As Tom Cleverly takes his charges to Wycombe for a pre-season game, one suspects that among the squad will not be a fan included because he wrote a letter to Tom asking to play.
In the nineties they (or at least GT) did things differently.
Taken from The Nineties: The Second Coming here's the tale of Gary Parkins's Watford swansong/farewell, as he takes part in a pre-season encounter against Fakenham.
The 1997/98 campaign would end on a sun-drenched, joyous afternoon on the banks of the Thames, with Graham Taylor doing what Graham Taylor always did best – making dreams come true, as Watford defeated Fulham to end what had been a two-year sojourn in the third tier. We, of course, knew he would do it. He certainly had every intention of doing it, the players he had assembled undoubtedly envisaged success, and it was particularly nice to see it confirmed in such a dramatic and absolutely wonderful fashion.
That season was special, for after a decade of drift and gradual decline, it saw Watford Football Club once more on the ascendant, with Taylor creating a team – one that would go on to even better things – from home-grown talent, bargain buys, and ‘Rocket Ronny’ Rosenthal. Yet that is a story for another day, as instead we travel back to the previous July, to focus on a player who would only feature in a Watford team for 13 glorious minutes.
Prior to that Championship season, Watford were rebuilding. Manager Kenny Jackett was moved aside to a coaching position, following far too many draws the previous term, to allow Graham Taylor once more to don a Mizuno tracksuit.
The pre-season preparation Taylor had set his players was rigorous: a four-team competition in Lithuania, a tour of Finland, a home fixture against then-Premier League Wimbledon, and a trip to Tel Aviv. Sandwiched amongst all this was a diplomatic jaunt to Fakenham Town, where Luther Blissett was ending his glittering career, to allow Taylor to officially open their stadium, prior to a friendly match. To his credit, albeit entirely in character, the great man took a full-strength Watford side to face the non-League opposition. Well, almost full-strength, for making both his Watford debut, and his final appearance on a football field, was Norwich Pub League Division Nine stalwart, and long-time Watford supporter, Gary Parkins.
Gary takes up the story. “A month before the game, I wrote to GT. I told him that I had been informed that my troubled hip had deteriorated, and that I would need to stop playing football. I was asking for something outrageous that I knew would appeal to his sense of humour. I told him that I should love to finish my playing career in a Watford shirt: ‘Can I come on as sub, please?’”
As with any letter written to Graham Taylor, a reply came back. ‘I can’t promise anything, but bring your boots; I’ll see what I can do.’ It wasn’t a definitive yes, but it was enough for Gary, although his pre-match preparation was a far cry from the nutritional regime players live by today.
“Well for a month I thought of nothing else! So come the day, I had my pre-match meal of several pints of lager and a chicken biryani, and got to Fakenham early to see the opening of their ground. With a swish of my letter from GT, I got through the players’ entrance, and knocked nervously on the door of the away dressing room, which was actually a Portakabin. It was a balmy evening; Steve Palmer and Gifton Noel-Williams were playing head tennis, whilst Kenny Jackett was wondering who the hell I was. GT came up, admitted he had forgotten about my letter, and told me to come back at half-time. If Watford were comfortably ahead, he would get me on at the end!”
It should be remembered that this was only the third of Watford’s pre-season games. New players, including Lars Melvang, Peter Kennedy and Dai Thomas had come in, and they would have been desperate for game time to show their abilities, and yet Graham Taylor was contemplating playing a supporter, about whom he knew nothing other than his possession of a dodgy hip and his ability to write a persuasive letter.
“Initially, it seemed as though my dream might be destined for a disappointing ending, as Watford, despite playing well, missed several early chances. Then my blood pressure subsided a little, as goals from Darren Bazeley, Dai Thomas and Stuart Slater saw Watford three-nil up at half-time. I grabbed my bag and skipped to the dressing room, as GT had told me to get a kit on! A few of the first-teamers came off at half-time, and soon made me feel welcome. I loved the lack of arrogance in the dressing room. I laid by the dugout with Richard Johnson, Steve Palmer and Alec Chamberlain, then with plenty of time left, GT told me to warm up!”
Amazingly, Taylor had decided that he wouldn’t wait until the 90th minute to make a dream come true, and that what the game needed with 13 minutes still to play was a former fanzine editor, now employed as a railway guard, who needed to be back on shift by 4:30 the following morning!
“I couldn’t really believe it as he called me over and told me to fit in behind Wayne Andrews and Gifton Noel-Williams in a ‘Beardsley role’. How he kept a straight face I’ll never know. Then I was on, shaking hands with Robert Page, whom I replaced. In front of 1,500 fans, under lights, this was it – I was playing for Watford! There was a lot of applause when I came on, but then I realized it was for Luther who was coming on at the same time for Fakenham. I was playing against Luther, my hero!”
“The next 13 minutes went by like a dream – I felt like I was spinning on a carousel – and all I wanted to do was not make a tit of myself. Tommy Mooney was brilliant, giving me an early touch of the ball, which I passed on to Nathan Lowndes. I had kicked a ball and done OK. Fakenham got a corner, and I was marking Luther! Nigel Gibbs screamed for me to ‘clear’, which I did; it was like being in a film, just so unreal. The ball went from one end to the other – it was murder trying to keep up. The time went so quickly, and before I knew it the final whistle had blown. I’d never kick a ball again.
“After the game I stayed with the team. They had been given a flagon of beer by the Fakenham chairman, which none of the players could drink, so I was happy to help out! GT got a few of the lads outside for a post-match Oli Phillips interview, and I was amazed when he wanted to speak to me. That week’s Watford Observer read, ‘Sub: Parkins for Page, 77 mins’”.
And so history records Gary’s 13 minutes in a Watford shirt, and a check of the Watford FC Archive site created by Trefor Jones reveals those very words, although sadly Gary never made the same author’s Watford FC Who’s Who. It was a marvellous piece of Taylor whimsy. As Gary had suspected, it had appealed to that mischievous sense of humour. Graham Taylor was back in charge, and Watford was a better place for it.
“Even now I can barely believe I played for Watford; I can’t think of any other manager who would have let a fan play in such a game. It’s why we will always love him so much.”
The Nineties: The Second Coming is availabe to purchase here