Watford Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Watford in Hertfordshire. They currently feature in the English Championship.

History

Watford’s best years came in two spells under Graham Taylor. Taylor’s first spell was between 1976 and 1987. Legendary singer Elton John purchased Watford at the start of the 1976-1977 season. Watford reached the first division in the English league for the 1982-1983 season and they actually finished runners-up to Liverpool in their top flight debut season. Watford reached the FA Cup final in 1984 but lost the match to Everton.

Watford returned to the Premiership again but didn’t last long. The Hornets eventually won back promotion in 2015 under Slavisa Jokanovic, although he was replaced by Quique Sanchez Flores before the new Premier League campaign. Watford were relegated from the Premier League in 2019-20 returning immediately, before being relegated again. They were FA Cup runners-up in 2018-19 too.

Country England England
City Watford
Founded 1881
Ground Vicarage Road
Nickname The Hornets
Captain Tom Cleverley
Coach Chris Wilder
Website watfordfc.com

At the end of the 1987-1988 season Watford got relegated from the first division after Taylor had left the club at the end of the 1986-1987 campaign. Watford stayed outside the English top flight until Taylor took charge of the club again in the late 1990s. Graham Taylor took Watford back to the first division, now of course renamed and repackaged as the Premiership, at the end of the 1998-1999 season. Watford though got relegated after one season in the English top flight.

Watford play their home matches at Vicarage Road which can host a crowd of 19,920 at the moment. They have played at Vicarage Road since 1922 and since 1997 have been sharing the ground with Saracens Rugby Club. They earlier used to play at Cassio Road. Watford bear the nicknames the Hornets, the Golden Boys and the Yellow Army. The club’s honorary life president is Sir Elton John.

Honours

  • Second Division/Championship Champions (1): 1997–98
  • Third Division/League One Champions (1): 1968–69
  • Fourth Division/League Two Champions (1): 1977–78
  • FA Cup runners-up (2): 1983-94, 2018-19