Craig Cathcart’s stunning goal gave Watford a narrow victory over Birmingham as they moved top of the Championship and ensured automatic promotion is in their own hands.
The Hornets went into the game knowing a win would take them back into the automatic promotion places following Middlesbrough’s victory at Norwich on Friday.
We’ve not half had some games against this lot. Some will remember victory in the Cup in 1960… Cliff Holton helping the fourth division newly-christened Hornets to knock top-flight Blues out in front of 31,000 at the Vic. In 1984 perhaps the most impressive single result of our run to the Cup Final came at St Andrews; Ron Saunders’ aggressive side came into the game on the back of a twelve-match unbeaten run in the top flight and had the majority of a 40,000 crowd behind them. John Barnes ripped them to bits. In 1999 a play-off semi-final concluded with an epic penalty shoot out that resulted in our second trip to Wembley.
More games from 18th April at https://oldwatford.com/tag/apr18
Tag: Birmingham City
3rd August 2013-Championship, Birmingham City 0 Watford 1
 BBC report: Troy Deeney’s goal earned Watford an opening day win at Birmingham as they reacted in positive fashion to last season’s play-off final defeat.
25th August 2012-Championship, Watford 2 Birmingham City 0
The date shown on the youtube video is incorrect.
Watford’s on-loan Udinese pair Almen Abdi and Matej Vydra were both on target in an impressive win over Birmingham City.
Watford produced a blistering first-half performance to secure a 2-0 victory over Birmingham and hand Gianfranco Zola his first home win.
Birmingham City travelled to Watford on Saturday and, for both sides, goals for or against had come mostly in the final minutes their first two games. But on this occasion Watford went in front after just two when Almen Abdi converted a penalty following Steven Caldwell’s hapless shove on Matej Vydra.
Watford started the game at a furious pace and rapidly dispelled fears of a re-enactment of Tuesday on the pitch.
28th August 2011- Championship, Watford 2 Birmingham City 2
Martin Taylor scored an injury-time equaliser as Watford snatched a point against Birmingham City.
Martin Taylor’s late equaliser against his former club, during a thrilling finale, compounded a bad weekend for Birmingham manager Chris Hughton, whose transfer target Nile Ranger was arrested the night before.
So the first half of today’s game was a turgid embarrassment.
18th April 2009- Championship, Watford 0 Birmingham City 1
1st October 2000- New Division One, Watford 2 Birmingham City 0
BSAD reports:Â Ah, Birmingham. Our familiar, if strangely accented, friends. Welcome back, with your song that has fifty-seven verses of proudly but unintelligibly mumbled nonsense. Welcome back, with your fully developed sense of “sleeping giant” superiority that gets you nowhere at all and turns you into Wolves Mk II. Welcome back, with your manager who seems to have a permanent cold and a permanent bad mood to go with it. Really, we’ve missed you.
September has only just slipped by but the bookies have effectively closed the betting on the First Division title race. Fulham, nine wins on the bounce, have it sewn up and the others are competing for the minor placings. That theory, which became more compelling after Jean Tigana’s remarkably consistent team eased their way to victory at Bolton, is a trifle harsh on Watford, who have themselves started as though the season is a sprint and not a marathon.
20th May 1999- New Division One Playoff Semi Final Second Leg, Birmingham City 1 Watford 0 (After Extra Time, Aggregate score 1-1, Watford win 7-6 on penalties)
 Watford are a Wembley win away from a return to the top flight they left 11 years ago after a dramatic spot-kick win at St Andrew’s.
 Last night is incomprehensible, even with the aid of a notebook. Just absolutely gargantuan. My brain is currently refusing to process all the information for fear of overload, but my heart knows the score. Which is probably why I nearly started crying when we appeared on the news this morning – one of those moments when realisation hits, and you can do nothing but crumple. This may not be the most coherent report I’ve ever written.
100 Greatest Watford wins- No.24: The noise was almost suffocating.You had to hand it to the Blues’ supporters, they had created a fierce atmosphere. When they sang their anthem Keep Right On to the End of the Road, instinct made you put your hands over your ears. The Watford fans tried to fight back, to sing with every ounce of effort they could muster. But you could barely hear yourself think.
16th May 1999- New Division One Playoff Semi-Final First Leg, Watford 1 Birmingham City 0
 Real life is something to stumble haphazardly through, the bits of my brain that are supposed to be occupying themselves with useful stuff daydreaming of Wem-ber-lee instead. Real life is Saturday and Saturday is a daze, having queued in Occupation Road for tickets to the away leg from half past ten on Friday night and got no nearer to sleep than ten minutes with my eyes closed. Real life is what awaits in the summer, which might start as soon as Thursday (and that’s a frightening thought). Real life is not Watford, so it’s nothing that I’d be interested in.
 WEMBLEY IS beckoning Watford – but Graham Taylor is refusing to look. The Watford manager was reluctant to acknowledge yesterday that victory in the first leg of the First Division play-off semi-final had improved his team’s chances of reaching the twin towers for the first time since the 1984 FA Cup final.
BSAD report:Â Strange times in Hertfordshire. The local paper blares bizarre headlines concerning mutilated sheep carcasses from satanic rituals on Chipperfield Common. The scoreboard at Vicarage Road proudly displays advertising for “Dianetics” by L. Ron Hubbard. The programme promises that future pre-match entertainment will include exploding water buffalo. Only one of the above is a lie.
