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8th May 2023- Championship, Watford 2 Stoke City 0

Attendance: 20,100

BBC Sport: A quickfire second-half double from Imran Louza and Keinan Davis saw Watford earn a final day win over Stoke. The Hornets went in front with 20 minutes to go through Louza’s quality curled finish after Potters goalkeeper Matija Sarkic had denied Ismaila Sarr. Ken Sema was the architect of the second, with his run and pass finding Davis whose deflected shot spun out of Sarkic’s reach.

Sky Sports: The question remains as to whether Hornets boss Wilder will still be in charge at Vicarage Road next season but, if this was his last game, then at least he signed off with a win.

BHappy: The match is preceded by a low-key awards ceremony.  Difficult to get the tone right of course, but hard not  to feel that apologetically slipping the voting form out less than a week before the game (and inconsistently so, I wasn’t the only one not to receive one) contributes to the gloomy narrative.  In an unsurprising turn of events the team’s stand-out player, Brighton-bound João Pedro, walks away with the Player of the Season award.  He’s only two months older than Young Player of the Season James Morris, but the rules governing such things have always been pretty fluid and nobody seems to object.  JP’s acceptance speech is polite and perfunctory, with the rather detached efficiency of a Christmas card from an accountant (I don’t have an accountant, or know many accountants to receive cards from but I’m guessing). 

Fran’s Watford Blog: The previous day, Watford Women had a convincing win at Billericay and Ipswich did them a favour by beating Oxford, so the Women ended the season as champions of the National League Southern Premier Division.  Sadly, there is still one more game in their season as they have a promotion play-off against Nottingham Forest who won the Northern Division.  The game will be played in Milton Keynes on 20th May and will be a great chance for revenge after the narrow Cup defeat.  The Women’s championship was celebrated on the pitch before the game and Megan Chandler was given the women’s player of the season award.

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8th May 2021- Championship, Watford 2 Swansea City 0

BBC Sport: Andre Gray instinctively turned in Ken Sema’s cross to put Watford ahead before Isaac Success added a second late on with a fabulous strike.

Sky Sports: Troy Deeney entered proceedings for goalscorer Gray with 18 minutes left in what could be both players’ last appearances for Watford, with their respective futures uncertain.

BHappy: It doesn’t feel much like the last day of the season.  It doesn’t feel much like anything really, enjoyed as it is from this season’s detached vantage point in the study, window slightly ajar, snacks and drinks in place, match on the big screen, other stuff on the smaller screen. WhatsApp is accessible but carefully hidden and muted to guard against unwanted telegraphs of what’s about to happen from folk with faster streams than mine, we’ve all gotten better at this with experience.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56953433
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%9321_EFL_Championship

From the Rookery End: Watford signed off the 2020/21 campaign with another clean sheet and another home win, beating Play-Off bound Swansea 2-0.

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8th May 2005- Championship, Watford 1 West Ham United 2

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Helguson scored his 20th goal of the season but it was not enough to prevent Watford slipping to an eighth home defeat of the season and sending West Ham into the play-offs.

On the last day of the season, the result itself is more often than not largely irrelevant. The last time that the last game of the regular season might have been remotely important was during the game against Grimsby in 1999. We won and made the play-offs… as it turned out, had we lost we’d have made them anyway. In 1998, famously, Jason Lee’s scuffed shot won us the title, but we were already promoted some time earlier. The last time that the final game of the regular season had a direct bearing upon which division we operated in during the following campaign was 1994, when we’d have needed to have lost by two goals to Palace at Selhurst Park to have been relegated.

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8th May 1993- New Division One, Watford 0 Oxford United 1

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Steve Perryman’s last programme notes.

http://watford.fcdb.info?id=4035
English Division OneTable »
Barnsley1-0Swindon Town
Birmingham City1-0Charlton Athletic
Bristol City4-1Brentford
Derby County2-0Wolverhampton Wndrs
Millwall0-3Bristol Rovers
Notts County3-1Sunderland
Peterborough United1-1Tranmere Rovers
Portsmouth2-1Grimsby Town
Southend United2-1Luton Town
Watford0-1Oxford United
West Ham United2-0Cambridge United
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8th May 1982- Division Two, Watford 3 Leicester City 1

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Sunday Mirror, 9 May 1982
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Daily Telegraph, 10 May 1982

Watford Observer match report

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=1982-05-08
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8th May 1968- London Five-a-side Football Championship (at the Empire Pool, Wembley)

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We drew 0-0 with Orient in the first round, but lost the penalty shoot-out 2-1.

Evening Standard, 8 May 1969

Comicus Article- Football Nostalgia: London Evening Standard 5-A-Side Tournament

Evening Standard, 9 May 1978

Watford Observer report

3rd May 2026- Ed Still is sacked as Watford Head Coach

Watford Observer: Ed Still sacked as Watford head coach after miserable end of season

LIVE: Reaction as Ed Still is sacked as Watford head coach

WATCH: Immediate video reaction to Ed Still leaving Watford

Ed Still sacked – but that won’t fix the dysfunction at Watford

BBC: Watford have sacked head coach Ed Still after less than three months in charge at Vicarage Road.

2nd May 2026- Championship, Watford 0 Coventry City 4

Watford Observer: Coventry are a great example for Watford to follow, says Still

Ed Still reacts to reports he is set to leave Watford

Duxbury outlines recruitment plan as he addresses mistakes and ‘strong foundations’

Watford Observer: Pollock crowned Watford’s 2025/26 Player of the Season

MATCHDAY AS IT HAPPENED: Watford 0-4 Coventry City

Match Report: 4-0 Coventry loss completes Watford’s worst end to a second-tier season

WATCH: Immediate reaction to Watford 0-4 Coventry City

‘You can evaluate the team by the energy in the stands’

Still reflects on miserable finale to Watford’s season – and what next

BBC: Ellis Simms scored a hat-trick as Premier League-bound Coventry City waved goodbye to the second tier with victory over Watford at Vicarage Road.

Sky: Cheered on by around 2,000 fans bedecked in sky blue, Frank Lampard’s side ended a memorable season with 95 points and 97 goals. By contrast, swathes of empty seats in the Watford sections spoke volumes about the apathy that has engulfed a club which appears to be directionless after another mediocre mid-table campaign.

BHappy: The low key awards ceremony was the right call, I think. Pomp and ceremony in the middle of the pitch would have been inappropriate, misreading the room… but at the same time, not doing the awards would have felt dreadfully performative, perversely. Melodramatic. As if an(other) underwhelming season is somehow beyond the pale. We’re Watford, after all. Lower mid table is going to happen and is part of the story. “Watford ’til I die”, not “Watford ’til I die unless we’re a bit crap again”. That doesn’t mean you have to enjoy it, but let’s not go clutching our pearls.

Fran’s Watford Blog: The awards were presented prior to kick-off with Mattie Pollock deservedly winning Player of the Season. Maamma was equally deserving of the Young Player of the Season award. While Jeremy Ngakia won Goal of the Season for his tremendous strike away to Bristol City.

From the Rookery End: A season that promised something—maybe not everything, but something—ends with a whimper, five straight defeats, and a performance that barely felt worth dissecting.

25th April 2026- Championship, Middlesbrough 5 Watford 1

Watford Observer: Team news: Ekwah returns for Middlesbrough, Ngakia and Bola closer to starts

Watford Observer: MATCHDAY AS IT HAPPENED: Middlesbrough 5-1 Watford

Match Report: Watford complete miserable away run with 5-1 Boro loss

WATCH: Immediate reaction to Middlesbrough 5-1 Watford

Still: Reset needed ‘on many points’ as Boro defeat shows lack of togetherness

BBC: Middlesbrough remain in the race for automatic promotion from the Championship as they demolished mid-table Watford.

Sky: Boro’s 5-1 victory was their joint-biggest win of the season and came courtesy of doubles from Morgan Whittaker and Tommy Conway plus a goal from David Strelec. Watford’s goal came at the start of the second half from James Abankwah, but while the visitors were a match for their opponents for most of the first period, they were comprehensively outplayed after the break.

Fran’s Watford Blog: Ed Still’s team selection had been interesting. He had dropped the youngsters for a more experienced line up and it had worked. Not only did the team look more solid, but it was a surprisingly attacking performance and we were very unlucky to be behind at half time. Once the wholesale changes were made and the youngsters brought on just after the hour mark, it fell apart. But the hosts certainly had luck on their side with a couple of the goals, and the penalty was a silly mistake by Abankwah.

21st April 2026- Championship, West Bromwich Albion 3 Watford 0

Watford Observer: Can Watford provide some optimism at motivated West Brom?

Watford Observer: MATCHDAY LIVE: West Brom 3-0 Watford

Match Report: Watford sink without a trace again in 3-0 West Brom defeat

Still insists Watford players are hurting after ‘hugely painful’ defeat

Non-response at West Brom marks this out as Watford’s worst end-of-season run

BBC: West Bromwich Albion secured their Championship survival as they eased past sorry Watford at The Hawthorns.

Sky: Isaac Price scored the first goal and made the second for Daryl Dike’s second in as many games before half-time as James Morrison’s side made it nine games unbeaten. On-loan Crystal Palace right-back Danny Imray scored a deserved third goal for the Baggies, who made it 488 minutes without conceding.

Fran’s Watford Blog: This was an awful game with almost no redeeming features. There was a lack of energy in the performance, but I put that down to a lack of confidence among a group of young players for whom nothing seems to be working. I don’t see a lack of effort from the majority of the players. Maamma was, again, a constant threat and I really wish his late shot had gone in as he deserved a goal. The other positive was the return of Ngakia who we have missed since he was injured. But we were well beaten on the night, and it is hard to see us getting any more points this season.

18th April 2026- Championship, Watford 0 Sheffield United 2

Watford Observer: ‘This is what Watford do’ narrative has made me angrier since Oxford, Still says

Still knows he needs results to secure Watford future – ‘I’m not kidding myself’

Team news: Maamma in contention to start, Ngakia and Bola could return

‘The summer is the time to discuss what leadership looks like at Watford’

Supporters’ anger ‘totally normal’ and not an overreaction, says Still

Nabizada: The fans want to see creativity – that’s what I’m trying to do

Watford Observer: MATCHDAY AS IT HAPPENED: Watford 0-2 Sheffield United

Match Report: Watford beaten 2-0 by Sheff Utd as lifeless season finale continues

WATCH: Immediate reaction to Watford 0-2 Sheffield United

Still: ‘Baah hasn’t had the impact I wanted’

Still adamant he is the man to lead significant change after another defeat

BBC: Patrick Bamford’s second-half double helped Sheffield United to victory at out-of-form Watford.

Sky: The striker’s sharpness in front of goal made the difference and lifted Chris Wilder’s side above their opponents in the bright spring sunshine at Vicarage Road.

Fran’s Watford Blog: It was another disappointing game. We should have taken the lead in the first half and certainly started the second half very brightly. The first United goal was fortunate and against the run of play. Their second was rather better and, once that went in, the fight seemed to go out of the players, and we never really looked like getting back in the game. Again, Irankunda and Maamma were the bright sparks, working to create chances, but shots from distance and a well organised United defence frustrated them.

From the Rookery End: Jon, Kieran, Mike and Jason are back outside the Hornet Shop after another tough afternoon as Watford FC fall to a 2–0 defeat at home to Sheffield United. There’s no hiding from it — this was a flat, lifeless performance that summed up where the football team is right now. The lads reflect on some hints at something successful, before everything unravelled in depressingly familiar fashion. With belief draining from both pitch and stands, attention turns to the bigger picture — from recruitment failures to the direction under Gino Pozzo, who was in attendance at the game.

11th April 2026- Championship, Oxford United 2 Watford 0

Watford Observer: Oxford call for ‘relentless support’ on Saturday – can Watford rise to the occasion?

Team news: Maamma set for return, Abankwah and Kayembe fully fit

Bove needs more time and Kjerrumgaard ‘hasn’t quite been on it’, says Still

Pre-season planning ongoing – but not Still’s priority for now

Still on Oxford: ‘I want our fans to see we wanted it more’

Watford Observer: MATCHDAY AS IT HAPPENED: Oxford United 2-0 Watford

Match Report: Abject Watford beaten 2-0 at Oxford United

Pollock asks to apologise publicly after ‘lowest point’ of his Watford career

Still on Watford fans’ reaction: ‘You have to stand up and take it’

BBC: Oxford United moved within a point of Championship safety and extended their unbeaten run at the Kassam Stadium to five matches with victory over out-of-form Watford.

Sky: Watford, who have a poor away record this campaign, were on a winless streak of three going into the game but they had beaten the U’s 2-1 at Vicarage Road at the start of October.

Fran’s Watford Blog: It had been a very poor performance with only Irankunda coming away with much credit. He created some decent chances and, if one had gone in, it would have been a different afternoon. Maamma was also bright when he came on and showed how much we have missed him. But apart from them, it was a miserable afternoon of football.

From the Rookery End: On From The Rookery End this week, Jon and Mike are joined by Watford Observer’s Adam Drury after Watford’s defeat at Oxford — but rather than pick apart another bad away day,the take a step back and the conversation goes bigger.