Watford V The mighty lions-- Match thread--Sat 12.30 Kick off
- Thread starter Peckham Lion
- Start date
EastLane Paul
Active member
On Sky Sports +.
Anyone know if it is shown in the boozers?
(Was thinking of watching it in The Maquis, New Cross).
Anyone know if it is shown in the boozers?
(Was thinking of watching it in The Maquis, New Cross).
silverlion
Well-known member
My local is the Summerfield in Baring Road. The governor is a Millwall fan and it is the pub that me and my mate go to watch Millwall if it is the main match on Sky Sports. However, they don’t have Sky Sports + and I assume that is is just not available to pubs. Maybe your pub might be different but I wouldn’t count on it. Give them a call before you go just to make sure so you’re not disappointed
EastLane Paul
Active member
Thanks mate, I'll check.
I used to live in Catford, is Baring Road somewhere near there?
I used to live in Catford, is Baring Road somewhere near there?
onlyagame
Well-known member
Yes, popped in there a few times when Ray Dean had the pub but he's left us now
silverlion
Well-known member
Baring Road runs from the south circular all the way up to Grove Park station and Downham Way.
EastLane Paul
Active member
Yep! I lived near The Black Cat in Catford from 1981 To 1990.
Eamon Dunphys tackle
Well-known member
Safe journey there and back to all you that are travelling.
I will be one of them.
Be loud and proud as usual.
COYL!!!
I will be one of them.
Be loud and proud as usual.
COYL!!!
King of The Jungle
Well-known member
I think that was Lomas. I seem to remember we'd got stuck in traffic on the M25 and missed KO. Got in the ground to find we were 1 nil down with, I think, Danny Shittu sent off, or something like that. And then it got much, much worse. Lomas gone that evening I think.
In reality Lomas actually didn't have that bad a start to the season compared to some others. For example, it was better than our recent exploits with Joe Edwards. But it was never going to work and I still can't work out what on earth the club were thinking when they appointed Lomas. He was always going to be disliked no matter what he did.
Moody
Well-known member
Watford
Watford are probably one of the last examples of an old fashioned new money club. Until pop star Elton John took over the club in 1977, the team on the edges of London had spent most of its history of the edges of English football, playing most of it's football in the third, and sometimes fourth, tier. But back then, a pop star really could change a club's fortunes. These days, Robbie Williams would go skint trying to get Port Vale into the PL. Yet, Elton finally put the Hornets on the map.
But before Elton showed up, location had always prevented Watford from growing into anything more than a modest club followed by a loyal but small band of locals. Any football fan in the Hertfordshire town that was bothered enough to put in a little effort, could simply make the short journey to go watch Arsenal or Tottenham Hotspur in the First Division. Indeed, even in the post-war crowd boom, Watford still struggled to pull in crowds of more than 10-12,000 on average, whereas Millwall, in the heart of the London docklands, were able to get gates of 31,990 v Port Vale and 45,642 v Notts County, to name but two impressive crowds, in the very same division, also finishing mid-table.
However, that's not to say football didn't stir some passion in this Home Counties town. Football got an early foothold in Watford, with a club known as Hertfordshire Rangers representing the area in the FA Cup as early as 1865. They inspired a number of other teams to form, one of which was Watford Rovers in 1881. Their first ground was at Vicarage Meadow, not far from where Watford play today.
Yet the club didn't last long there, and by 1890 they were absorbed into the West Herts Sports Club, which also boasted tennis, cricket and lacrosse. This at least secured them the best sports ground in the area, as long as they played under the name West Herts. However, in 1898 another local football team was absorbed into the sports club, Watford St Mary's, and the decision was taken to turn the football team professional and play as plain old Watford. This upset some members of the sports club not as keen on the increasingly working class past time and the rowdy working class supporters it attracted to their once quiet sport club to watch games. But Watford didn't leave the excellent facilities until they joined the Third Division in 1920.
Now they had spread their wings and joined the Football League, Watford decided they wanted a proper football ground and so signed a deal with local brewery Benskins on Vicarage Road to lease the land to its rear. The brewery even gave the club a loan to build stands. Now, if you've been going to football since the 1980s, you will have mostly likely watched Millwall play at Vicarage Road from every side of this ground, so often have they moved where away fans stand or sit. You've also therefore walked through an allotment to go see the Lions here. But as said, the club struggled to grow beyond anything other than a modest sized town club plodding along in the lower league, despite ditching the unlucky turquoise shirts for bright yellow in 1959, until the Rocket Man decided to launch them up the divisions.
Elton appointed Graham Taylor in 1977 whilst Watford were mired in Division Four. He won promotion as champions in his first season, nearly doubling crowds from 6,000 to 11,000 overnight with Watford's aggressive and effective long ball style. They won promotion again the following season and stabilised in the Second Division, whilst Taylor plotted a path to the top flight.
In 1982, Watford finished Runners-Up to local rivals Luton Town, who all the pundits thought would settle better into the top flight with their more cultured passing game. Yet it was Watford that took the top flight by storm, this time finishing Runners-Up to the champions Liverpool, which meant they'd be playing in Europe the following season, just six years after struggling against the likes of Aldershot and Rochdale. They were once again Runners-Up the next season, but this time in the FA Cup, losing 2-0 to Everton.
Taylor left Watford for Aston Villa, who had been relegated to the Second Division, perhaps showing that Watford would always remain a modest club, with Villa proving a bigger draw, even a division down. Indeed, they were back in the Second Division themselves by 1988 and then the third tier by 1996. It was only the return of Taylor in 1997, twenty years after he first came to Vicarage Road, that Watford's fortunes revived. Taylor took the Hornets from the third tier to the Premier League in just two years. They were relegated after just one season, but this period finally allowed Watford to settle into being a sold second tier club, rather than a modest lower league side punching above their weight.
In the 21st century, Watford have redeveloped Vicarage Road into a decent little stadium, where crowds are healthy, and where locals have enjoyed some decent seasons of top flight football and even another FA Cup final. They currently find themselves in a good vein of form and are hoping for another crack at the Premier League after relegation in 2022. No longer are they seen as the poor relations to going to watch Arsenal or Spurs in their own home town, rather that those people are glory hunters who should show a bit more pride in their local club.
Watford are probably one of the last examples of an old fashioned new money club. Until pop star Elton John took over the club in 1977, the team on the edges of London had spent most of its history of the edges of English football, playing most of it's football in the third, and sometimes fourth, tier. But back then, a pop star really could change a club's fortunes. These days, Robbie Williams would go skint trying to get Port Vale into the PL. Yet, Elton finally put the Hornets on the map.
But before Elton showed up, location had always prevented Watford from growing into anything more than a modest club followed by a loyal but small band of locals. Any football fan in the Hertfordshire town that was bothered enough to put in a little effort, could simply make the short journey to go watch Arsenal or Tottenham Hotspur in the First Division. Indeed, even in the post-war crowd boom, Watford still struggled to pull in crowds of more than 10-12,000 on average, whereas Millwall, in the heart of the London docklands, were able to get gates of 31,990 v Port Vale and 45,642 v Notts County, to name but two impressive crowds, in the very same division, also finishing mid-table.
However, that's not to say football didn't stir some passion in this Home Counties town. Football got an early foothold in Watford, with a club known as Hertfordshire Rangers representing the area in the FA Cup as early as 1865. They inspired a number of other teams to form, one of which was Watford Rovers in 1881. Their first ground was at Vicarage Meadow, not far from where Watford play today.
Yet the club didn't last long there, and by 1890 they were absorbed into the West Herts Sports Club, which also boasted tennis, cricket and lacrosse. This at least secured them the best sports ground in the area, as long as they played under the name West Herts. However, in 1898 another local football team was absorbed into the sports club, Watford St Mary's, and the decision was taken to turn the football team professional and play as plain old Watford. This upset some members of the sports club not as keen on the increasingly working class past time and the rowdy working class supporters it attracted to their once quiet sport club to watch games. But Watford didn't leave the excellent facilities until they joined the Third Division in 1920.
Now they had spread their wings and joined the Football League, Watford decided they wanted a proper football ground and so signed a deal with local brewery Benskins on Vicarage Road to lease the land to its rear. The brewery even gave the club a loan to build stands. Now, if you've been going to football since the 1980s, you will have mostly likely watched Millwall play at Vicarage Road from every side of this ground, so often have they moved where away fans stand or sit. You've also therefore walked through an allotment to go see the Lions here. But as said, the club struggled to grow beyond anything other than a modest sized town club plodding along in the lower league, despite ditching the unlucky turquoise shirts for bright yellow in 1959, until the Rocket Man decided to launch them up the divisions.
Elton appointed Graham Taylor in 1977 whilst Watford were mired in Division Four. He won promotion as champions in his first season, nearly doubling crowds from 6,000 to 11,000 overnight with Watford's aggressive and effective long ball style. They won promotion again the following season and stabilised in the Second Division, whilst Taylor plotted a path to the top flight.
In 1982, Watford finished Runners-Up to local rivals Luton Town, who all the pundits thought would settle better into the top flight with their more cultured passing game. Yet it was Watford that took the top flight by storm, this time finishing Runners-Up to the champions Liverpool, which meant they'd be playing in Europe the following season, just six years after struggling against the likes of Aldershot and Rochdale. They were once again Runners-Up the next season, but this time in the FA Cup, losing 2-0 to Everton.
Taylor left Watford for Aston Villa, who had been relegated to the Second Division, perhaps showing that Watford would always remain a modest club, with Villa proving a bigger draw, even a division down. Indeed, they were back in the Second Division themselves by 1988 and then the third tier by 1996. It was only the return of Taylor in 1997, twenty years after he first came to Vicarage Road, that Watford's fortunes revived. Taylor took the Hornets from the third tier to the Premier League in just two years. They were relegated after just one season, but this period finally allowed Watford to settle into being a sold second tier club, rather than a modest lower league side punching above their weight.
In the 21st century, Watford have redeveloped Vicarage Road into a decent little stadium, where crowds are healthy, and where locals have enjoyed some decent seasons of top flight football and even another FA Cup final. They currently find themselves in a good vein of form and are hoping for another crack at the Premier League after relegation in 2022. No longer are they seen as the poor relations to going to watch Arsenal or Spurs in their own home town, rather that those people are glory hunters who should show a bit more pride in their local club.
Last edited:
onlyagame
Well-known member
It was the Boxing Day match we lost 4-0. Did Lomas last that long? You might be right
Poplar Lion
Well-known member
markmwal953
Well-known member
Great to see Casper back and Doughty at LB WITH Coburn on the bench the squad is strong