Sixteen years ago today, on May 5, 2007, the Hornets earned an unlikely win at high-flying Reading in the Premier League. Danny Shittu opened the scoring on this memorable occasion, and recalled the victory in an interview first published in matchday programme The Hornet...

In football the highs often feel higher when times are tough, and victories feel greater when expectations are low. This could certainly be said for Watford’s trip to the Madejski Stadium at the end of the 2006/07 Premier League campaign.

Aidy Boothroyd’s team were already relegated when they visited Reading in May, yet the Hornets faithful travelled for one final away day in the top flight and were rewarded with a rare and impressive victory, thanks to Danny Shittu’s first Premier League goal and a late strike from Marlon King.

“It had been really tough for us that season. There were many games where we’d played really well but not got the points we wanted,” recalled Shittu, who had joined the Hornets after promotion from the Championship the previous summer. “To win that game when it wasn’t something we were used to, it meant so much to us. We had a team that worked so hard every game, so when you get that win, it’s a buzz that’s hard to explain. It was a really great feeling.”

This result was certainly hard-fought, with the visitors having to weather a storm for the first hour against a team chasing a UEFA Cup place. Reading’s Dave Kitson rattled the bar and Leroy Lita tested Ben Foster more than once, yet with every missed chance, Watford’s belief seemed to grow.

“Even in games you’re not playing in, when you see a team constantly miss chances, you’re always thinking the other team is going to have one chance and put it away,” said Shittu. “I think that’s kind of what happened for us in that game. They did have a lot of chances and we were lucky we had Ben Foster in goal behind us. He kept us in that game, and they missed a lot of chances as well.”

Watford’s opportunity fell in the 60th minute, when Lee Williamson curled a free-kick from deep into the box. Reading inexplicably pushed forward as the ball was delivered, attempting to catch Watford’s attackers offside, but misjudged their line horribly and Shittu found himself in acres of space to net his one and only Premier League goal.

“At that time there were some clubs practising that, squeezing up and trying to catch people offside,” remembered the towering centre-half, who would often venture forward for set-pieces. “But I wasn’t expecting it, I don’t think any of us were expecting them to do that. It was a bit of a shock, and it’s one of those where you score and for a moment you’re thinking ‘was I offside?’ But I wasn’t very worried about myself, I was more worried if Marlon King touched the ball or not and maybe they were going to say he was offside. To tell the truth though, I was mostly worried about finishing properly!”

Shittu and King were both onside, and the defender needn’t have worried about his finish either, as he showed the composure of a seasoned forward to slot home with his right foot.

“It’s massive pressure, when you’re by yourself and you’ve got to do that,” he said, having scored his first Hornets goal in the League Cup earlier that season with a header against Newcastle United. “When you’ve got so much time, you know it has to be right. That’s what makes us professional footballers, because you’ve got to get it right more times than wrong. I was lucky that in that moment I was able to strike the ball really well. It was one of my sweetest finishes and I was really proud of that moment.”

Watford then battened down the hatches until five minutes from time, when King scored a second to allow everyone in the Watford camp to breathe a little and enjoy their fifth win of the season.

“His was easy, it was just a little header, that’s usually my kind of goal!” joked Shittu of the striker’s finish, which came about after goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann spilled Tommy Smith’s cross. “When that second goal came, especially so close to the end, it was a massive breather. Obviously, you still don’t think any game is over, but when you’ve kept a clean sheet for such a long time in the game and then your striker goes and scores that much-needed second goal, it definitely took some pressure off us.”

Soon the referee was blowing his final whistle and the travelling supporters, who had little to cheer that season, were able to bow out of the Premier League by celebrating an unlikely victory on their final away day.

“The fans were always behind us, they always supported us,” said Shittu. “When we won, we were celebrating like we won the league, and it was just amazing. They knew we were giving it our all and that we wanted to do well. Things were just not going the way we wanted them to go, but still they supported us, and they were there for us. That was an amazing feeling, that game. When we scored and when we won, the fans were buzzing.”

With his goal vital to the success, from the stands emerged inevitable renditions of Shittu’s iconic song, comparing him with England international Sol Campbell to the tune of ‘Chim Chim Cher-ee’.

“It was one of the best songs I’ve had made for me!” said Shittu. “People don’t understand how much it means to me, because they don’t know how much of an influence Sol Campbell had on my career. I wouldn’t have believed I was able to do it if it wasn’t for him. He was big and strong and fast. It was him who gave me the courage and the passion to believe I could make it, even though I never actually met him or spoke to him until I was in my 30s. I used to watch him on Match of the Day, and I thought, if he can do it, I can do it. So, for me to even play one game in the Premier League, let alone score, it meant so much.”

After this season Shittu had one more at Watford and he impressively scored another nine goals, yet the Hornets narrowly missed out on an immediate return to the top flight. Despite the ultimate disappointment though, Shittu has very fond memories of his time at Vicarage Road.

“We wish it could have gone another way and we could have given it a better fight to stay in the Premier League, but it was still an amazing season for each and every one of us, because of the connection, the bond we had in that team,” said the Nigeria international, who embodied the family spirit of the club and has since won recognition for his work in the community.

“It was a real proper family club, and we were all really close. The main thing is the bond we had in that team. Even though we went down, the bond was still there. We were like brothers, we were family. We looked after each other and we were together all the time. My seasons at Watford are definitely some of the highlights of my career.”