Month: October 2001

27th October 2001- New Division One, Bradford City 4 Watford 3

There I was chatting to some familiar faces in the crowd, looking around to see which other familiar faces I could see, when I remembered that I perhaps better look at the players warming up and see who was playing. “This is odd,” I thought, “There’s a few faces I don’t recognise”. Then I looked around to see if I could work out who wasn’t playing. No Gayle (not too surprising), no Noble (slightly surprising), no Gifton (surprising), no Hyde (absolutely flabbergasting). I had heard nothing of injuries to Hyde, Gifton and Noble. Conspiracy theories ran riot. Had Noble gone back to Arsenal? What on earth was happening?

The team was announced with numbers from 1 to 16, in direct conflict to the numbers they had on their shorts. This resulted in Hughes wearing shirt number 4 with shorts numbered 10, and Helguson in shirt number 10 wearing shorts with number 18.

23rd October 2001- New Division One, Watford 1 Nottingham Forest 2

Nottingham Forest ended Watford’s recent good run, moving up to eighth in Division One after their win at Vicarage Road.

If we learnt anything from yesterday, it was that our league position doesn’t lie. As our recent victories have demonstrated, we’re much, much better than the teams who’ll be struggling against relegation in May. As last night showed rather starkly, we’re still some way behind the division’s best sides.

13th October 2001- New Division One, Watford 3 Sheffield Wednesday 1

BBC Sport

Watford picked up their first win in five league matches at the expense of Sheffield Wednesday at Vicarage Road.

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BSAD report: Perhaps it’s a little premature, but there’s a sense that this is the start of something…and it doesn’t necessarily matter if it’s not the start of a period of dazzling success. There are more fundamental things, really. Many have felt isolated and alienated as the new era has jolted into motion, failing to identify with an unfamiliar, anonymous team. As a fan, there’s been little to hold onto. Now, with Gifton Noel-Williams and Tommy Smith returning to stunning form, Micah Hyde running the midfield, Neil Cox back in favour, and the emergence of distinctive, committed figures among the new signings (David Noble, Stephen Glass, and Filippo Galli), it feels a whole lot less like watching a daytime soap opera.

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https://oldwatford.com/2005/11/19/19th-november-2005-championship-watford-2-sheffield-wednesday-1/

9th October 2001-League Cup Third Round, Watford 4 Bradford City 1

The week before this game was played Watford player Paolo Vernazza was stabbed at his home by a burglar as reported here by The Guardian.

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 BSAD report:The word “ravishing” was suggested to describe our fourth goal, and that’ll do nicely.

The 100 Greatest Watford Wins- No.85: It was the glimmers of hope like this that made Gianluca Vialli’s ill-fated season as Watford manager so much harder to take. From the start, the Italian looked poorly suited to the rough and tumble of the second tier. The cashmere sweater and fat tie knot looked out of place in a division that’s always been more suited to hob-nail boots and workman’s overalls.

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More games from 9th October at https://oldwatford.com/tag/oct9/