January 26, 2004
Watford FC: Away Supporters' Guide
RTG’s totally and utterly (we hope) indispensable guide to this season’s away grounds.
THE OPPO Watford FC, the “Glory Hornet Boys”
DATE – Saturday 7th February
KO TIME – 3pm
THE GROUND – Vicarage Road, Watford, Hertfordshire – click here and here for maps of the area - the arrow points to where the ground is. Watford FC share the ground with Saracens rugby club.
Watford is in Hertfordshire, 20 miles north west of central London. It’s handy for the M25, the M1 and also the A1. The ground is on Vicarage Road, pretty much in the centre of town, right next to Watford General Hospital.
AWAY SUPPORTERS
Up to 4,500 away supporters can be accommodated in the the North Stand (otherwise known as the Vicarage Road Stand). It’s covered, has no pillars to restrict your view, and the pitch is very close to the low perimeter wall.
DISABLED FACILITIES
Disabled supporters are accommodated in the Rookery Stand, contact Watford FC’s Families, Youth & Community team on 01923 496231.
TICKETS
Currently on general sale priced at £20 for adults, £10 for juniors and senior citizens.
GOING BY CAR?
− From the north east, take the A1 southbound and stay on it until almost Doncaster – when you reach jcn 35 take the M18 (third exit at the roundabout at the top of the slip road). Follow signs for ‘M1 South’, and you’ll join the M1 southbound at jcn 32 (if you’re dying for a wee by then, you get to a service area very soon afterwards!!).
− Stay on the M1 until you get to jcn 5: follow signs to Watford Town Centre on the A4008. Just over a mile later take the second exit off Waterfields Roundabout onto the A411 (signposted ‘Town Centre’).
− Half a mile later turn left onto the ring road (A4145), go past Watford High Street train station then turn left (signposted ‘West Watford’).
− At the next junction turn left, then right, then left again (signposted ‘Rickmansworth, West Watford’) then you’ll see the ground on your left shortly afterwards.
There are several multi-storey car parks but most of them are integrated into The Harlequin shopping centre (with names like “Queens”, “Kings”, etc) and as such will be busy with shoppers on a Saturday. Also, access to most of them is from the Watford ring road which I can tell you from personal experience can be nightmarishly busy on a Saturday. And after a match the ring road will be chocka as well, so if you DO take the car, be prepared to sit in plenty of jams.
There is precious little on-street parking close to the ground, even a Watford supporter advised me recently that all things considered, parking close by probably isn’t the best option – consider parking at a railway station a stop or two up from Watford (eg Hemel Hempstead, Apsley, Kings Langley, Berkhamsted etc) and get the train into town (see “Going By Train”, below)
GOING BY TRAIN?
Yet again it’s another journey on the GNER services from Newcastle.
There are GNER services from Newcastle to Kings Cross leaving at 7.30am, 7.54am, 8.32am, arriving at 11.04am, 11.09am and 12.03pm respectively. Then you need to get a tube to Euston Station (one stop away on the Northern Line) and get a train to Watford Junction – they leave Euston about every 10 to 15 minutes.
For the return journey, GNER services leave Kings Cross at 7.15pm and 8.15pm with a direct service back to Newcastle taking roughly four hours.
Alternatively take a Virgin service out of Newcastle to Birmingham New Street, then another Virgin Service from Birmingham to Watford.
For full timing details, fares and to book, go to National Rail’s website.
From Watford Junction Station go straight ahead up Clarendon Road. At the top, use the subway/traffic lights to cross the ring road then straight ahead again towards High Street – you’ll pass the Palace Theatre on your left hand side.
Turn left onto the main High Street then cross over the road and turn right and go down Market Street. Use the traffic lights to cross the ring road (Exchange Road), carry on down Market Street then left onto Merton Road. Bear right and head along to Vicarage Road and you’ll see the ground on your left. It'll take you about 15-20 minutes in total.
STOPPING OVER?
− Travel Inn, St Albans Rd, Watford – tel 0870 1977261
− Premier Lodge, Woodford Road, Watford – tel 01923 205530
− Moat House, St Albans Rd, Watford – tel 01923 429988
− Travelodge Hemel Hempstead, tel 0870 0850950
SCRAN AND BOOZE
You’ll find the usual burger vans close to Vicarage Road. Otherwise in Watford town centre there’s no shortage of places to eat – from a Harvester restaurant on St Albans Road (The Three Horseshoes) to the usual things like Pizza Hut and McDonalds, to Indian and Chinese restaurants, Kebab shops and, if memory serves me correctly, a Chicago Rock Café on The Parade - you'll have tons of choice. Mac's Bar on Fearnley Street near the ground is especially welcoming of away supporters, as is the Moon Under Water on High Street. But the one watering hole away fans should avoid is the Red Lion, close to the ground.
If you’re staying in the vicinity after the match, either try out some more of the pubs and eating places or try Jongleurs Comedy Club on The Parade (just up from the High Street) or the ‘Area’ or ‘Destiny’ nightclubs.
LEND US A FIVER I’M OUT OF CASH
There’ll be cash machines at Kings Cross and Euston Stations if you’re taking the train down – otherwise no shortage of machines in the shops at Watford, 5-10 minutes away from the ground.
IN THE NEWS
Defender Jerel Ifil has just returned to Watford from a loan spell at Swindon.
They’ve recently crashed out of the FA Cup at the 4th round stage, losing 4-0 to Chelsea in a replay at Stamford Bridge.
Ironically their goalkeeper Lenny Pidgely is on loan to Watford from Chelsea.
They recently lost 5-1 at home to Crystal Palace – Palace’s first win there for 11 years.
LAST SEASON
Finished 13th out of 24 with 60 points
THIS SEASON
Currently 20th of 24 with 30 points:
P28 W7 D9 L12 F29 A39 Pts 30 GD -10
HOME FORM
P14 W4 D6 L4 F16 A19 Pts 18 GD -3
HEAD TO HEAD
We’ve played Watford 31 times in the League in recent years; we’ve won 13, they’ve won 7, and we’ve drawn 11.
LAST 6 LEAGUE MEETINGS
25/08/03 Sunderland 2 Watford 0 (Stewart, Wright)
27/11/99 Watford 2 Sunderland 3 (Phillips x 2, McCann)
10/08/99 Sunderland 2 Watford 0 (Phllips x 2)
30/01/99 Watford 2 Sunderland 1 (Quinn)
25/08/98 Sunderland 4 Watford 1 (Johnston, Summerbee, Dichio, Melville)
24/09/96 Sunderland 1 Watford 0 (Scott)
TRIVIA
- Best league win: 8-0 vs Sunderland in 1982.
- Worst league defeat: 0-10 vs Wolves in 1912.
- Record transfer fee rcvd: £2.3m from Chelsea for Paul Furlong (May 94)
- Record transfer fee paid: £2.25m to Spurs for Allan Neilsen (Aug 00)
They’ve had a succession of well-known managers in recent years – Luca Vialli, Graham Taylor (twice), Glenn Roeder, Steve Perryman, Colin Lee to name but a few.
Tommy Smith scored the opener for us in our 4th round win over Ipswich recently – ironically it was Smith who punted us out of the competition against Watford last season.
Baldock Town player Kevin Phillips signed for Watford in December 1994 for a mere £10,000 and went on to score 25 goals in 65 appearances over two and a half years. In July 97 he signed for Sunderland for just over £300,000 and went on to become our record post-war goalscorer.
Our former keeper Alec Chamberlain went to Watford in July 1996 for £40,000 and has notched up 264 appearances since then – he’ll celebrate his 40th birthday this June but these days usually plays second fiddle to on-loan keeper Lenny Pidgeley.
Manager Ray Lewington’s son Dean is a professional footballer, representing Wimbledon.
They were formed in 1881 as Watford Rovers. They later merged with Hertfordshire Rangers and Watford St Mary’s to become Watford FC.
Credits Watford FC, Big Watford Love, Watford Council, Multimap, Rough Guide to English Football, Soccerbase, streetmap.co.uk, The AA, BBC, Drew Hallewell.
Feedback on this article? Spotted a mistake? Something we've missed?
Did you find this guide useful? Or as useful as a chocolate fireguard? Email and tell us! angels@readytogo.net.
Chairman dismisses club sale reports
Bob Murray has moved to scotch reports that he is willing to sell the club, as widely reported in the weekend media.
Murray is reported to have said, "If someone came in with serious money, we would sell the club. We would love a mega-investor to come in because everything is here. A buyer can walk in and own a big club with great supporters, a fabulous stadium and a great academy.
But the Chairman told Sunderland's official website today, "If in the future someone wants to come in for the right reasons, with significant funds to invest in the team only, then I would do what was in the best interests of Sunderland: that is my duty.
"I would like to stress that the club has not been approached by an outside party and is not expecting to be."
"It would be easy to walk away when things are tough, but I will not do that.
"I'm determined to try to get the club back into the Premiership. That's all I am focusing on and I feel I owe it to the fans."
FA Cup 5th Round: both managers welcome draw
Both Mick McCarthy and Brum boss Steve Bruce have welcomed the FA Cup 5th round draw which puts them head-to-head at the Stadium of Light on Valentines' weekend.
Sunderland enjoyed a relatively convincing win over Ipswich in the 4th round of the cup at the weekend with cracking goals from Julio Arca and Tommy Smith, McCarthy was upbeat about today's draw saying "It's a good one for us - a home tie against a Premiership side.
"I don't think Birmingham will be that thrilled with the draw. We'll give them the utmost respect, they're a good Premiership side, but people may just think there's a chance of us winning, because we're at home.
"Perhaps had it been Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United, people would have been more excited, but it's an exciting tie for the fans and one they might respond to. I fancy us at home but I would have said that had it been Manchester United or Arsenal, because you don't know what teams are going to turn up."
Blues' boss Bruce also declared himself pleased, although he admitted he'd have preferred to be drawn at home.
"We're pleased to be drawn against Sunderland - although we're a touch disappointed we're not at home.
"Sunderland have been doing very well under Mick McCarthy and we're expecting a tough game because I'm sure they'll give it a right good go.
"But at the same time we're very pleased we've managed to avoid Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal."
Birmingham went out of last season's FA Cup in the third round, losing 3-1 away to Fulham but beat Wimbledon 1-0 in last weekend's 4th round. Sunderland got as far as the 5th round last season, losing 1-0 at home to Watford - ironically their goalscorer was Tommy Smith, who scored the opener in our 2-1, 4th round defeat of Ipswich Town last weekend.
The match against Birmingham will be played on the weekend of Saturday 14th-Sunday 15th February, with our scheduled home game against Gillingham being postponed as a result (details of the rearranged date, and ticketing details for the Birmingham match still TBC).
The full FA Cup 5th round draw is as follows:
Man Utd v Man City/Tottenham
Tranmere v Swansea
Telford/Millwall v Burnley
Sunderland v Birmingham
Sheff Utd v Coventry/Colchester
Arsenal v Chelsea
Liverpool v Portsmouth
Everton/Fulham v West Ham
Sunderland form:
D L D W D L D D D L W W W W L
Birmingham form:
L D D W L D L L L W W L L W D
TICKET NEWS: Watford (A), Cardiff (A), Walsall (A), Wimbledon (A)
Nationwide Division One
WATFORD
Vicarage Road
Saturday 7th February 2004
Kick Off 3.00pm
Tickets are on general sale now - subject to availability.
Prices
Adults £20
Senior Citizens £10
Juniors £10
Nationwide Division One
CARDIFF CITY
Ninian Park
Saturday 21st February 2004
Kick Off 3.00pm
Season ticket holders have until 3.00pm Saturday 31st January 2004 to apply - Voucher 45 required. Please ensure you leave the payment details
BLANK.
Tickets will go on general sale from 10.00am Wednesday 4th February 2004 - subject to availability.
Prices
Seats*
Adults £18
Senior Citizens £13
Juniors £13
Standing
Adults £17
Senior Citizens £12
Juniors £12
*Please note that we have a very limited number of seats and they will
be allocated to the highest loyalty point holders first unless they
specifically request standing.
Nationwide Division One
Walsall
Bescot Stadium
Tuesday 2nd March 2004
Kick Off 7.45pm
Season ticket holders can apply until 3.00pm Saturday 14th February 2004 - Voucher 46 required.
Tickets will go on general sale from 10.00am Thursday 19th February 2004 - subject to availability.
Prices
Adults £16
Senior Citizens £12
Juniors £12
Nationwide Division One
Wimbledon
The National Hockey Stadium
Saturday 6th March 2004
Kick Off 3.00pm
Season ticket holders can apply until 3.00pm Saturday 14th February 2004 - Voucher 47 required.
Tickets will go on general sale from 10.00am Thursday 19th February 2004 - subject to availability.
Prices
Adults £20
Senior Citizens £10
Juniors £10
TICKET CREDIT CARD HOTLINE
Sunderland AFC - 0191-5515151 or 08700-11-22-66 (subject to a Booking
Fee). Visa, Master Card, Delta & Switch accepted.
Ticketmaster - 08705 862 015 (50 lines, subject to a booking fee) HOME
LEAGUE TICKETS ONLY, all major credit cards accepted. Available 24
hours.
24hr Sunderland AFC Ticketing information 09068 12 18 81. All calls 60p
per minute at all times.
HOME LEAGUE MATCH TICKETS CAN BE OBTAINED FROM:
* Sunderland AFC
* *Sunderland AFC internet site -- www.safc.com
* Subject to booking fee
All tickets are sold subject to ground regulations
Latest Ticket Information
Watford Away
Saturday 7th February 2004
Kick Off 3.00pm
Tickets are on general sale now - subject to availability.
Adults £20
Senior Citizens £10
Juniors £10
Cardiff City Away
Saturday 21st February 2004
Kick Off 3.00pm
Season ticket holders have until 3.00pm Saturday 31st January 2004 to apply - Voucher 45 required. Please ensure you leave the payment details BLANK.
Tickets will go on general sale from 10.00am Wednesday 4th February 2004 - subject to availability.
Seats*
Adults £18
Senior Citizens £13
Juniors £13
Standing
Adults £17
Senior Citizens £12
Juniors £12
*Please note that there are a very limited number of seats the club advise that these will be allocated to the highest loyalty point holders first unless they specifically request standing.
Walsall Away
Tuesday 2nd March 2004
Kick Off 7.45pm
Season ticket holders can apply until 3.00pm Saturday 14th February 2004 - Voucher 46 required.
Tickets will go on general sale from 10.00am Thursday 19th February 2004 - subject to availability.
Adults £16
Senior Citizens £12
Juniors £12
Franchise FC Away
Saturday 6th March 2004
Kick Off 3.00pm
Season ticket holders can apply until 3.00pm Saturday 14th February 2004 - Voucher 47 required.
Tickets will go on general sale from 10.00am Thursday 19th February 2004 - subject to availability.
Adults £20
Senior Citizens £10
Juniors £10
FA Cup 5th Round Draw
Man Utd v Man City or Tottenham
Tranmere v Swansea
Telford or Millwall v Burnley
Sunderland v Birmingham
Sheff Utd v Coventry or Colchester
Arsenal v Chelsea
Liverpool v Portsmouth
Everton or Fulham v West Ham
Our cup runneth - Ippos defeated 2-1
In the dark days of last season, bringing two Premiership teams back to the SoL was a real source of hope amongst the gloom. The Bolton game in particular was pure joy – a young Sean Thornton running the show and a wonder goal from crowd hero (but not getting his league place) Julio Arca. This season we have different worries – can we either force our way into the top two or do something in the play-offs – but still the FA Cup is helping keep our spirits up. The red and white army obviously appreciated this as there was a tremendous turnout – filling the whole stand along one side of the pitch.
The teams came through while we were in the Station pub (err, the one next to the station). The biggest talking point was that Oster was dropped to the bench. I’m not sure if that was because of his form or was tactical. He had been very poor at Millwall but it would be harsh if he was dropped because of that – he remains a beacon of creativity in a team generally lacking in it (except for our southern hemisphere god of course). However, it has to be said that sometimes games are a fight and unfortunately Johnny is not a fighter. He let’s the other side see he is scared of getting kicked, which is fatal. I assume Mick Mac had that in mind (as well as Joe Royle’s cynicism) when dropping him to the bench. While I was a bit disappointed about that, I was pleased to see Thirwell (plus broken nose) back in the starting line-up. Thirwell was playing really well earlier on in the season but just hasn’t managed to break back into the team since he has been available again. A combination of Thirl and Jeff in CM didn’t suggest a massive push towards the 18 yard box, but it did suggest that the Ippos would not be controlling the centre of the park. This mean Trigger was pushed out right – he’s OK there I guess but I think he’s generally more effective in the centre. Arca unfortunately had to continue on the left wing – the available players just don’t allow us to accommodate him back at his much better position of LB. Wright was injured so Dazza joined the settled Babb, Bjork and Ringo. Up-front Stew was suspended and so Kyle partnered Smith (nice for Smith to play his much better position of striker).
As was flagged beforehand, the Ippos have the best scoring record in the first and we have one of the best defensive records. It certainly is true that they took the game more to us than we did to them. However, the first half was pretty even – them having a bit more territory and us having the better chances (Poom didn’t have a save to make). The weak-bladdered had been down and had got back feeling relieved, those who have sloppy meat deficiency syndrome (which means that they can’t survive three quarters of an hour without eating a pie) were busy stocking up and we were congratulating ourselves on a job well done when suddenly the Ippos broke out towards us on their left wing. Although the ball was still in their half, it was two against one (the one being Dazza!) and there was little cover behind him – we’d all been concentrating on the attack. For a fleeting moment it looked as though the ball was just a bit in front of their player, opening up the opportunity for perhaps a 40% chance of a tackle – and bloody hell Dazza had spotted that as well. He went racing in and performed a “spirit of Bally” slide straight through the player sending him up into the air and came out the other side with the ball. The tackled Ippo did a “spirit of Joe Royle” rolling on the ground going “ooh, ooh I have a life-threatening blow to my dignity, please stop the game” until he realised the ref was having none of it so he sprung up and chased after Dazza. Dazza, having thought he was Bally then decided he could be Buzza as well and got down to the 18 yard box and sent a beaut of a ball in. If that was all just too good what came next lit up this encounter. Their defence was a little out of shape from the charge out. Tommy Smith had made space in the centre of the box and met Dazza’s ball with a glancing right foot to send it into the far corner well out of reach of their goalie.
So that was jolly. Now we had a job to do. And we were well and truly up to it. Many are now saying it but Babb is really in good form at the moment. The whingers will trot out their trite “he’s found his level” nonsenses. The supporters know he’s our player and he’s doing bliddy well so we’re pleased. Bjork alongside him also had a good game. Then came a moment of pure genius. If you work for Sky Sports you think genius is flukey goals scored from spectacular positions. If you actually watch football, you think genius is Ian Wright. He’s one of my favourite players. I used to admire him as a harmless ball would come into the box and he’d chase in for it. Nothing would happen. Then nothing would happen the next 1,000 times. But Wrighty would still chase in. Then on number 1.002 something would happen and Wright would be there to shoot home. Journos and other lazy gits would either say “oh and what an easy tap in for Wright” or “wasn’t it amazing that Wright somehow knew the ball would come loose?”. Neither was true – his genius was that he never gave up, his head never dropped, he followed in every time no matter how certain it was that there was nothing to go for. Well we too have a genius – his name is Julio Arca. Yes he can do the rinky dinky stuff, he can score the most spectacular of goals, but the reason we love him as much as we do is that he combines that with an absolute dedication to the red and white cause. So half way through the second half, we get a free –kick near the left side of the box. Macateer floats in a spectacularly bad ball straight into their goalkeeper’s arms. Everyone turns away to trot back to position for the kick-out. But the goalie spills it and in an instant Julio is there to slot it between the goalkeeper and the defender who had been on the line. Was it an easy tap-in? Did he somehow know the goalie would drop it? No! He scored because he is a fecking genius! Julio came reeling round to celebrate with us lucky to be down that end of the stand and then the whole stand gave one of the most rousing renditions of his “Always believe” song that you’ll ever hear.
A word for Poom. Unlike in the first half, Poom did have a couple of saves to make. One in particular was quite preposterous. The ball came over from the left and their striker got a glancing header sending it to the same spot as Smith has done in the first half. Poom leapt across and got a good strong hand to it. Unfortunately another Ippo striker was there ready to follow in. Unfortunately for him our little genius was there to clear before their striker could think “I hope that Julio Arca isn’t anywhere near”.
The end was a bit strange. We had been fairly comfortable. We were trying to shield the ball in their corner and failed so Macateer lashed out at their player. He got booked but could easily have been sent off – bloody iodiotic. I am all for physical play. In fact I love it. But that was just stupid violence – Mick Mac better have a word with him. We conceded a goal but I’m not quite sure how – everyone (including their fans and players) seemed to have decided the end was inevitable. It all made injury time a bit more nail-biting than it needed to be. Ramsden came on at the end, which was nice for him (nee idea what he did mind – I was too busy going “oh god, please let the whistle go” to be bothered with such things). Thornton made a welcome return with about two minutes to go (although he was tiring towards the end).
So we all departed to head off home – the long trek for the NE-based lads and lasses – even quite a mini-trek for us Hertfordshire based lot. On the way back, we were discussing who we’d like in the draw. My 13 year old son said Chelsea because “I’d rather be knocked out by someone good”. I reminded him of when I was his exact age and in the fifth round we got a team that had won the league a couple of years earlier. We brought them back to Roker and won. We then defeated the recent double winners Arsenal in the semis and beat the then best team in England in the final. He still wants Chelsea – but in order to knock them out. What is the point of being a football supporter if not to dream?
