Monthly Archives: August 2003

30th August 2003- New Division One, Watford 2 Gillingham 2

http://watford.fcdb.info?id=4562

Danny Spiller’s first senior goal denied Watford their first win of the season in an entertaining game at Vicarage Road.

BSAD imageBSAD report: It took less than ten minutes for the restoration of Heidar Helguson to a forward role and the introduction of Lee Cook on the left wing to be thoroughly vindicated, in practice as well as in theory. And the latter set up the second too, enabling Danny Webber to score his first goal in a proper Watford shirt (and a “Davis – 11” vest).

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Taken from the programme on 13th September 2003- New Division One, Watford 3 Millwall 1

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13th September 2003- New Division One, Watford 3 Millwall 1

23rd August 2003- New Division One, Watford 0 West Bromwich Albion 1

http://watford.fcdb.info?id=4560

BSADIt’s hard to believe that there are already so many what-ifs and might-have-beens so early in the season. Of course, some of those what-ifs and might-have-beens continue to over-shadow events on the pitch, making our last two results seem trivial by comparison…and yet it’s also obvious that, while the shadows would still remain, a win or two would add some valuable, vital sunshine to the picture.

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=2003-08-23
https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-1/23-august-2003/

12th August 2003-League Cup First Round, Watford 1 AFC Bournemouth 0 (After Extra Time)

The first game we played after the tragic death of Jimmy Davis.

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http://watford.fcdb.info?id=455

BBC SportWatford won this Carling Cup first-round clash against Bournemouth after extra time at a sombre Vicarage Road.

guardianWatford fans came to pay their respects to Jimmy Davis, who died in a car crash on Saturday, and the football seemed almost irrelevant. But after 108 minutes of stalemate, on came Scott Fitzgerald to slide in at the far post and, with his first touch, settle the tie.

BSAD imageBSAD: Various reports

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9th August 2003

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The 9th of August 2003 should have seen Watford play Coventry City on the opening day of the new season.  However the game was postponed after the club learned that our new loanee Jimmy Davis had tragically died in an accident on the M40 motorway.

Jimmy signed professionally for Manchester United in 1999 having been a trainee there.  He was loaned out to Royal Antwerp in 2001, Swindon Town in 2002 and joined Watford on a season long loan in July 2003.  He appeared 5 times for the Hornets in friendlies, scoring in a 4-2 win on his Watford debut at Finnish side JJK Jyvaskyla and also in a 3-0 victory at Aldershot Town.  His final appearance came in a 2-1 win over QPR at Loftus Road when he was substituted after suffering a groin injury.

This injury meant he was not part of the matchday squad for our opening game.  The evening before he had dinner with his friend Danny Webber before deciding to travel home to Manchester for a night out.  He was driving back to Watford in the early hours of Saturday morning when his car hit a truck.  He died at the scene of the accident.  At the inquest into his death it was revealed he was more than twice over the legal drink-drive limit.

Watford announced that the game against Coventry had been postponed ‘due to tragic circumstances beyond their control’ then confirmed shortly before the scheduled kick off time that Jimmy had died.

All Jimmy’s former clubs paid tribute to him in the days after his death.  Manchester United also remembered him following their 2004 FA Cup Final win against Millwall when all their players changed into shirts bearing Davis’ name and squad number for the trophy presentation.

Tributes to Jimmy in the programme from the 12th August 2003-League Cup First Round, Watford 1 AFC Bournemouth 0 (After Extra Time)

Scan 3This article remembering Jimmy appeared in the programme when Manchester United played Watford on 31 Jan 2006.

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This article appeared just after the 10th anniversary of Jimmy’s death in the programme on the 10th August 2013- Championship, Watford 6 AFC Bournemouth 1

Danny Webber remembers his friend in an article he wrote for The Guardian

Danny Webber talks to Sam Wallace of The Independent about Jimmy Davis

This article was in the programme when we played Manchester United at Old Trafford on 23rd February 2020.

On the 20th anniversary of his death Jimmy’s Mum wrote this heartbreaking article on the Manchester United website.

5th August 2003- Friendly, Watford 1 Chelsea 4

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BSAD imageBSAD report: You know a big team is in town when the unofficial merchandise stands are outside the ground, selling the latest moody tat to the most gullible members of the visiting support. When touts ask if you have any spare tickets (yeah, like a tout is going to make a killing on the mark-up of pre-season tickets. “How much, mate? Twenty notes? I’ll just go to the pub, then.”) and when the Chelsea TV cameras are out in force. The young presenter looked visibly bored as she attempted to engage a particularly half-witted individual in conversation about Damien Duff as I walked past.