Tag Archives: Richard Lee

25th March 2014- Championship, Watford 3 Blackburn Rovers 3

Referee: Darren Sheldrake
Attendance: 13,921

An injury-time header from Rudy Gestede secured a point for Blackburn at Vicarage Road, denying Watford a seventh straight home win.

So, this is all a bit weird. For the first time in twenty-odd years, I’m visiting – definitely feels like visiting – Vicarage Road with almost no context in which to place the game I’m about to see. Last time around, a little person’s lifetime ago, it was all George Thorne and Diego Fabbrini and getting stuffed at home by Yeovil; our habit of wandering around with immaculate hair and shoelaces undone had, inevitably, led to us plunging head-first towards the bottom of a steep flight of stairs. All of last season’s joie de vivre had gone, leaving only the witless confusion of that ridiculous, disastrous second half against Leeds, the pivotal moment of Gianfranco Zola’s reign. It wasn’t any fun.

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=2014-03-25

https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-championship/25-march-2014/

15th February 2011-Championship, Watford 2 Preston North End 2

Preston threw away a two-goal lead to leave manager Phil Brown still searching for his first win since taking over at the rock-bottom Championship club.

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Every series of Masterchef – mmm, topical – has an awful lot of contestants. That being the case, a helping hand is provided in the shape of a short, simple label for us to remember each one by, a three-words-or-less summary of their entire existence prior to having their life changed by cooking scallops with a minted pea puree for Greg and Jeff. (I know it’s not Jeff, but I can’t be bothered to look it up.)

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10th April 2010- Championship, Watford 1 Plymouth Argyle 0

Heidar Helguson’s second-half strike boosted Watford’s survival hopes to keep Plymouth mired five points from safety in the Championship drop zone.

It’s difficult to overstate the value of that result. The final reappraisal of our situation outside the pub at lunchtime returned unerringly to the conclusion that the game was make or break… and we won the game. We won the damn game. A win on a Saturday for the first time since November, and defeats for the precarious looking Sheffield Wednesday, Palace, Scunny…. as it turns out, defeat of any realistic magnitude would have seen us still outside the relegation zone, but wondering where three points were going to come from and with Plymouth back in touch. We’re not safe yet by a long chalk… but can afford to be bullish once again. Thank goodness.

1st November 2008- Championship, Watford 3 Blackpool 4

Aidy Boothroyd’s final programme notes

Blackpool equalised three times before Alan Gow’s last-gasp winner.

Will Hoskins, Grzegorz Rasiak and Tommy Smith from the penalty spot all put Watford in front at various stages of a thrilling game.

Of all the decent players that have left the club over the past few years, the one you’d have back quickest – with the possible exception of Ben Foster – and with a few fewer miles on the clock, would be Malky Mackay. Which begs the question… how can a defence that is being “coached” by Mackay look as utterly, comprehensively, incapable of doing the job?

Watford have appointed reserve-team coach Malky Mackay as caretaker manager following the departure of Adrian Boothroyd last night. Mackay will be assisted by first-team coach Martin Hunter while the club search for a suitable replacement for Boothroyd.

http://watford.fcdb.info?s=35051&id=4831

1st December 2007- Championship, Watford 1 Bristol City 2

Substitute Darren Byfield’s injury-time goal saw Bristol City condemn leaders Watford to a third defeat in a week.

A whole lot better than Tuesday, for starters, but all the more frustrating that the result was the same – we didn’t half look brittle defensively throughout, however tidy some of our attacking play.

http://watford.fcdb.info?s=40867&id=4782

6th November 2007- Championship, Norwich City 1 Watford 3

League leaders Watford bounced back from Saturday’s defeat to West Brom with a comfortable win at Carrow Road.

Whoever taught Lloyd Doyley overlapping runs over the summer is a genius.

http://watford.fcdb.info?s=36346&id=4778

11th December 2004-Championship, Watford 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1

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27th March 2004- New Division One, Watford 1 Wigan Athletic 1

http://watford.fcdb.info?id=4600

Standards. That’s what this was all about, really. For all that the team selection did indeed include most of the fans’ favourites in a 4-4-2, that wasn’t the difference between this week and last week. It helped, but that’s all. Here, individuals matched up to the standards that we demand of them, and that they ought to demand of themselves. It was an afternoon of taking responsibility, of playing with resolve and determination, of many of the things that the season has so lacked. And all of this against opponents who did absolutely nothing to help us along on our way.

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=2004-03-27

https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-1/27-march-2004/

17th August 2002-New Division One, Watford 3 Wimbledon 2

The side we played that day were really an embryonic MK Dons. In May the FA had given the go ahead for the then owners of Wimbledon to relocate the club to Milton Keynes, although they wouldn’t actually move for another year. In response the supporters of Wimbledon re-launched the club as AFC Wimbledon and by the time of this game were already playing in the Combined Counties League which explains the rather empty away end.

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http://watford.fcdb.info?id=4508

Lets just pretend Tommy Smith doesn’t fall over whilst celebrating Allan Nielsen’s goal.

Allan Nielsen sealed an improbable win for Watford over Wimbledon with a last-gasp goal at Vicarage Road.

BBC-SPORT-_-Football-_-Eng-Div-1-_-Watford-3-2-Wimbledon Download

BSAD report:When else do I get to write a match report that can be as biased and as blinkered as I like, safe in the knowledge that there were no opposition fans present to offer conflicting witness statements?

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Taken from 26 Aug 2002 Watford v Coventry City programme

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16th December 2000- New Division One, Watford 3 West Bromwich Albion 3

BSAD report

As the two sets of fans passed each other on Occupation Road afterwards, they summed up the whole thing far better than I ever could. Watford supporters looked back upon the events of the last five minutes, threw hands up in demonstrative frustration, and wailed “Oh, if only Mooney had buried that header…”. Their West Brom counterparts also reflected on the same five minutes, looked to the sky in disbelief, and howled “Oh, if only Sneekes had taken that chance in injury time…”.