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13th September 2025- Championship, Watford 0 Blackburn Rovers 1

Watford Observer Pre-Match articles: Blackburn preview: How Watford can find the balance between attack and defence

Sir Elton John will be present as Watford wear kit in his honour on Saturday

Pezzolano on ‘honour’ of meeting Sir Elton John and his favourite song

Team news: Mendy and Petris ready for Watford debuts but Chakvetadze return delayed

Paulo Pezzolano on squad depth: ‘The team will not be fixed, it will be evolving’

Valon Behrami discusses Tom Dele-Bashiru loan and why Pierre Dwomoh stayed

https://www.watfordfc.com/supporters/digital-digests

Match Wrap: Watford 0-1 Blackburn Rovers – Watford FCDownload

Watford Observer: AS IT HAPPENED: Watford 0-1 Blackburn Rovers

Match Report: Watford fall well short in 1-0 defeat to Blackburn

Five talking points as Watford fall to Rovers defeat

Paulo Pezzolano on Blackburn loss: ‘We lacked ideas – I take 100% responsibility’

Paulo Pezzolano on Watford’s midfield and why he made just two subs in Blackburn loss

Paulo Pezzolano praises ‘very brave’ Max Alleyne after starting him at left-back

BBC:Ryoya Morishita scored his first Blackburn goal on his full Championship debut to give Valerien Ismael’s side a valuable and deserved win at Watford.

Sky: Watford hustled but came up empty-handed on home turf. A sixth straight game without a clean sheet under new boss Paulo Pezzolano leaves them 17th in the Championship, two places behind the visitors, who needed a result after losing four of their first five matches across all competitions this season.

BHappy: The interval should have been a time to reset, but instead Rovers went ahead after a sharp move that caught Keben flat-footed leaving Morishita one-on-one to finish confidently. The visitors never looked in trouble thereafter; whilst we defended competently enough – Cantwell’s acrobatic attempt that skied another far-post cross the closest they came – we only managed a single shot on target ourselves, that a scuffed shot from Baah that Tóth fielded comfortably. Otherwise, with Kjerrumgaard scrapping but peripheral and nothing happening in the centre, our attacks too frequently consisted of Alleyne trying to find Baah with an overambitious pass in windy conditions.

Fran’s Watford Blog:  It had been the worst performance so far this season, particularly as there was so little in the way of attacking threat. The brightest spark was Kyprianou who had yet another excellent game. Petris put in a decent showing on his debut. Vata was the best of the attacking players in the first half as Baah couldn‘t get into the game. Irankunda livened things up when he came on, despite having flown half-way around the world after his appearance for Australia during the week.

From the Rookery End: Watford fell 1-0 at home to Blackburn on a day that was about much more than football. As the club looks ahead to celebrating Elton John’s 50th anniversary of becoming Owner and Chairman of the Hornets, the team took to the pitch in a striking Elton-inspired special blue kit. The game began brightly, but the spark never quite caught fire.

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13th September 2022- Championship, Blackburn Rovers 2 Watford 0

Attendance: 11,803

BBC Sport: Ryan Hedges and Dominic Hyam scored their first goals for Blackburn as they beat Watford in the Championship at Ewood Park.

Sky Sports: The scoreline scarcely did justice to Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men who hassled and harried their opponents who couldn’t match their hunger, workrate and quality.

BHappy: It’s bloody awful.  Or at least, we’re bloody awful… Blackburn do a reasonable job of looking like a competent football team.  So we’re bloody awful.  Or rather…   we’re not completely awful, but the bits that are awful are so awful that they render the less problematic bits sort of obsolete.  For instance, I don’t really think there’s much wrong with our defence as far as actual defending goes.  Nothing that something more cohesive going forward to release the pressure wouldn’t relegate to merely something to work on in the goodness of time, for all Christian Kabasele’s generosity with possession.  Kortney Hause’s number has come up on the “who’s missing today?” spinning dial – a worryingly non-specific sprained ankle depriving us of the option of his surges out of defence and swinging crossfield balls.

Fran’s Watford Blog:  It had been a dreadful performance.  The home side had completely dominated the first half and really should have been further ahead at the break.  I had hoped for better after a bright start to the second half, but it didn’t last long and the hosts were happy to sit back and catch us on the break.  It was a deserved win for them and a troubling loss for the Hornets.  The only player who came out of it with any pride was Bachmann. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62803562
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13th September 2005-Championship, Watford 2 Norwich City 1

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BBC Sport Marlon King and Ashley Young scored as Watford defeated struggling Norwich.

Screen Shot 2016-09-01 at 22.52.13BSAD report:we grabbed control of the game like a jealous child with a new toy and refused to let go until the half-time whistle.

http://watford.fcdb.info?id=4671
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17th September 2005- Championship, Watford 2 Sheffield United 3
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13th September 2003- New Division One, Watford 3 Millwall 1

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BBC Sport

A moment of madness by Millwall’s Kevin Muscat helped Watford on their way to their first League win of the season.  Muscat conceded a penalty, and was sent off, for stamping on Danny Webber in the Millwall area in first-half injury-time

BSAD report: The concern about our start to the season, therefore, was not so much that the results themselves might prove to be disastrous. And it certainly wasn’t that the performances suggested that nine months of thankless struggle were inevitable. There was – is – nothing that can’t be salvaged, apart from the still dreadful events of 9th August.

http://watford.fcdb.info?id=4563
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Taken from the programme on 12th September 2015- Premier League, Watford 1 Swansea City 0
https://oldwatford.com/2006/03/25/25th-march-2006-championship-watford-0-millwall-2/
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13th September 1997- New Division Two, Watford 2 Chesterfield 1

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BSAD imageBSAD report: Perhaps it’s necessary to point out that any criticism of Watford players or management contained in this match report is mere tedious quibbling which is best ignored. Any Watford fan who hasn’t spent the weekend gazing contentedly at page 325 of CEEFAX or a Sunday paper casually left open at the league tables is clearly the kind of joyless urchin that helps to keep Ocean f***ing Colour b****** Scene out of the dole office.

http://watford.fcdb.info?id=4260
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13th September 1978- Division Three, Lincoln City 0 Watford 5

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https://watford.fcdb.info?id=3242&s=164359&p=1

Watford Observer match report

Lincolnshire Echo, 14 Sep 1978
Daily Mirror, 14 Sep 1978
https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=1978-09-13
https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-three/13-september-1978/
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13th September 1967- League Cup Second Round, Stoke City 2 Watford 0

Programme images courtesy of Matt Hall

http://watford.fcdb.info/index.php?page=matches
Daily Telegraph, 14 Sep 1967
Evening Sentinel, 14 Sep 1967

Watford Observer match report

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967%E2%80%9368_Football_League_Cup

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.

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.