No. 72: Vicarage Road [Watford]

Saturday, 22nd November 2014
Watford v. Derby County [Championship] 1-2

Another ground knocked off today, and another milestone also as the last League ground within the M25 is now done.

I was going to say the last "London" ground, but most Hornet fans I spoke to were quite clear that it wasn't a London club in their eyes. As one of them pointed out to me "We're the pride of Hertfordshire. The animal on the club badge is a Hart, as in Hertfordshire (or it would be if the designer hadn't drawn a moose by mistake)."

Watford Junction: Gateway to Hertfordshire.

Even if it isn't part of London, it's still pretty close - only 15mins from Euston by train, and I was at Watford Junction to meet my host for the day, a work colleague who lives nearby and watches Watford now and again, so was going to show me the sights of Watford.

He wasn't sure what sights there really were to see, as by the time I got there there wasn't the time (or indeed, the inclination) to take a side-trip to nearby Harry Potter World, despite the free shuttle buses from the train station. So we decided before we changed our mind to just get down the pub for a few pre-match brews and some grub.

Estcourt Tavern, Watford.

Burger w/Battered Bacon: Good God.

The boozer he took me in was a good one - The Estcourt Tavern, which slowly filled up with home fans as the afternoon moved on towards kick-off. Like many Greene King pubs, The Estcourt did seem to serve it's cask ales about 10 degrees too cold, clearly confusing it with that lager stuff, but to be honest I doubt many of the drinkers in here on matchday were paid of CAMRA members who gave a toss.

And in fairness it was still very drinkable stuff and washed down the extraordinarily decadent "Gourmet Burger" (with deep-fried, battered streaky bacon!) adequately well. Yep that's right, deep-fried, battered bacon. And I have to say, that despite my heart's reservations, it was actually pretty damn good.

Vicarage Road is only a short 10-15 minute walk from Watford Junction station, walking through the centre of the town. Watford town centre is a pretty non-descript place, like most towns in England it's got a high street now full of poundsavers and charity shops as all the swanky/popular shopping moves indoors to a purpose built shopping mall.

The only nod that would tell you this was Watford is probably the metal Hornet statue on the high street, just beside McDonalds.

A reference of course, to the football club's nickname, which of itself comes from their yellow & black club colours adopted in the 50's. And it sounds a bit better than the "MooseHeads", if you were wondering why the club's love of the Canadian animal from their badge wasn't reflected in their nickname.

Eitherway, I wouldn't fancy this metal bastard buzzing around my coke can.


So, onto the ground, via streets aligned with chippies, kebab shops and burger vans and their eager consumers, to Vicarage Road, home of Watford FC.

Vicarage Road Approach.

First View of the Pitch from the Corner.

The stadium is a compact one, up against residential streets and a hospital, very much in the heart of the town like many older grounds still are. Three of the stands have been modernised in the late 20th Century, but are starting to look a bit weathered and dated now, including the "Graham Taylor" stand that I was in.

Graham's cheeky chops were visible on a giant billboard at the side of our seats in this stand - newly renamed to honour their greatest manager, and being officially opened as such by the man himself next weekend.

Under Taylor, Watford had a meteoric rise from the old 4th Division to the dizzy heights of a 2nd place finish in the 1st division in the 1982-83 season - their first ever in the top flight. So It's hardly a surprise that the man so maligned during his four-year stint as England manager in the 90s is still held in such high esteem here.

Sure enough, he may have had players like the young John Barnes, bound for legendary status at Liverpool, and Luther Blissett (bound himself for AC Milan after being England's top scorer in the 82-83 season). But Taylor was clearly a great manager of great players - who in my opinion had the misfortune to have got the England job at a time when the likes of Carlton Palmer and Geoff Thomas genuinely WERE the best available talents from a poor pool of players he had to pick from.

The Rookery: Home of the "1881 Movement".

But I digress.

To our right was the main home end The Rookery - home in the top left corner to a new singing section of "ultras" called The 1881 Movement. Not exactly unique these days but still to be commended nonetheless, The 1881 is a fan-led initiative with official club backing with the intention of making the atmosphere at Vicarage Road a bit more lively. And sure enough, all the home noise did emanate from this tucked away corner of the ground.

Looking towards the Vicarage Rd Stand & Away Fans.

Sadly, it didn't seem to spread very much to the rest of the ground, and the main noise did really come from the travelling Derby fans - who arrived in numbers and in good voice, as you might expect for a side currently top of the Football League.

It was a cracking game though, and I did enjoy it.

"Keep it down mate, we're 
trying to watch the game!"
Harry The Hornet bangs his drum.

Although I did get told off by a couple of the 'Orns regulars around me for chatting to my match day host a bit too much in the first half. "Cor Blimey, Have you come up for air yet?!" said one cheeky beggar.

Now, I know I can be something of a chatterbox after a few beers, but I didn't realise I was at the theatre or a tennis match, so I was surprised that talking to my companion had ruined their enjoyment so much. Apparently some moody sods prefer all to sit in near-silence around these parts during games - so I think the 1881 Movement really does have it's work cut out to improve the atmosphere!

Chastised and a little embarrassed, I kept the chatter to a minimum in the 2nd half lest I incur the wrath of the silence police. In fairness this did allow me to concentrate on the game a little more, so perhaps they had a point. I didn't tell them that though, as my lips were zipped tight.

The 2nd half really came alive when Watford equalised with a  very well-worked goal, and spent the next 15 minutes very much on top of the league-leaders as they pressed for a winner which sadly never came.

Opposite our stand along the other side of the pitch, behind the team dug-outs, is the newly opened East Stand, which until very recently was a building site, the original stand having been knocked down to pave the way for the one there today, still only partially opened on today's visit.

Newly Opened East Stand.

Watford are clearly paving the way for a return to Premiership football, and I think they are probably ready for it - The Hornets are another team very much on the up at the moment.

Mr E. John: Hornet till he dies.

Currently owners the Pozzo Family have gained nothing but praise from every Watford fan I spoke to this week. I think it would be difficult for the Pozzo's ever to take Elton John's place as "Best Owner Ever" at Watford FC.

But after a couple of ownerships since the glory days of Elton & Graham that have left 'Orns fans with a very bitter taste in the mouth - they couldn't really have asked for much more than owners like the Pozzos.

The Pozzos also own Italian Serie A side Udinese, and Spanish side Granada, and the secret of the success of all 3 clubs since their ownership is the loaning out of players between the clubs and pooling of resources.

Giampaolo Pozzo: Popular in Hertfordshre.

And it seems to be working. A quick scan of today's programme and 12 of the current Watford squad came from Udinese or Granada. And the bulk of the rest are local boys who have come up from their successful academy.

They lost this afternoon to a Derby side that are taking the Championship by the scruff of the neck at the moment and driving on towards the Premiership - but I wouldn't be surprised to see Watford there with them come next season. And if not, they'll almost certainly be challenging for a good few years to come. As I said - this is a club on the up.

With thanks to Colin Howe, Rory Howe, Andy McIvor & Colm Quinn (@colmuacuinn)

Next up: Hull City's KC Stadium - Tomorrow!