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17th September 2022- Championship, Watford 2 Sunderland 2

This was the first home game since the death of HRH Queen Elizabeth II. The programme had a special wraparound with a tribute from club CEO Scott Duxbury.

Attendance:19,767

BBC Sport: Jewison Bennette’s late equaliser earned Sunderland a draw at Vicarage Road to deny Watford a fourth home win of the season.

Sky Sports: Colombian teenager Yaser Asprilla curled a clever ball into space on the left for Hassane Kamara to chase. The full-back’s cross was shovelled into the path of Keinan Davis by Sunderland goalkeeper Patterson, leaving the on-loan Aston Villa striker the easiest of tap-ins on his first Watford start.

BHappy: We can’t implore the club to exercise more patience on the one hand and then turn on a young manager in a challenging position if things look a bit tricksy after ten games.

Fran’s Watford Blog: There were boos at the final whistle that were baffling to me.  This had been a hard fought game with a lot of skill shown by the Watford players.  The draw was a fair result as the Watford players had run out of steam by the end, which allowed the visitors to get back in the game, but it was not a performance that deserved to be booed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62858313

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17th September 2013- Championship, Watford 2 Doncaster Rovers 1

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BBC SportLewis McGugan converted a penalty with three minutes remaining to earn Watford a dramatic victory over Doncaster.

guardianA late penalty from Lewis McGugan brought Watford a first win in five league matches and sent them surging back into the top six, but the difficulty they had in finding a way past Doncaster offered further proof that last season’s wildly entertaining if ultimately frustrated attempt at promotion will not necessarily segue into a more irresistible upwards surge at their second attempt under Italian ownership.

BHappy imageWhere we continue to fail, rather too obviously, is in making our possession count for anything much. We’re caught between simple ball retention, knocking it around without much purpose, and trying to penetrate opponents who’ve been afforded the time to get themselves in order. Occasionally, we stumble on what might be a way out of the cul-de-sac: here, Gabriele Angella launched a sublime, far-reaching pass to find an advancing Anya, cutting through the banks of four in an instant. But, inevitably, that simply led to repeated attempts at the same thing with diminishing results, and it wasn’t long before Angella’s missiles harked back to Jay Demerit trying to fulfil childhood dreams of being a quarterback in the Boothroyd years.

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http://watford.fcdb.info?id=5076
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17th September 2011- Championship, Barnsley 1 Watford 1

https://watford.fcdb.info/index.php?page=matches

You Tube video: https://youtu.be/HSn2LFgAR2M?si=HraC0GBnhIlqZMJL

BBC: Barnsley are still searching for their first home win of the season after being held by Watford at Oakwell.

Sky: Barnsley failed to capitalise on their dominance in a 1-1 draw against Watford having been forced to come from behind at Oakwell.

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=2011-09-17
https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-championship/17-september-2011/#google_vignette

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17th September 2005- Championship, Watford 2 Sheffield United 3

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Leaders Sheffield United came from two goals down to beat 10-man Watford courtesy of a late own-goal off the knee of defender Clarke Carlisle.

Damn right, then, that this left a very bitter taste in the mouth. There’s never anything pleasant about losing a two goal lead; hell, there’s rarely anything too lovely about losing, full stop. But you can live with it, generally. This would’ve been a very different report if we’d just skipped the sixty-seventh minute and got on with it, succumbing to a rather flattering comeback that cancelled out our own rather flattering lead. Neil Warnock’s sides have a certain reputation for unreconstructed physical force, for a distinctive, shall we say, WayneAllisonness; that’s all part of the game that we love. You’d take that on the chin, without complaint. Given the chance.

The thing about lessons is you don’t dwell on them. You take what you need and move on. On that basis, this report should be about four sentences long, of which this is already the third, which just leaves the following: if this game isn’t a turning point in our season, then Betty “Adrian” Boothroyd truly will have made a difference to this club, been proven a “different” kind of manager, and be most worthy of a more expensive, better-fitting suit on matchdays in future.

http://watford.fcdb.info?id=4672
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17th September 2003- New Division One, Derby County 3 Watford 2

Junior, who scored Derby’s winner, would join Watford in 2006 but legal issues with his work permit prevented him from ever playing a game for us.

https://watford.fcdb.info/index.php?page=matches

You Tube Video: https://youtu.be/AQGvTDrJRTI?si=96RVR-x898oQwdx-&t=1015

The Guardian, 18 Sep 2003
Daily Telegraph, 18 Sep 2003
Evening Standard, 18 Sep 2003
Independent, 18 Sep 2003
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17th September 2002- New Division One, Preston North End 1 Watford 1

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The game was open from the off, with both sides committing men forward and finding big spaces to attack when the other’s attacks broke down. Early Watford chances, somewhat inevitably, involved Webber… first a wicked cross from the left that Ardley did well to get a volley to but could only deflect lamely towards Moilanen, then fashioning a gap from an Ardley corner to test the keeper from 25 yards.

http://watford.fcdb.info?id=4515
https://oldwatford.com/2003/03/04/4th-march-2003-new-division-one-watford-0-preston-north-end-1/

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17th September 1996- League Cup Second Round First Leg, Watford 0 Sunderland 2

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BSAD imageBSAD report:I thought the crowd was pretty poor for a Premier League team, even if it was only Sunderland and it was only the Second Round First Leg of the Coca-Cola League Cup. 

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17th September 1963- Division Three, Barnsley 0 Watford 0

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https://watford.fcdb.info?id=2486&s=103286&p=1
Daily Herald, 18 Sep 1963
Daily Mirror, 18 Sep 1963

Watford Observer match report

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=1963-09-17
https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-three/17-september-1963/

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17th September 1958- Division Four, Crystal Palace 3 Watford 0

http://watford.fcdb.info/index.php?page=matches
Daily Herald, 18 Sep 1958
Daily Telegraph, 18 Sep 1958
https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=1958-09-17
https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-four/17-september-1958/
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17th September 1955- Division Three (South), Watford 1 Colchester United 1

http://watford.fcdb.info/index.php?page=matches
The People, 18 Sep 1955
Sunday Dispatch, 18 Sep 1955
https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=1955-09-17
https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/division-three-south/17-september-1955/

12th September 2026- Championship, Watford 1 Stoke City 2

Watford Observer: Boadu could feature before international break, with others to be assessed

Watford Observer: MATCHDAY AS IT HAPPENED: Watford 1-2 Stoke City

Match Report: Watford fall to bleak 2-1 Stoke defeat

Dionisi: ‘I speak for my players – to be clear, this is a very difficult moment’

‘We have a good team with all of our players – I am working for the future’

BBC: Stoke City produced a dominant display to beat Watford at Vicarage Road and extend their unbeaten Championship run to four matches.

Sky: McGlynn opened the scoring for Stoke on half-time with Eric Bocat doubling the lead 13 minutes into the second half. Amin Nabizada’s reply came too late for the Hornets.

Fran’s Watford Blog: It was a poor performance by the Hornets. Stoke were fast and strong and spent most of the game on the attack, but any time the Hornets got into their half, they had 10 men behind the ball. Bravo and Maamma who had shone in midweek did very little in this game. The brightest spark was Nabizada who scored another gorgeous goal.

From the Rookery End: Watford’s injury-hit squad struggled to get going as Stoke City left Vicarage Road with a deserved 2-1 win. Jon, Kieran and DCW pick through a disjointed performance, the growing injury list and a midfield stretched almost to breaking point. There’s also discussion about which of Watford’s attacking options can make a position their own, whether the international break will really solve anything, and the difficult hand Alessio Dionisi has been dealt.

8th September 2026- Championship, Watford 2 Preston North End 1

Watford Observer: ‘We’re Watford, we’ve got to be pushing to win these games’

Watford Observer: MATCHDAY AS IT HAPPENED: Watford 2-1 Preston North End

Match Report: Doumbia header seals Watford comeback win over Preston

Dionisi hails ‘big, big result’ as Watford battle major fitness issues to win

Dionisi: ‘Fantastic Kayembe is an example every day’

Excellent Ravaglia is keeping Watford in every game

Doumbia: ‘I tell the wingers before every game, make the cross’

Match-winner Doumbia: ‘Dionisi tells me he loves me’

BBC:Watford came from a goal down to beat Preston North End 2-1 at Vicarage Road to bounce back from two successive Championship defeats.

Sky; Callum Lang had shot the visitors ahead in the sixth minute as the visitors threatened to overrun the Hornets, who hit back with two second-half goals in seven minutes from Edo Kayembe and Mamadou Doumbia.

Fran’s Watford Blog: It had been a terrible first half of football, but the changes at the break made all the difference and it was a decent performance in the second half. Bravo made all the difference as, finally, we had someone in the midfield battling for the ball and launching attacks. His cross for Doumbia’s goal was perfect. He was my man of the match, but praise should also go to Ravaglia without whom we would have been further behind when we scored. Maamma was another bright spark. He has struggled in recent games, but was back to his best, powering down the wing and making the goal for Kayembe. He was also seen on more than one occasion tracking back and making important tackles. Kayembe gets a hard time from a section of the fan base, but he worked hard and I was glad that he scored and received the adulation from the fans. Similarly, Doumbia, who worked hard all evening and was rewarded with a goal.

From the Rookery End: Watford came from behind to beat Preston North End 2-1 at Vicarage Road – but it took a dramatic half-time intervention to turn a pretty grim evening around.

5th September 2026- Championship, West Bromwich Albion 1 Watford 0

Watford Observer: Dionisi on when Watford’s three deadline night signings will be match fit

Short recovery time is a challenge for Watford squad

Watford Observer: MATCHDAY AS IT HAPPENED: West Brom 1-0 Watford

Match Report: West Brom condemn Watford to back-to-back away defeats

Watford hopeful Bove avoided serious injury at West Brom

WATCH: Immediate reaction to West Brom 1-0 Watford

BBC: West Bromwich Albion had the free-scoring Jimmy-Jay Morgan to thank at The Hawthorns, the summer signing scoring the only goal as they defeated Watford in a tense contest to move up to fifth in the Championship table.

Sky: Watford are now winless away from home in their last nine trips, since February.

Fran’s Watford Blog: The Hornets were a bit unlucky not to come away with a point from this game. It had been another battling performance and, if Maamma had taken his chances, we could even have won it. The new boys looked promising, particularly Coulibaly, who caught the eye such that he had a song dedicated to him soon after entering the fray

1st September 2026- Championship, Swansea City 2 Watford 0

Watford Observer: Match Report: Watford go down to first league defeat of the season at Swansea

WATCH: Immediate reaction to Swansea City 2-0 Watford

Dionisi ‘angry’ with Watford’s out-of-possession performance at Swansea

Three youngsters leave Watford at the end of summer window

BBC: Swansea’s blend of high tempo and quality on the ball proved too much for Watford to handle, with home debutant Stephen Eustaquio rolling a pass through for Idah to gallop in behind before centring for Eom to finish first time from point-blank range. It was roles reversed for the second goal, with Eom dancing into space on the halfway line before his delightful through-ball sent Idah scampering clear. The former Celtic striker – who was once again preferred to Zan Vipotnik up front – finished in style, rolling a shot between the legs of Hornets goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia.

Fran’s Watford Blog: It was a deserved defeat for the Hornets. Swansea are the best team that we have seen so far this season and were unplayable for a lot of the first half. Eom, Idah and Opoku caused us no end of problems, and their goals were both excellent moves. The second half was much more even as a contest and Watford did create chances, but Vigouroux wasn’t really tested. The positives for the Hornets were that Ravaglia pulled off a couple of good saves. I thought Zemura had another strong game. Mlačić made a good first impression, looking very assured despite his youth.