Tag Archives: John McClelland

9th April 2005- Championship, Watford 1 Leeds United 2

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Aidy Boothroyd’s first programme notes.

BSAD image BSAD report: I was there, obviously. But less so, much less so. That’s not to suggest that I didn’t fully appreciate that this was a vital match for Watford Football Club, nor that I didn’t applaud a courageous, occasionally inspired, and much less deeply flawed team performance that rose to the occasion and deserved to take more from it than mere encouragement. I saw it all, with nose pressed up against the glass, conscious of everything and yet not part of it. When we scored, I heard myself saying “Yes!” and felt myself rising to my feet; the instincts that would’ve done those things in a reactive blur don’t seem to be working properly. I saw it all, and felt only echoes, remote tremors.

Why? I don’t know. This is new to me, all new. What I do know is that, like so many amazing things that happen in football stadia, the total support demanded by Graham Simpson requires the suspension of disbelief. It needs the conjuring up of an “us” from so much that has so little in common; an “us” that encompasses the stands, the dressing room and the directors’ box to become a football club rather than just a PLC with employees and customers. But you can’t put all of that on hold for three weeks – three weeks of exercising absolute power and authority, of claiming leadership, of seizing complete responsibility – then expect to resume where you left off. “Us” is for fifty-two weeks of the year, or not at all. And you can’t generate genuine belief in a long-term plan for survival and eventual prosperity, then demand the same belief in a new approach when you suddenly change your mind.

English League ChampionshipTable »
Brighton and Hove A1-1Leicester City
Cardiff City0-2Wigan Athletic
Derby County3-1Stoke City
Gillingham1-0Burnley
Millwall4-3Crewe Alexandra
Nottingham Forest0-3Plymouth Argyle
Rotherham United1-2Preston North End
Sheffield United3-2Queens Park Rangers
Sunderland1-2Reading
Watford1-2Leeds United
West Ham United3-0Coventry City
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http://watford.fcdb.info?id=4658

3rd May 2000- Premier League. Leeds United 3 Watford 1

http://watford.fcdb.info/

BBC Sport: Leeds cruised to a comfortable win over relegated Watford to greatly improve their chances of a Champions League place next season.

Daily Telegraph, 4 May 2000
Guardian, 4 May 2000

BSAD: The goal, when it arrived, was gorgeous. Hyde found Perpetuini on the left, who sent a very deep cross to the far post. Helguson leapt impossibly high to cushion the ball down to Foley, whose crisp half volley left Martyn with no chance. Olé, olé olé olé, Foley, Foley. We cared about this one

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=2000-05-03
https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/premier-league/03-may-2000/

23rd April 2000- Premier League, Watford 2 Arsenal 3

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http://watford.fcdb.info?id=4397

Brief highlights from the Premier League website

Really, this made no sense whatsoever. A spewed, skewed mess of a football match, mercilessly thrilling throughout. Goals, misses, controversy, aggression, mistakes, mayhem. The thunderstorm that clattered around during the second half, blackening the skies except for occasional sharp flashes of lightning, could hardly have been more appropriate – this was furious, elemental stuff.

Oh what the hell, the season’s run-in is upon us – this is the batch of games we looked at from afar and thought, oh God, please don’t let us need the points from these games to stay up, please let us be sorted by then. And you know something? We don’t. And we are. So let’s party like last year was 1999, and next year we’ll be back in this division, this league, this wretched pandemic loadsamoney pissing contest…and we can send GT out on a high.

Taken from the programme 29th April 2000- Premier League, Watford 2 Manchester United

https://oldwatford.com/2006/12/26/26th-december-2006-premier-league-watford-1-arsenal-2/

13th January 1990- Division Two, Watford 0 Oxford United 1

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John McClelland’s final appearance for the Hornets. After leaving for Leeds in June 1989 he came back for a short loan loan in January only playing in this game, In total he appeared 185 times for Watford scoring three goals.

http://watford.fcdb.info/index.php?page=matches
Sunday Mirror, 14 Jan 1990
Sunday People, 14 Jan 1990
Sunday Telegraph, 14 Jan 1990