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.
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