale beat Workington at Workington. I was a spectator at the game and I felt fairly confident that we could beat the Port Vale side. This was the way it turned out and we had an easy 2-0 passage into the next round. Little did we realise at the time that this result was to involve the Watford F.C. in Perhaps the greatest publicity the Club has ever known.
When those vital numbers came out of the hat for the vital fourth round, we were drawn away to the famous Manchester United team at Old Trafford Although they were not having a successful season in the league, they we however, the first English team to win the European Cup. We saw this huge trophy in their board room when we made the journey to Lancashire. This was to be the biggest challenge the Club had faced. I was fortunate inasmuch as I saw the United team in action on two occasions, once in the World Club Championship Cup against Estudiantes which they lost, and also against Waterford in the European Cup in which they recorded a convincing victory.
Teli we had a tremendous chance to beat this side. I also intended, if possible, that advantage should be taken of this particular occasion in broadcasting the name of the Watford F.C. throughout the football world. This was a match in which we could really put Watford on the map and I set out to think about ways and means in which this could be done. I, like many supporters, was very anxious that this glamorous tie would not affect the performances in the league. We placed great emphasis on our training that, as far as we were concerned, Manchester United could take care of themselves. It was vital that we continued our successful run in the league.
Our team had a really settled look about it. Micky Walker had success: fully bridged the gap between Third and Fourth Division football, and was responsible for many great saves. Duncan Welbourne and Johnny Williams at full back were giving very little away and Keith Eddy and Brian Garvey had developed highly successful combination in the vital centre of the field. Dixie Hale and Tom Walley were proving to be the perfect blend of two players of different ability but nevertheless a very effective difference. It was in the forward line that the stabilising factor took place. “The departure of Barry Dyson to Orient meant that our forward line at that time read, Stewart Scullion, Terry Garbett, Barry Endean and Brian Owen. “This then was the team which played the major part in the promotion season with Rodney Green a familiar figure in the No. 12 shirt.
CHAPTER 8
A goalless prelude—Jersey and the national spotlight—“Scully’’ shock—replay
WITH 24 GAMES PLAYED we approached the United tie top of the Division with a yield of 34 points. We were then a point ahead of Stockport while Swindon, our eventual promotion partners, were still two games and four points behind us with 30 points.
Barry Dyson made a return appearance wearing the Orient colours, and we were determined that he would not be allowed to display his shooting ability. A 0-0 draw was perhaps a disappointing result at this stage of the season, but it was true to say that results at home were becoming harder to come by than in away matches. Teams, had by this time developed a greater understanding of defensive play and in the majority the teams which came to
that we would be committed so far forward in an effort to break through and so leave us open to be caught in the quick break and perhaps lose the match by the odd goal, was always there. This we were determined not to do. Great emphasis was placed on being patient and composed. We had to play our football and be patient—the goals would come. This was the theme for many of those weeks.
My preparations for the cup-tie against Manchester United undoubtedly needed a good training area. We could not guarantee that the weather would be on our side, and with this in mind I decided that it would be better if we could go abroad. With the assistance of Vice-President, Harold Hutchinson, a forward-looking supporter of the Club, the board of directors agreed to my request that we should take the team to the Channel Island of Jersey. Here at least we would have a good opportunity of having the necessary weather in which to carry on our training. Mr. Hutchinson volunteered to pay our accommodation costs over there and we picked up the smaller bill for the transport to the island.
Our trip to Jersey caught the imagination of the National Press, and in the following week Watford were featured in every newspaper in the country and in many all over the world. Our visit to Jersey was something of a novelty and this additional spotlight on the players and the Club undoubtedly helped to stimulate them mentally for the big match ahead.
The weather too could not have been kinder. The only setback as far as I was concerned was that I was “inadvertently” pushed into the swimming pool which was full of very cold water. I knelt down to photograph the ducking of Dixie Hale by several of his team mates and in doing so I got in- volved myself. Complete with camera, watch and full clothing, I finished up in the pool. This in itself typified the spirit of the players at this time. Although we were seriously preparing for our game against the European champions, nevertheless we were determined that it was going to be a happy occasion.
Our plans to fly back to London on the Friday were quickly abandoned when I was informed that the weather conditions were closing in on the Thursday and that there was a possibility that we would be confined to the island because of low cloud. We made a hurried departure to the airport and were fortunate 10 secure seats on one of the last planes to get out on that Thursday. This meant that we arrived late in London and so made a rather tiresome Journey up to our pre-match headquarters at Stockport. It was all taken with good spirit and good heart and we were fully bedded down in the early hours of Friday morning in our Stockport retreat.
“There were no problems over fitness, although Barry Endean was troubled for some time by an injured ankle. During the Friday morning training session, Barry went over on his ankle and it swelled up so quickly that he was in considerable doubt as to whether he should play or not. Having seen the ankle myself I could not believe that he would be in a position to be fit for the next day, and I started to rethink the tactics. Such was Barry’s determination to play that he absolutely refused to accept the fact that he was injured. After having injections and a strapping on his foot, he took his place in the team against Manchester United.
hehe a not i would have been wise to have played another payer we shall never know. His goal-scoring feats had caught the imagination of the public. Within such a short time, less than three months, he had graduated from Durham village football to play before a near full-house against the European champions. It was such a romantic story that I did not have the heart to press him on his fitness for the job in hand that particular day.
We were safeguarded by the fact that the substitute rule which we had found and used to such advantage during the season, was in operation and I knew that should he break down I could always replace him with Rodney Green.
An injury to any of the other members of the team was of course our
major concern. We heard just before the match that George Best had gone down with the ‘flu, but eventually they lined up with one of their strongest sides. So, we were facing the European champions, with perhaps their best eleven players, in the national spotlight.
The game could not have opened in a more sensational fashion. Stewart Scullion wandering away from his right-wing position, picked up a loose Ball in mid-field. He made a forward run, passed Bobby Charlton in mid-field and raced towards their goal. Dodging Nobby Stiles at the edge of the box he let fly with a tremendous right-fool shot that went flying into the corner of the net. Sitting on the touchline as I was on that day, I was unable to jump off the seat by the enthusiasm and delight of the rest of my staff. In the process, my watch must have been knocked off my wrist, 20 yards along the track. It was kindly returned, with a broken glass, a little later on by & policeman, who rather pointedly told us to sit down and behave ourselves.
The game itself began to follow a pattern with which I was not too happy. We had the ability to all but outplay Manchester United. Certainly 10 match them. At the time, our away record was such that we feared no-one and although we dominated the game for about twenty minutes following this period, Manchester United took over and we defended, not desperately, but competently. Goalkeeper Micky Walker dealt with shots and cross-balls, and the rest of the defence tried to play themselves out of trouble. However, there was a vital breakdown in the link between our defence and our forward line and we were unable to mount many attacks up to the interval.
After the break Manchester United continued in an attacking vein but it seemed that victory was in our grasp and as the minutes ticked so, so slowly away, we seemed to gain in confidence and stature. Suddenly when it appeared as though they had tried everything without success, a mid-air collision between Garvey and Walker resulted in the ball dropping at the foot of Fitzpatrick, who knocked the ball forward to the ever-menacing Law. The ball, need I add, flashed into the net for the equaliser. I doubted at this time whether we would be able to stand the efforts of the revitalised United players. Yet the reverse was true. Suddenly, we regained our composure and we went forward into the attack and, for the last twenty minutes, it was the
United who were relieved and not Watford, when the final whistle went. Barry Endean showed the effects during the latter stages of the game of his ankle injury and Rodney Green’s arrival on the field helped materially to our domination of the later period. His ability to hold and save the ball from defensive positions stood us in good stead. The exultation and the excitement in the dressing room is impossible to describe. We had achieved what many teams had failed in the past. We had not only held the Manchester United stars on their own ground, watched by a record crowd of 63,000, but we had also stretched them to their utmost.
We will never know whether we would have beaten them in the replay had it taken place on the appointed day. Torrential rain at Watford over the next two or three days turned the field into a quagmire. It was so sodden that it appeared impossible for the game to be played. Naturally we wanted to delay the decision as long as possible, but on the arrival of the Manchester United party in the early afternoon and after consultations with a local referee, we decided that the match would not go on. We felt that if he waited three or four hours longer, conditions being as they were, our ground which always drained rapidly would have made the game possible. He had to make an awkward decision and he made the only one he could under those circumstances.
So Manchester United were, in effect, let off the hook. The pressure on them was tremendous and we felt this and the advantage of our home ground would have given us valuable advantage. The week’s delay in playing this fixture undoubtedly helped United in the replay. They were allowed to regain a little of their composure.
If the conditions were wet for the original replay, conditions could not have been harder or more against the Watford side than they were when the match was actually played the following week. The ground was bone hard and very slippery on the wings, and it was soon evident that control on these surfaces was even impossible for their talented players. Despite having 759, of the play we eventually lost the game 2-0. One flash of genius from George Best resulted in a cross to the far post. Denis Law was on hand to give them the lead and another Law goal in the latter stages of the game, clinched it for them.
Their joy was unbounded and our disappointment deep. Nevertheless, we were not disgraced. On the night we were by far the better team, but Law, who had destroyed so many teams in the past, at last found his shooting boots at the right time for United. It was the wrong time for us. Still, as many of our supporters said, perhaps it was best that we lost. We gained a tremendous amount of benefit from these two fixtures as the team was being acclaimed throughout the land as being more than capable. Jimmy Murphy, the assistant manager of Manchester United, said in the Press that we were the best Third Division side he had ever seen—a compliment that was not easily given. We frightened Manchester United very severely and we looked forward to our fixtures in the league a little more confidently.
CHAPTER 9
Frost precautions—snow clearance—hot soup—a turning point
I FEEL THAT the only really practical proposition for protecting your ground is to cover it with straw. Following the Manchester United match, in which the ground was rock hard, the weather-men forecast snow, and snow it did. On the Wednesday the ground was covered with several inches of snow and in the event of further snow or a sudden thaw, it was obvious that our home game against Rotherham would be postponed. To win promotion a team needs good players confident players, players who have a good understanding of the game and a certain amount of luck. But as well as luck it needs the weather. Many promotion hopes have floundered as a result of constant postponements. One remembers the very hard winter of 1963 when teams were not involved for periods of ten or eleven weeks. I had no desire to upset the rhythm that we created and I felt that any gaps in the list of fixtures might do this. With this in mind and with the help of several of the players we cleared the snow off the ground on the Wednesday and I ordered seventy bales of straw. It took us all day to spread the straw but fortunately for us the weather held and no further snow arrived.
This job was completed later that week before the skies opened up and down came a Very, very heavy fall of snow. Soon reports came in on the Friday that match after match was declared off. I went down to the ground on the Saturday morning with my two children and discussed the situation with the groundsmen, Les Simmonds and his assistant. Our first thoughts were that it would be impossible to clear off the bales of straw, now covered with six or seven inches of snow. The whole of the terracing was also deep in snow. If we managed to clear the ground, then there was still the problem of the
We decided on the Friday to broadcast an appeal through the Press and the radio for assistance from our supporters in clearing the snow. 9 o’clock there was only five of us on the ground and we set 10 work trying to clear one of the penalty areas. Thomas McInerney, the local building firm, earlier loaned us twelve very large tarpaulins with which to cover the ground. During the night these were whipped off the pitch by the gale force winds, but they were to prove invaluable in our efforts to get the game played. From trial and error it was found that the best method of clearing the straw was to lay the tarpaulins down; then lift and shovel the snow and straw on to the tarpaulins before finally dragging them off to the side and tipping off the snow.
There were no worries about the ground underneath. The clearing of the initial snowfall early in the week left the ground soft and pliable and the straw prevented the frost getting deep into it. The problem was to clear all the snow from the field and terraces. It was a fight against time. The referee, who was warned in advance of the state of the ground, visited us early in the morning and watched us in our untiring efforts. Slowly but surely supporters of all ages, boys and girls, men and women, began to arrive at the ground. I organised them into gangs, all equipped with shovels and brushes in order that the snow should be cleared on to the tarpaulins and dragged off the field.
These were manhandled off the field by six or seven people pulling at the ropes at the end of the tarpaulins. As time went on we became more and more desperate, but then it became apparent at 12 o’clock that we were winning the fight and Squads of the youngsters were then dispatched on to the terraces to clear the steps, and put salt down on the icy parts. We were in high hopes that the game would go on. It all rested with the referee.
Rotherham themselves were delayed by the weather but they travelled on in the hope of getting down for the kick-off. We received a telephone message to say that they would not arrive in time for the 3 o’clock kick-off, and so we were given a few minutes’ grace in which to complete our efforts on the ground. At 3 o’clock the ground was ready, the surface was good and it proved to be the only playable fixture on in the South of England. The BBC immediately headed across to film the game for the “Match of the Day show. Rotherham eventually arrived and the game kicked off several minutes late.
The fact that the game took place was a tribute to the work put in by the supporters and the ground staff. It is difficult to get volunteers for anything in this modern world, but on this particular occasion our supporters rose to the challenge and worked like Trojans to get the match played. It was a 5-1 victory, with all the goals coming in a late “gold rush” including a memorable one from Tom Walley. It more than justified their efforts in helping to get the match played. Here was a simple demonstration of the way in which supporters can help the clubs. Without receiving any payment, two young Iadies brewed bowls of soup for everyone during the bitter cold morning, but this was an example of a team effort. Everyone wanted Watford to be successful and it was this that made the eventual result possible.
If there were turning points in the season that we can look back on, I feel certain that this 5-1 victory was one of them. It is worth noting that at this stage our team sported the best defensive record of any of the leagues, having lost only four games throughout the season—a tremendous achievement.
Our next away opponents were Torquay United on February 15th. It has never been a happy hunting ground for us and this match proved to be no exception. Our 2-1 defeat was our first reverse away from home since Monday, September 16th. This was a tremendous achievement and was equally disappointing inasmuch as we fully deserved, from the run of the play, to have beaten Torquay, or at least taken a point. For the record Endean scored our lone goal and 50 became our top scorer.
The eagerly awaited clash with promotion rivals Luton Town was in doubt right up 10 the kick off. A heavy snow fall during the day covered the ground with a layer of snow and the surface was very, very slippery and I had my doubts. Due to the work of the ground staff, however, the referee decided that the pitch was playable and the game went on.
We were fortunate not to be behind after early Luton pressure, but it was Barry Endean who opened the scoring converting a cross from Rodney Green. Following an equalising goal from Freddy Jardine, it was soon apparent that the game was doomed to be abandoned, the continual blizzard blowing throughout was obliterating the touchlines and it was surprising to me that the game continued after half time. The referee persevered but was forced to abandon it after 62 minutes with the score 1-1.
The game against Mansfield was one which was marred for me by the senseless behaviour of the crowd. It began in a lively fashion and once again it was Barry Endean who put us in front in the eighth minute. Despite further pressure we could not increase our lead and, as often happens, it was Mansfield who drew level with a goal from Dudley Roberts. The pitch was very, very heavy and suddenly we were desperate. At half time Brian Owen told the trainer that he was not feeling very well, due to a recent bout of ‘flu and his efforts in the first 45 minutes. “Flu can have a very weakening effect and although Brian was in good form in the first half it was apparent towards the end that he was beginning 10 slow down. When I was informed of this due to the fact that he was playing so well at the time, I told him to another ten minutes and if he did not feel any better to come off.
In effect, this was what happened and with the score 1-1 and with eighteen minutes gone in the half, Brian came across to the trainer’s box and came off. Bernard Lewis was substituted. There was a tremendous chorus of booing as Bernard took the field: it is doubtful whether it was being directed at Bernard or whether it was because of the withdrawal of Brian. I thought it would be very unsettling to the players, but in a strong finish, just one minute 45 seconds into injury time, it was Rodney Green, who that week had taken up full-time professional training. took pass from Bernard and scored vital goal.
It was also about this time that there seemed to be a great increase in the amount of bad language and abusive chants that were being used at the Vicarage Road ground, and we appealed to all supporters to help stamp it out.
The following home game against Bristol Rovers was a game in which perhaps we dominated as we had never done before and yet surprisingly the result was only 1-0 in our favour. Sill it was two points and this was the thing at this stage which mattered most. The turning point came in the fifty-second minute when a shot from the Rovers went past our goalkeeper, Mike Walker, hit the post and rebounded straight back into his thankful arms. This was immediately followed by the deciding goal. The goalkeeper’s clearance found Brian Owen who passed to Williams. He made ground crossed to Green, who broke through and made no mistake this time when he headed the ball into the net
We hear much about bad luck, good luck, the run of the ball, the lucky bounce. There is no doubt in my mind, looking back on the season, that it was the game at Southport where in fact fate decided to step on to the Watford side of the fence and be with us instead of against us. Southport, with one of the best home records in the Division, carved our defence to pieces in the carly stages. Brian Garvey, returned 10 the team after two weeks off with a thigh injury, and it was Brian who was involved in perhaps one of the strangest and the luckiest incidents that we faced throughout the season. Although we had the odd opportunity to go in front, it was Southport who took the lead a minute or two before half time. Even after the interval we should have been two down when Russell blazed wide of an open goal.
On the touch line that evening we were holding our heads in our hands. We were very ragged and it seemed that we were going to be fortunate to survive. Completely against the run of the play we equalised and it was again the same combination which was to score several goals in the latter matches. Tom Walley burst down the left wing and drove the ball fiercely across and Barry Endean, moving very quickly to the near post, stuck out a leg and diverted it past the goalkeeper, Reeves.
It was 12 minutes from time, however, when Brian Garvey, racing towards his own goal, and under pressure from behind, with the ball bounding in front of him, attempted to pass the ball back to Mike Walker. He completely misjudged the ball and volleyed in a full-blooded shot which smashed against the crossbar and bounced down. In complete amazement Micky Walker turned round and hooked the ball clear and the referee waved play on. The end of the game did not come quickly enough for we were hanging on desperately right until the final whistle. Fortunate to escape with a draw from the Southport match we faced Shrewsbury in a much more confident manner. Shrewsbury were struggling against relegation throughout the season and were in desperate straits. We knew we had a hard fight, but felt confident that with the extra ability of our side, victory could be ours.
It was in this game that I decided to rest Stewart Scullion. He had been ever-present, apart from one game at Northampton during the early part of the season, and his general play had fallen below his high standard and I replaced him with Bernard Lewis. We were by far the superior side but we were never able to capitalise on our territorial advantage. Quite surprisingly, we went behind through a rare mistake by Dixie Hale, but he made tremendous efforts to make amends and he was the instigator of the move which lead to our quick equaliser. His pass found Lees on the left, who replaced the injured Johnny Williams at left back. He sent Tom Walley away down on the left flank and when he drove the ball across it was Endean who glided it in at the far post for Watford’s 50th goal of the season. . . . The goal was well timed with the interval coming seconds afterwards.
This particular move was one which we practised many times, not solely with Tom, but with all the players. The ball, once having worked it into the penalty area, should be driven hard and low. This is an extremely difficult ball for a defence to combat because of its very speed. The fact that we lost Terry Garbett for only four weeks after an appendix operation, was something of a miracle. I have never known a player get back so quickly after such a serious operation but undoubtedly although all the results were going for us, we missed Terry’s mid-field ability. After a quiet game at Southport and an improvement at Shrewsbury, I felt that he would be back to full fitness in time for the vital home match against Tranmere Rovers. Here again this was to be a game in which decisions were made which were to affect our promotion hopes. It was in this game that Tom Walley, who had been in tremendous form, certainly scaled the heights, his immense appetite for work knew no bounds. He was outstanding.
We were soon a goal behind when John McNamee, the Tranmere Rovers outside right, beat Williams t0 fire them into the lead. Walley equalised. After playing a one-two with Brian Owen, he accelerated past two men 10 collect the return, beat a third and easily beat goalkeeper Cumbes, from inside the penalty area. The goal was no more than we deserved, but then followed perhaps one of the strangest goals ever to be seen at Vicarage Road.
The move started simply enough, Stewart Scullion ran down the right wing and crossed to Owen on the edge of the penalty area. Challenged by a Tranmere defender, he shot hurriedly. The ball deflected off the defender, high into the air and it seemed destined to go uncomfortably close to the “Observer” Clock on the Rookery End. The linesman was already beginning to raise his flag, anticipating a corner. My own son, acting as a ball boy. was behind the goal and afterwards he told me that he thought jt was coming right over and ran forward to collect it. Fortunately for us, the goalkeeper thought 0 too and he turned immediately to go round the far post to collect the ball. To his horror the wind held the ball and it dropped very quickly from at least forty feet towards the goal line. The goalkeeper tried frantically to recover but it bounced off his arm on to the woodwork and into the net. We will never know whether the ball actually crossed the line, but the linesman never hesitated in flagging a goal.
One of the successes in the Tranmere Rovers’ team was undoubtedly Sinclair, wearing the No. 9 shirt. Indeed Roy was not unknown to Vicarage Road, but for many years it seemed that his outstanding ability on the ball was not matched by a high work rate. In this particular game he showed an abundance of industry and in a hurried conference with the board of directors following the game, we decided to make an immediate offer for his services. For some time I had been searching for an additional player in the same mould as Terry Garbett, and it seemed to me that Sinclair was the ideal player. In my mind it was an insurance policy but an essential one. We had to face a hard run of five games in eight days over the Easter period and it was 100 much to expect that we would not be forced to change the side through injury. The £11,000 was the highest fee paid since my joining Watford. Once again later events were to prove that the money was well spent.
Of course every game had been vital throughout the season but time was running out and with the end of the season drawing near there would be 10 chance of any recovery from a bad spell. It is at times like these that one relies upon the experienced and key players in your side. In this respect the game against Northampton revealed the value 10 the side of Keith Eddy’s composure.
Against an uncompromising Northampton team, it was Watford’s will and refusal to be intimidated by Northampton’s tactics which proved the vital factor in this win. Two valuable goals from Keith, who had a pain-killing injection before the game, and another goal from Garbett gave the 16,548 crowd plenty to rejoice about. This was a victory earned not by an individual brilliance but by collective endeavour. This was a team victory. The boys did not flinch in the face of blatant physical aggression. They helped each other out, and in the end their sheer persistence was rewarded when they handed Northampton their heaviest defeat of the season.
When the referee signalled the fourth goal against Watford by Stockport County I could only put my head in my hands and hope that when I opened my eyes I would find it had been a nightmare. It did not seem possible that the best defence in the Third Division could concede so many goals in one match. The strangest thing was that we still enjoyed the lion’s share of the play, let two half-chances go and saw one shot end up on the line. My last instructions to the team before going on to the field against Stockport were to follow our usual approach: contain and then destroy. Instead we seemed to be all driven forward in attacking positions which left us wide open at the back and, as always happens, the opposition took full advantage of it in their breakaways. This defeat was one of the worst possible ways to prepare for the vital game against Swindon. Brian Garvey left the field with an injured calf muscle and was out of reckoning for the Swindon game. Bernard Lewis also injured his back early in the first half and Brian Owen, who was forced to drop out against Stockport, did not fully recover from an ankle injury. Tom Walley, Dixie Hale, Duncan Welbourne and Roy Sinclair all went down with a virus infection of the respiratory system. I ordered all staff compulsory gargling in order to beat the bug that attacked Vicarage Road. Faced with a similar problem prior to the Manchester United match, when Brian Garvey was injured in the first game, I decided that because Walter Lees had not played in a reserve team match for almost four weeks, that it was unwise to risk him against the menace of Law. As it turned out Law had proved too much of a handful and his two goals cost us victory. On this occasion however the reserve team played several consecutive fixtures and I was in no doubt about Walter’s fitness so he was given the task of marking Swindon’s top goal scorer, Noble. Earlier in the season I was beaten to Noble’s signature by Danny Williams, the Swindon manager, who at that time was able to pay the high wages demanded by the Newcastle forward. He had proved a very good buy indeed. Although the following matches were to prove full of good football and excitement, this was undoubtedly our most challenging hurdle of the season. Swindon were League Cup winners, having just previously defeated the mighty Arsenal at Wembley. It promised to be a game in a million, and it did not prove an anti-climax.
It was obvious right from the start that the players were not affected by the adverse result at Stockport. They rose to the occasion. The atmosphere was electric. The biggest crowd of the season, 28,898, packed into Swindon’s ground. It surpassed their previous record set in 1963, and their all-time record set up by the visit of West Ham in an F.A. Cup tie, the previous year. It was a game in which our players earned a tactical victory. The operation of our sweeper and the complete snuffing out of goalscorer Noble by Lees, and dangerous Don Rogers by the ever-present Welbourne, paved the way for our success.
This was our main task. Keith Eddy was given the job of covering the back four defenders and Tom Walley played a much more defensive game than usual, and it worked to perfection—the players easily adapting themselves to the overall plan. Equally impressive was the performance of Bernard Lewis on the wing. Repeatedly he relieved the pressure by racing the full length of the left wing against one of the best full backs in the league, Thomas. Stewart Scullion on the right was always dangerous, but it had been a team effort.
It fell to ex-Pelton Fell welder Barry Endean to again win the game for us. One Press man said after the match that he deserved a medal and it was easy to understand why. When the pressure was on us in the early stages, Barry ploughed a lone furrow, supported by the wing runs of Bernard Lewis on the left and the wanderings of Scullion on the right. He won, if that is the right word, a penalty for Keith Eddy. This penalty was superbly saved by Downsborough, diving to his right, and it seemed that our chance for victory had gone. Forced back on the defensive we were determined not to lose and with the three forwards chasing everything that came their way, no more could have been asked or given. Late in the game Dixie Hale spied Endean racing through the centre. The ball fell into Barry’s stride and that, unfortunately for Swindon, was it.
CHAPTER 10
Magical goal against Crewe—the Hartlepool draw—Lewis and Green at Plymouth—Scullion’s setback
UNDOUBTEDLY THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES of any English football season are the heavy commitments over the Easter and Christmas periods. In recent times the Christmas fixtures have been reduced so now no team has more than two games to play in the one week. But this does not apply to Easter. and if you ask any of our supporters in what light they regard these Easter periods, I am certain they would regard them with horror. From my own experience of previous seasons, it was the bad results over the Easter programme, when we were involved in several matches in one week, which resulted in our remaining in the Third Division.
I was determined that this year was to be an exception. On the Saturday. Crewe Alexandra provided us with a fixture at home. On the Monday Hartlepool were our visitors, then followed a long journey down to Plymouth for the Tuesday evening match against the ever-improving naval town. To complete the scene, the following Saturday we had to travel to Bournemouth—never an easy place to win at. Naturally our greatest concern during such programmes is the risk of injuries to key players and although we were well off for utility men who could fill in various positions, should any of our key players have been injured then the results of some of these games could have been in doubt.
One of the big contributory factors of many of our poor home results previous seasons was the bone-hard grounds which come at this time of the year. In order to combat this I had purchased an automatic sprinkler at the beginning of the seston. One simply switches it on and it travels along the I Tength of the wio. I was determined that we would never again be faced the rock-hard surface which helped cause our downfall on previous occasions.
I felt confident about the outcome of the Crewe match. We won at Crewe. and we felt that we were by far the superior side. The game that I was concerned with was against Hartlepool. Two weeks previously I watched them at Swindon and they fully deserved their 1-1 draw having played a strictly defensive game with so much depth that even Swindon with the power of Rogers and the goal finishing ability of Noble were unable to penetrate more than once. We could not have picked a harder game than Plymouth at Plymouth. They were early favourites and had rapidly improved in the middle stages of the race. Bournemouth’s aggressive style of play rarely produced entertaining fixtures with Watford and this too promised to be a very hard fixture.
The team I selected for the Crewe match was notable for the absence of Brian Garvey who was injured and also that of Brian Owen who unfortunately trod on a tin at Cassiobury Park during a very light training spell. This wrenched his ankle so much that he missed the last two vital games for the Club. So, with Walker Lees retaining his place at centre half, we played Terry Garbett in the rather unusual position of outside right with Green and Endean as the double spearhead. Scullion switched on to the left wing. As expected the game against Crewe was one in which we coasted to an easy win.
Endean seized on a chance in the goalmouth to put us in front and Stewart Scullion hooked one into the net to put us two up, but it was Endean’s Second goal, which was undoubtedly the best of the nineteen he scored up until then in his short, but inspiring, career with us. That moment of magic and majesty came four minutes after the break. A scrambled clearance from Keith Eddy found Terry Garbett under pressure on the right flank, but with Endean racing through the middle, Garbett lofted an immaculate fifty-yard pass from the wing. Endean chested the ball down on the edge of the penalty area, hit it perfectly to the goalkeepers left without once altering the head- Tong race through the middle. It was a goal which would have been worthy of the World Cup Final. The two former Durham schoolboy pals were responsible for this goal and, as with many matches, it was the fourth goal that clinched the game.
Following this victory I announced an unchanged team for the game against Hartlepool. but one of those outside influences occurred on the Sunday evening, Shortly before 9 o’clock knock on my door heralded the appearance of Stewart Scullion and his wife. It was obvious that they were both very upset and disturbed, and having sat them down we learned that his brother had been seriously injured in a motor-cycle accident on the Saturday evening. He was on the danger list in hospital and there were grave doubts about his survival. The effect that this accident had on Stewart was understandable. Following long time in an orphanage, Stewart’s family ties mean a great deal to him and it soon became obvious that the effect of the accident on him would also affect his game the following day. It was not an easy decision to make but I convinced Stewart that it would be in his own interest and that of the Club if he could continue in the side for the match against Hartlepool. We desperately needed to win and I felt that it was important to us all that Stewart should take his normal place in the team. I did not think that it would help his brother in any way by leaving Stewart out of the team but nevertheless I had my secret doubts as to whether or not I had made the right choice.
As I anticipated, relegation threatened Hartlepool, who despite their lowly position, were good value for their final share of the points, and I was more than satisfied with the result. On two occasions we almost went behind and it seemed that the tremendous heat of the day sapped the energy from the players. Rodney Green seemed to suffer more than most having worked very hard throughout the game, and I replaced him with Bernard Lewis in the later stages, but it was to no avail and the game finished in a 0-0 draw. Several others sustained knocks and I was forced to alter my original intention of ting Stewart Scullion stay behind at Watford in order that he should be lore to his injured brother. Here again it was not a decision I liked making, but I placed the interests of the Club first, and Stewart accompanied us to our headquarters at Plymouth.
I knew as we travelled to Plymouth that the decisions I would have to make over team selection and the tactics we would employ were perhaps the most important I would make in the whole of the season. Stewart was still obviously very disturbed and upset by his brother’s illness. I decided then that he should. not play. Brian Owen had recovered from his ankle injury and was available and he took Stewarts place on the left wing. Barry Endean, injured in the Hartlepool game, was also a non-starter and I selected in his place Roy Sinclair, recently signed from Tranmere Rovers, to make his debut. He could not have picked a more vital game to prove whether or not he was a good buy.
I selected a side in which Garbett returned to his place on the right wing, I then, after considerable thought, decided to come back to our sweeper System in which Keith Eddy acted in this capacity behind the back four of Welbourne, Lees, Walley and Williams, with Garbett, Hale and Sinclair filling the mid-field. This left Rodney Green as the loan striker supported by Brian Owen. I must confess that on the Monday in the Plymouth hotel, I watched the dawn break, having weighed all the “pros” and “cons” regarding the team selection and tactical approaches of this particular game, Once having made the decision I let the players know as soon as possible, Itis difficult to pick out any individual player in this 2-1 victory, but almost certainly it was “the battered, bruised and breathless” Rodney Green who played a vital part in the victory.
Our first goal came from a planned free-kick in which Keith Eddy lofted the ball to Rodney Green, who rather than standing at the far post post went to the edge of the penalty area. His job was simply to turn the ball in the goalmouth so that the onrushing Sinclair or Owen or any forward in that position would have a chance of scoring. This in fact tended to give Rodney a better chance to head into the goal than normally. The accuracy of Keith Eddy’s free-kick was the important thing. It worked out perfectly and it was Sinclair who rushed in on the blind side and shot the ball into the net, This was adequate compensation for our thoughtful and fashioned approach work for we had completely dominated the first 15 minutes, Plymouth came into the game, however, and it was not surprising when they equalised in the 39th minute. Walker made a fine save to Plymouth forward Davey, and Eddy’ and Williams later cleared off the goal-line.
The vital breakthrough, and what turned out to be the winning goal, came in the 71st minute. Brian Owen courageously went into a tackle despite putting his injury-prone right foot to the test. As Owen limped off from the! injury he received, Lewis hurriedly shed his track suit and raced into the penalty area. It was a replica of the first free kick. Eddy’s kick floated info) the back Plymouth area where Rodney Green jumped to nod the ball on, and Bernard Lewis with his very first kick of the game, darted in and scored from close range. He could not have been on the field for more than 10 seconds but what a vital goal that was. Green and Lew of the “boo boys” had combined 10 score the vital winning goal and their. general performance throughout the match did a great deal to ensure victory.
It was therefore a happy party which travelled on to the Bournemouth hotel. We decided that, despite the expense involved, we would stay away and take advantage of the sea breezes following the Plymouth match. So this meant, in effect, that we had Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to prepare, away from all the pressures of the home and town life. Having weighed up the individual players of our opponents and their expected style of play, I decided that despite having such a fine game at Plymouth, I would leave out Rodney Green and bring in Barry Endean, who had by then recovered from his injury. I felt that Barry would be more suited for the game we would have to play that Saturday. Following the Plymouth match I had allowed Stewart Scullion to return home but fortunately Brian Owen recovered from his injured foot and took his place on the left wing.
After eight minutes it seemed that I may have made the wrong decision. We were a goal down to a shot from Tony Powell and with a high wind making it difficult to play good football things were not going well. Still it was Terry Garbett who put us right back in the game. Brian Owen seized on A bad back-pass made by Miller, and sped goalwards. He found Roy Sinclair on his right as Bournemouth back-pedalled and Roy opened up the home defence with a reverse pass to Terry Garbett, running free on the right. Terry unleashed a terrific shot which the goalkeeper appeared to have covered but the wind can and did play tricks. The ball suddenly dipped in front of him and skidded into the net. It certainly was a piece of luck, but we had suffered similarly ourselves so many times in the past and I feel we deserved the break.
In the 43rd minute Roy Sinclair sent a long ball through the centre of the field with Miller in complete command of the situation as he raced through to his own goal, it seemed impossible for Endean to cause any bother, but he homed after Miller and harassed him into making a back pass to the oncoming Jarvis. As Endean challenged it was Miller who lofted the ball over his own goalkeeper’s head. He was able to arrest the ball, but as it bounced over the line, Endean followed home to make sure. This was a perfect example of the persistence and “never-say-die” spirit which played a great part in Barry’s success this season.
It was Barry who scored the third goal which clinched the match for us, when he followed a similar through ball, this time from Dixie Hale, and harassed Miller into making an ill-timed headed pass back to his goalkeeper. Endean rounded him in a flash, snaked out a foot and stabbed the ball past Jones. Yet another example of Barry’s killer instinct in front of goal.
This brought an end to our Easter fixtures. We had taken seven out of eight points and the return game with Plymouth on the Tuesday was to be our fifth game in nine days.
CHAPTER 11
Memories—magic —emotion—tears of joy—
THERE WAS NO DOUBT that the whole of Watford and the surrounding area were agog with interest. So often in the past, over 49 years, the supporters were sadly disappointed when optimism ended in the bitter taste of defeat. Here we were once again on the threshold of the Second Division. We needed only one point from the game against Plymouth to ensure that we could not be overtaken. Then that much-sought-after prize would be ours.
It was indeed a night to look forward to, but for me it was again a night in which I had to make decisions. The team selection and the tactics as always, for every game, were given serious consideration, despite the fine return of seven points out of eight. This was another match and another side and the decisions needed to be made.
The only doubts in the team selection regarded the return of Scullion or Green. There was a considerable improvement in the health of Stewart’s brother in hospital and, as he was in a much more contented frame of mind, I had no hesitation in naming him in front of Brian Owen for the left-wing spot. I decided to retain Stewart to the exclusion of Rodney Green in the side and so made only one change from the Bournemouth match. When one considers that team changes were made after the wonderful victory over Plymouth in the earlier part of the week, and then, despite the 3-1 victory over Bournemouth, changes were still made. I considered then, and still do, that here was complete Justification, despite the result of the previous match, for altering the side if one thinks it can be strengthened. It was to the players’ credit that they accepted my decisions without any show of temperament.
Although Walter Lees settled down in the side, following his great display at Swindon, he hardly put a foot wrong, I still felt rather sorry for Brian Garvey who was a stalwart in the middle of the field for so long. Brian Owen, who fought so courageously against a succession of injuries, was not playing in this match either. I know what it is like to sit on the touch line and not be able to join in actively and play your part towards the vital result which could affect all futures. Brian and Barry had my sympathy for missing out on such an occasion.
It was a tremendous crowd of 22,725 and the game itself was tense and tough. Plymouth looked a team with possibilities but the game itself was a thriller, with a quality of football which would have graced any division. We were strong in defence, eager in mid-field and always adventurous, and, as usual, there was a superhuman effort and endeavour from every player. I can remember little of the game apart from the vital winning goal. It was a goal we always promised, and, but for the brilliance of Dunne, we would have scored earlier. Several times he acrobatically stopped goalworthy shots and a brilliant header from Hale was matched by a magnificent save. Endean saw a shot cleared off the line and two fine headers from Garbett and a long-range shot from Walley, all found Dunne in position to save. There was no lack of thrills and excitement for this largest crowd of the season, as the eleven Watford players attempted to carve out a result that would never be forgotten.
It seemed as though the game would never end but just three minutes from time it fell to Roy Sinclair, the one player who played one of the smallest parts in the whole of the success, 10 score the goal that brought our 603rd and the most long-awaited of all, league victories. Years of hope were fulfilled when the Liverpudlian shot the ball in-off the cross-bar from the edge of the penalty area. There seemed some doubt in our opponents’ minds as to whether it crossed the line or not. The referee’s decision went for us, however, and, with seconds to go, we knew we were home and dry. It was somehow impossible for us to lose.
As the “Observer” recorded that week : “April 15th, 1969, the night Watford gained promotion at the forty-first attempt, will live long to be savoured, relished and related time and time again. The night a tidal wave of nearly fifty years of pent-up emotion, anguish and disappointment flooded through the town. The night champagne corks rocketed round the dressing rooms. The night older fans, some officials and even players sobbed openly with tears of heartfelt joy. The night many forgot the breathalyser or the way home. The night memories were mad and past disillusionments forgotten.
The 22,000 crowd invaded the field and as each player came up into the directors’ box, they were greeted with roars of acclamation. Tt certainly was a night to remember. The players who were not in the side at that time, were not forgotten cither—Bert Slater, Bernard Lewis, Brian Garvey, Brian Owen, Roy Low, Micky Packer—for they all joined the others in the celebrations, It was a team victory for the directors, the staff, the players and the loyal supporters. The finest hour in the history of the Watford Football Club was at hand. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when that final whistle sounded and signalled the end of a game which was to usher in a new era in the history of the Watford F.C. I was nearly in tears of joy, but I should imagine that many of our veteran supporters found the occasion overwhelming.
I waited four years, but how small a time compared with 49. I was glad for the players, I was glad for the supporters and I was equally as glad for Chairman, Jim Bonser, and his fellow directors, for the realisation of their dreams. They carried the financial burdens during those near misses for so many years that this must have been a moment of sheer satisfaction. It is true that no matter how hard one’s staff works, without the co-operation of the players and their efforts, victory is impossible. It was this concentration, dedication and effort which proved the greatest feature of our triumph. They deserved every credit for their efforts and they made me a proud man.
At once we faced a further challenge. We wanted to be champions once promotion was assured, and we faced four matches in which to make certain of it. Swindon and Luton were our nearest challengers, but the pressure was now on them. We could breathe easily and we looked to the four remaining matches with confidence.
CHAPTER 12
Teamwork — Low, Endean— marching orders
I AM CERTAIN THAT our eventual promotion was a culmination of the effort and work which we put in over the four seasons. It was not a lucky year but we were lucky on occasions. In the main, it was a collective effort from the whole staff which ensured a successful season. The understanding of their responsibilities both individually and team-wise which we built up over four seasons, stood the players in good stead. It was this understanding and effort plus the goal-scoring ability of Endean, that eventually turned the in our favour. The appointment of Keith Eddy as skipper the previous season did much to add stature and responsibility to his game, and throughout the season he was a shining example to the rest of the players in accepting not only responsibility for his own performance but also for marshalling and reminding his defensive colleagues and attacking forwards of their responsibilities or lack of concentration. His composure from the penalty spot only added to his stature. His selection to go on the Football Association’s tour 10 New Zealand was an additional reward to having skippered the first-ever Watford team to promotion to the Second Division.
Almost certainly one of the greatest disappointments of the season was that we were never able to use 0 the full, the undoubted technical ability of Roy Low. He was one of the best ball players i the Club but is application was sadly lacking at times and it was this that limited his first-team appearances.
The story of Barry Endean is like a fairy tale, but without his flair would we have achieved what we did? The records will show he scored about 22 goals throughout the season, but they will not show how for many weeks he played with a nagging calf injury which needed pain-killing injections before the games and at hall-times. It was this courageous determination against the odds that magnified his ability on the field.
With promotion assured the atmosphere of the match against Reading was that of enjoyment and relaxation. There was a carnival atmosphere about the whole ground. The players did a lap of honour before the match and this, the last home game in the Third Division, saw us comfortable winners.
With three games to play including the rescheduled Luton match, we had high hopes of securing the championship without any bother, but in the end We won it on goal average. Why did the team lose these three matches? In my opinion there is no doubt that it was the after-effects, not just of this year’s promotion challenge, but on the previous three years. Practically all the players had been involved continually in tremendous pressure always exerted on a team who are fighting promotion. They had drawn on many reserves of strength and determination and this had left them like dried prunes. It was 10 easy run for us. We could have picked easier matches than unbeaten at home Luton; Mansfield fighting away from the bottom of the table; and the ever-improving Barnsley, who were determined to show that next season they would be promoted. They were all too tough for us to handle. We did not have the necessary reserves to draw from. The job had been completed, Everest had been scaled and once having reached the top there was nowhere else to go.
It certainly was a case of records, records all the way, but one record we were not proud of was the number of players sent off the field. Owen, Green, Walley, Garvey. Lewis and Endean were all tunately for us, Endean and Walley were dis and their cases did not come before the disciplinary committee early enough to miss any of the vital promotion games. In fact, promotion was assured when they were sent off.
Owen, Green and Lewis were all sent off in reserve team fixtures and they were forced to sit in on the side lines when perhaps their services would have been required. Brian Garvey, extremely unfortunate to be sent off following a clash at Crewe, paid the penalty with a fortnight’s suspension, and his services were badly missed. One can only speculate at the reasons for their dismissals, but certainly the three players, Owen, Green and Lewis, were sent of as a result of their desire to increase their chances for regaining their first-team places. Almost certainly there was a lot of strain involved and this has a great effect on the players.
There was so much to be won and lost that it was not unnatural that under extreme provocation they reacted as they did. In the case of Barry Endean we felt, and still feel, that his dismissal was unwarranted for he showed great restraint when he was hauled to the ground from behind. Still the most vital thing in all these cases was that the lesson was there to be learned.
Twice over those months my name was linked with Division I clubs. The decision of Sir Matt Busby to retire as team manager at Manchester United certainly triggered off one of the biggest rash of predictions in the history of football management.
For some reason I was placed at the top of the list by a firm of bookmakers. Linked with this, of course, was our game with Manchester United. For all concerned it was good publicity, and as this proved the talking point for several weeks. perhaps I should make my own comments on this. In actual fact no official approach was made to me by Manchester United to take over the job. Following the game with them, I had the opportunity of a discussion with Sir Matt Busby with regard to the position and I was told that if and when applications were asked for, I could be one of those considered.
This was as far as it ever went.
A great deal of publicity surrounded the departure of Tommy Docherty from Queens Park Rangers in early January. It was, however, a surprise for me 10 receive a telephone call from a man who was acting on behalf of the Rangers. The position of manager was vacant I was informed. Under contract as I was at Watford, and being a great believer in completing the job, I advised this representative to contact the club chairman, Mr. Bonser, in the correct manner. The result was that after discussion with me, Mr. Bonser told Rangers chairman Jim Gregory, that he could not approach me.
I was not disappointed by this, I felt that the Club has made good strides over the past four years and that promotion was something that I must try and help Watford achieve before I considered leaving them. Although at that time it would have meant a considerable rise in salary, I felt, and still feel, that when under contract, a manager must honour that contract unless conditions become intolerable on both sides. I felt quite happy to stay with Watford and I felt certain that I had made the right decision.
We have had a new extension built on the stand. At the end of last season our financial position, due to the income received from the cup run, and through the turnstiles for the promotion season, improved so much that we were again in a fairly strong financial position. Naturally our wage bill has shown a rapid increase because of the Second Division status. We found, even through the promotion, that we were suffering from a lack of seating accommodation. Now this may seem strange but we could have a 35.000 gate and get less money than another Club who were only taking 17-18,000. This was because we only have 2,200 seats for sale. For every Ss spectator we pay Is to our opposing club. If you pay 125 6d 10 take a scat in the stand, we have 11s 6d out of your money. On the terraces we only have ds
This meant that in order to increase our income we needed extra seating accommodation in order to pay the high wages and also the higher prices that we have 10 face for buying players in the Second Division. For instance, this season at Middlesbrough the attendance was about 1,000 less than we had for our previous home game. Yet they took £600 more than we did, because they have the greater number of seats available to the public.
It was with this in mind that we ventured into the building of the extension of our stand. I think this is the first real extension to any seating capacity in the ground for about 40 years. It is certainly the largest project the Club has done since moving to the ground. It cost approximately £50,000 but it will supply us, if it is full, with an extra £1,000 on the gate and this is quite a considerable income.
Undoubtedly the position most criticised in English football today is that of the goal scorer. Huge fees have been paid for people who can head balls, let alone kick them, into the net. This continued call for a striker continues and will continue to be the most vital one any team has to face. We were continually on the lookout for this type of player and one cannot rest even when your own forwards are scoring goals.
There may come a time when the ball does not go in the net for them and things do not go right. Such was the case with Barry Dyson and after his departure, I started to look for a replacement. I studied very closely the form of the ever-improving Brian Tinion, who was then a full-time professional with my former club, Workington. He first came to my notice when I was coaching in the schools in the Workington area. We were in the process of restarting the junior side and eventually he took his place in that team. I was asked by a local youth club to accompany them to Germany in a twin-town visit in which the Workington junior side competed against their corresponding numbers in the small West German town of Herten. It was during this small tour that lasted ten days, that Tinion convinced me that not only did he have the ability to become a good professional, but also the temperament and character.
It was therefore not surprising that I kept an eye on this youngster and whenever he was playing in the London area I went along to watch the game. Prior to the signing of Sinclair I made a journey to Workington to watch him, and decided immediately to put in an offer. Surprisingly enough this offer was rejected and the player eventually moved to Wrexham, at a slightly increased fee. It was a case of on offer pushing another offer up and I did not feel at that time that T wanted to get involved in an auction for a player, who in effect was going to be a reserve team player until such time as he was needed. Another player who much impressed us was Andrews, a Southport centre forward, but here a £15,000 bid was turned down.
Efforts were made to strengthen our promotion bid but in the end our goalscoring problems were solved by a member of our own staff
During the season we broke so many club records. We . . . Enjoyed the longest-ever run at the top of the division.
Recorded the highest-ever number of points, crushing the previous record of 58 set up in 1964.
Smashed the Third Division defensive record held by Queen’s Park Rangers, who had conceded only 38 goals in the 1966-67 campaign.
Broke our own defensive record of allowing opponents only 35 goals in 1950 and in this we also conceded the fewest-ever goals at home (previous best—13 in 1949-50) and the fewest ever away from Vicarage Road.
Surpassed the highest number of victories ever recorded by a Watford outfit (previous best was 24 in 1960) and equalled the record number of home wins (also recorded in 1963-64).
Picked up more points on foreign soil than any previous Vicarage Road team and recorded more away victories. The previous best was 22 points and eight victories in 1935-36.
Scored more away goals, as well as experiencing fewest away defeats.
Our 5-0 triumph at Gillingham was the biggest away win for over three decades.
Not surprisingly we set up the best-ever Watford goal average, beating the previous best of 73-43 achieved in 1937-38.
Last autumn we equalled the number of points picked up in an unbeaten run with 15 from 16 but then smashed the record convincingly when we took 17 from 20 in a new record of 10 unbeaten league games. We also set up a new unbeaten cup and league run of 13 matches without defeat.
A new unbeaten away run of nine matches was also recorded and a run of 10 cup and league games without defeat knows no comparison.
Just to complete the scene, Roy Low made the shortest-ever substitute appearance when he ran on the field at Oldham for just three seconds: Brian Owen scored the quickest-ever Watford goal when he found Barnsley’s net at Vicarage Road after just 12 seconds.
As for the future, I am certain that if we can maintain our status this season, then the next time we write a feature it could be on promotion into the First Division. We have been pleasantly surprised by the overall ability of the players in the division and we do not feel that we lack anything in this
direction at all. Circumstances have meant that we now have a fight on our hands to keep our Second Division status but I am certain that if we do maintain it this year, with your support, then we can look forward to an entry into the First Division within four or five years.
I have lived among you now for five years and I feel that there is a greater interest in the affairs of the Club than ever before. When you think that there are almost 20,000 people supporting our efforts, you can realise the potential that is waiting to be tapped. There is a great need for us in Watford to have achievements to be proud of. Whether it is industrial award, or just the man to swim the channel, or other such feats in athletics, or football, I feel that success can bind a community together. I have heard it said that Watford is a town without a soul. Perhaps it has been buried in the search for gold. I do know that by supporting our town’s representatives in whatever field they are meeting challenges, we can as a community find our soul again.
CHAPTER 13
Pace—distance—control—technique
AS SOON AS A BOY takes his first faltering steps along the kitchen floor, the time has arrived when he should be introduced to a ball. Although he is precariously balanced, as all young babies are, by rolling a ball towards him, you attract his attention and at the same time he is committed into judging pace and distance. He will soon be able to knock the ball back to the thrower and he has at once learned three of the basic requirements. The judgment of pace, and distance and the necessity for accuracy of passing. He will soon want to stop the ball before setting it in motion again. Then he has added ball control to his capabilities.
It is true to say that the ability to juggle a ball from foot to foot, from shoulder to shoulder, from thigh to thigh, is not of any real use during an actual game. A player is just not given the time to indulge in this particular technique. I would certainly insist however, that from a very early age, quite a lot of time should be devoted to developing a high standard of this technique. The important thing is the development of a “feel” or “touch” of the ball. This confidence in one’s ability to master the ball and make it a slave to your wishes is of great importance when engaged in competitive games.
In order to develop this by practice one must simply attempt to juggle the ball first on one instep and then as one becomes proficient, from one foot to the other. One ball between two players is ideal and then a competitive element is introduced. Simply count the number of times one touches the ball. Progress is made from the feet to the thighs to the shoulders and then to the forehead.
This progress to heading the ball is especially helpful to the very young boy for it helps overcome any fear of heading the ball. A further development is to manipulate the ball throughout the body range before passing it to your partner, who without letting the ball touch the ground goes through the same routine. It will be found that by spinning the ball in towards the shin by an upward movement of the instep it will help greatly in keeping the ball near enough to the body to be controllable.
After control, you come to use this ability in mock situations. Three players run and pass to each other. Initially this is regarded as a repetitive practice, but the three players by simply passing the ball to each other thus learn to judge the distances involved.
Right from the outset it must be emphasised that the three players are continually on the move. It is not necessary at this stage to progress or run in any particular direction.
“A” passes to “B” who in turn passes to “C” and so on. In order to help each other to judge the weight of the pass “B* will sprint into a position for the ball. “A” thus has to judge the distance and speed of his partner “B” and pace the pass accordingly. The distances can be varied by the player about to receive the ball, running towards the server or away from him.
Its important that once a reasonable standard of accuracy and judgment is achieved that the situation is changed to a two against one situation in which one of the trio acts a a defender and by doing so involves the passing player not only in judging distance and pace but also that of opposition.
It is important that the direction of this play is emphasised and that & small target or goal i the eventual end after a successful passing movement. In order to offset the seemingly hopeless odds against the defender, the practice should now take place within a restricted area, approximately 15 yards wide. The ultimate aim is to involve the three players in situations as near mai play conditions as possible, Although it may seem very simple iation fends self to the majority of passing movements in present day use such as change overs, overlapping, wall passing and through balls.
It can be seen from the previous advice that the end product of passing practices should always be the creation of a goalscoring position. Once this has been reached the important practice of shooting follows.
In order to develop power and accuracy in shooting the following practices will be found to promote this ability. “A” passes to “B” who then reaches. shooting position and a shot is tried. Great emphasis must be placed on Keeping the ball low and driven as hard as possible. Various shooting positions and angles are created by altering the direction of the passing movement.
“The following practice is of great use in developing quick reaction to a half chance. Three players line up on a diagonal line in front of the goal. The ball is driven from a distance of approximately fifteen yards directly at the player farthest from the goal. If he can take an immediate shot at goal he does so. I not, he allows the ball to go past to the second man. This player may have adjusted his position slightly in relationship to the direction of the pass and he may be able to get in a first-time shot. If not the third man, who has the most time to adjust to a shooting position, finishes off the practice.
The easiest way to beat an opponent is by outnumbering him and using a successful passing movement. Similarly it is the same approach to the defensive side of things that ensures that attacking players arc always outnumbered.
The necessity for the individual to beat an opponent continues to grow in importance and the following are a few examples of how this can be practised.
“A” runs at a defender “B” and after pushing the ball past “B””, he accelerates and regains close control of the ball beyond the defender. The change of pace and the timing of the run are the most important aspects in this and against competent defenders, who are prepared for such action, it is nearly always necessary to disguise your intentions 4s an attacking player by attempting to confuse them.
“This is done by “selling a dummy” or in other terms feint play. In effect this simply means pretending to go past on the left o right side by a swaying. movement of the body and in fact, going the opposite way. It is possible to sell two and three dummies in order to create 5 much doubt a possible in the mind of the defender.
A player can also use his feet and legs to feint this way or that and a quick look in one direction while the actual run is made in the other, is also quite effective. There are many methods of dribbling past an opponent and many of these are associated with the individual player. It is true to a certain extent, this ability can be developed but the artist is the player who, from a very young age, has developed this touch and complete mastery of the ball. It is also true to say that it is the lightly built or small player who allies this to an outstanding sense of balance and agility who emerges as the best of dribblers.
Remember, be fit. This means you can control your actions throughout the full game and your level of technical work will not fall because of tiredness. Also develop an all-round passing and shooting ability and concentrate on the better aspects of your game so that your own particular strong points can be used by the team to the full.
Try to develop an understanding of the responsibilities and demands of every position on the field even if you have settled into one definite position. You never know when you will be thrust into these positions in the course of a game. Develop the mental fortitude to keep positioning oneself for the ball even if things are not going your way, and play to win, but also be a good sportsman whatever the result of the game.
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