American defender Jay DeMerit spent six seasons at Watford from 2004 to 2010 after impressing in a preseason friendly with Northwood. He became club captain and played for the USA at the 2010 World Cup.
Arguably the finest player ever to play for Watford, John joined Watford at the age of 17 after being spotted playing for non-league Sudbury Court. He went on to make nearly 300 appearances for the club over six seasons, before joining Liverpool in 1987.
Defender Neil played less than twenty games for Watford yet they included some of the biggest games in the club’s history. He later returned to set up the Former Players Association.
Defender Trevor joined Watford as a schoolboy in 1971, and was given his debut in early 1975 by Mike Keen. He was part of the squad under Graham Taylor that won promotion out of Division Four and Division Three in consecutive seasons.
Tommy had two spells at the club, originally progressing through the youth ranks at Watford, making his first team debut late in 1997 and twice winning the Player of the Season award.
Allan joined Watford in the summer of 1998 in a deal which also brought Nick Wright to the club, and was part of the play-off winning side, scoring the second goal at Wembley.
Nigel made his playing debut in 1984 in the UEFA Cup and spent his entire playing career at Watford winning Player of the Season award in 1992. He also spent a period on the coaching staff of the club.
I met Pat Rice in the café area Arsenal’s training ground in London Colney; he was still Arsene Wenger’s assistant manager at the time. A one-club man until he joined Watford, Rice was a bona fide Arsenal legend, racking up more than 400 first team appearances before joining Watford. He captained Watford to promotion and during their first season in the top flight.
Keith Pritchett was the team’s left-back when Graham Taylor arrived in 1977 and he played all but one game in the Fourth Division title-winning season. Then he was locked in a battle with Steve Harrison, and an injury midway through the 1981-82 promotion season cost him his place to Wilf Rostron. Pritchett was working in football in New Zealand and so I planned to get up very early one morning to catch him on the phone.
One of the longest interviews was that of John Ward. Ward’s playing days at Watford were relatively brief, but the success in the 1980s was significant because he returned as a coach and was later Graham Taylor’s assistant manager.
In March 2009, I headed to Barking to meet a man who scored Watford’s first goal in Europe. Having coached at a professional level, I wondered whether Tom Walley’s methods would be accepted today.
Only three players have made more appearances for the Hornets than Gary Porter, who first came down to Watford from the north east during the school holidays. He was one of the ones who made it and made his first team debut in late 1983.
