Nick Catley looks at what makes going to football special
We don’t get many other opportunities to sing, really. Not many of us go to church these days, and karaoke is generally only attempted as the alcohol-soaked prelude to an extremely unwise kebab. But we sing at football. And it’s great.
W...
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Colin Payne recalls the days before you needed a smartphone to gain access to Vicarage Road
As we tapped our phones against the red lights, grimacing and hoping the light would turn green, the relief was palpable – it worked. Of course, the process was wrought with anxiety and trauma, as anyone...
Geoff Wicken’s footballing days were, shall we say, undistinguished. Except one.
I was never all that great at football. Good enough to dominate one-a-side games in the back garden against carefully selected opponents (smaller schoolfriends, or Dad ‘taking it easy’). Good enough too for the pri...
Jeremy Ottman makes quite a startling confession, although he claims it’s alright now.
You can change your relationship but not your football team. That appears to be an unwritten rule of football fandom.
But, of course, there is an exception to every rule; I have recently celebrated my 35th we...
Tim Turner recently realised that his twin passions – Watford and Bruce Springsteen – have more in common than he thought
Anyone who’s ever considered applying to be on Mastermind will know that it’s no good being the world’s leading expert in one area; if your knowledge gets you through the fi...
Chris Adams travelled to Germany with some friends, a Ford Capri, and a camera.
As a member of the Wedgewood blue branch of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, to say I was somewhat excited when FC Watford (as it said on the card) was pulled from the pot to play 1. FC Kaiserslautern of West Germany in ...
Colin Payne on why the 1999/2000 season was his favourite year
As we entered the underpass, heads fuzzy with one too many ales, hearts full of joy, and ears resonating to the god-awful wailing of kazoos, a cry went up: “Stop, it’s trap!” The voice was that of Kevin, dressed far too convincingly...
Nick Catley looks at what makes going to football special
It used to be simple. You stood with your group, whether that was your dad and his friends, a cluster of mates, including that one who no one really knew but had somehow become ensconced, or 23 of you from school. You went where there wa...
Colin Payne just wants the opportunity to buy a £5 bundle
It wasn’t always like this, akin to some dirty secret, looking over your shoulder as you ask a disinterested teenage-girl in the Hornets Shop if she can check under the counter for a “West Ham at home”. Programme collecting was once a no...
New technology has never been the answer to football’s problems, as Olly Wicken reports
Everyone wants football to be officiated fairly. Everyone thinks sport is better without injustices. It’s why new technology has been brought into the game: to avoid disputes.
And yet technology often falls...
Some people were saddened that this month’s long-awaited fixture against Luton Town is behind closed doors. Not Colin Payne.
There was something about 10 September 2002 that still remains so vivid in my memory.
Approaching the ground from Watford Junction, through the High Street, small groups ...
Tim Turner recalls how he pimped his Subbuteo Watford team
There wasn’t a huge amount of variety in English football club colours in the early 1970s. Over half the clubs in the Football League played in plain shirts, adorned at most with contrasting collars and cuffs. Stripes and hoops accounted...