24th August 2002- New Division One, Portsmouth 3 Watford 0

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

BBC Sport: Watford’s day was summed up in a bizarre incident in the 79th minute, when Allan Neilsen was booked for unsporting behaviour and received a second yellow for foul and abusive language, resulting in his dismissal.

In truth, the off-pitch politics of the First Division has proved to be rather more fascinating than much of the football, so far. It’s been hard to focus, somehow…and hard to regard the early season jostling as particularly important when it’s patently obvious that several of those involved might be bust by Christmas. Bizarrely, and yet tellingly, I have absolutely no idea what league positions some clubs – Walsall, Rotherham, Sheffield United, for example – currently occupy. And yet I know rather more about their latest accounts….

In the end, although Watford had plenty of possession, they never looked like doing anything and Pompey deserved their win. Once we had gone a goal down it seemed that the players didn’t know what to do. Sure, Pompey are a very good side, but for my liking the players surrendered all too easily in the five minutes either side of half time. It almost looked like we came for a 0-0 and hoped to get one in the last five minutes.

https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-1/24-august-2002/