Watford

Watford will be playing their eighth Premier League season after finishing second in the Championship last season which was enough to earn promotion back to the top flight of English football.

Watford’s nickname is ‘The Hornets’, the nickname was chosen by the club’s supporters because they play in yellow and black. A hornet is a type of large wasp. There used to be a hornet on the club badge but it was replaced by a hart, which is an old-fashioned word for ‘stag’, which is a male deer. The hart is used because Watford is in Hertfordshire, a region of England that traditionally had many deer.

Watford play their home matches at Vicarage Road, which has a capacity of 21,577 and have played there since 1920. Two of the stadium’s stands are named after two of Watford’s most famous sons. The Graham Taylor Stand is named after the former England manager, who helped Watford to second place in the top division and the FA Cup Final in the 1980s. The Elton John Stand is named after the singer, who used to own the club. Both Graham Taylor and Elton John have been given the title of honorary life president at Watford FC. 

Watford have never won a major trophy in English football. The closest they came was in 1982-83 when they finished second in the first division when Liverpool won the title. They also got to the 1983-84 FA Cup Final but lost 2-0 to Everton so it was a big dissappintment to lose the FA Cup final to Manchester City in 2018/19. Watford also played in Europe for the first and only ever time when they played in the 1983/84 UEFA Cup.

Watford's manager is Xisco Munoz who is from Spain and is a former player having played for Valencia, Real Betis and Levante as well as spending four years in Georgia with Dinamo Tbilisi. He took charge of Watford in December 2020.

Watford is about 30 kilometres north-west of London. If you decide to visit Vicarage Road (Watford’s stadium) to see a match getting to the ground is very easy. The quickest way is by train and the station you need is called Watford High Street. The stadium is just a 10-minute walk from the station. You can also get the underground to Watford from London but the overground train is much faster.

Prediction 2020/21: 20th

Key player: Ismaila Sarr

Did you know....?

Watford weren't originally called Watford FC, they were originally called Watford Rovers! 

Where is Watford?