By Colin Payne
This became an all too common scene at Vicarage Road because of the pandemic. Picture: Action Images
The Watford Observer has again teamed up with its friends at The Watford Treasury to share stories from its new book, Coming Home.
In this piece titled Space - The Final Frontier, Colin Payne explains why a half-empty stadium is a wonderful thing. If the current ‘situation’ has taught me something, and of course it has, it is that I am quite an unsociable person. Although that is probably a fact most people who know me would already have deduced. It’s not that I don’t like company, I just prefer my own! This simple fact would no doubt go a long way in explaining why I would rather watch my football in sparsely populated stadiums. Watching games played out in front of empty stands has reinforced that. How I would love to be in one of those seats, not just to exclusively see the proceedings first-hand,
David Harrison looks at the remarkable career of a two-time Watford manager. Football managers come in all shapes and sizes but it’s fair to suggest Watford has seen few managers possessing the physical characteristics of Neil McBain. However, there was a great deal more to McBain than poundage. This was a man who joined Watford in 1928 as a seriously accomplished 33-year-old defender. As an indication of his quality, he had collected three international caps for Scotland, the first of which saw a memorable 1-0 win over England, followed by appearances against Ireland and Wales. We’ll come to McBain’s time at Vicarage Road shortly, but this was a notable man whose wider life and career warrant examination.
The Watford Observer has again teamed up with its friends at The Watford Treasury to share stories from previous issues.
Although seven different goalkeepers appeared for Watford during the 1970s, the position was dominated by one man. Andy Rankin was Watford’s player of the decade, writes Geoff Wicken. To be a Watford supporter in the early and mid-1970s was, mostly, a dispiriting experience. The six seasons starting from 1971/72 saw almost continuous decline. There were two relegations, in 1971/72 and 1974/75, followed by two years of stasis in Division Four. Then everything changed. The turnaround inspired by Graham Taylor’s arrival brought the two consecutive promotions of 1977/78 and 1978/79. Those six years of gloom were followed by two of dramatic upturn, and by autumn 1979 Watford were back in Division Two, where they had been eight years earlier.
Former Everton goalkeeper who was Watford s player of the 1970s watfordobserver.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from watfordobserver.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.