It’s time to crown the most memorable moment from a century of Watford FC at Vicarage Road!
As we near the end of our year-long VR100 celebrations, a dedicated team of Watford-supporting experts on Hornets history have worked hard to draw up a list of The Vic’s 100 most memorable moments, from the opening game on August 30, 1922 right up until the VR100 Matchday on August 30, 2022.
For little under three weeks, supporters have taken part in the first, second, third and fourth of four online votes - each comprising of 25 moments - featuring golden goals, amazing matches, promotion parties and even some non-footballing occasions.
The top two moments from each of the four groups - as well as the two highest-performing third-placed moments - have been put into a final top 10 shortlist, and now it’s up to you to help determine which is indeed the most memorable with one final round of voting.
Read on to remind yourself of each moment - listed in chronological order - and then cast your vote to tell us which you believe to be the most memorable. Voting for this final round closes at 12noon on Friday June 16, when the overall winner will be revealed.
Liverpool came to town in the FA Cup quarter-finals and Vicarage Road’s second largest crowd of all-time, 34,047, was treated to a glorious afternoon thanks to Barry Endean’s flying header in a 1-0 win.
Having become Vice President in 1973 and later joined the board, boyhood Watford fan and global popstar Elton John played his first Vicarage Road concert to over 31,000 supporters, generating nearly £30,000 for the club.
Trailing 4-0 going into the second leg of a League Cup second-round tie against Southampton, Watford pulled off an astonishing 7-1 win with Malcolm Poskett (2), Ray Train, Martin Patching, Ian Bolton, Ross Jenkins and Nigel Callaghan on target in a 7-5 aggregate victory.
Just five years after featuring in Division Four, Watford played their first European match at Vicarage Road and defeated Kaiserslautern 3-0 to secure a 4-3 aggregate win. Teenage debutant Ian Richardson scored twice for a young, injury-affected Hornets squad.
Three goals down with 20 minutes to play, the Hornets looked dead and buried against Bolton until a quickfire Gary Porter hat-trick - culminating in a last-minute penalty - inspired an incredible turnaround that sealed an improbable 4-3 victory.
With the Hornets rooted to the bottom of the Division One table, Graham Taylor returned to the club as General Manager alongside fellow legends Luther Blissett and Kenny Jackett in the lead up to the visit of Ipswich. After being given a hero’s welcome, GT couldn’t prevent a 3-2 defeat to the Tractor Boys.
Graham Taylor bid farewell to the Vicarage Road crowd for the last time at the final home game of the 2000/01 campaign - a 1-1 draw against Tranmere - drawing the curtain on his second permanent spell in charge by embarking on a lap of honour at full-time, delivering an emotional speech and being presented with a giant bottle of champagne.
Surely the strangest refereeing decision seen at Vicarage Road, Reading took the lead against the Hornets - in a game that eventually finished 2-2 - when linesman Nigel Bannister flagged for a John Eustace own goal instead of a corner after the home midfielder challenged Noel Hunt, much to the confusion of almost all in attendance. Bannister managed to persuade novice referee Stuart Atwell to award the goal - a decision that led to him being excused from ref duties for the next six weeks.
After Manuel Almunia’s heroics at one end, talismanic forward Troy Deeney blasted the ball past Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel at the other to emphatically finish off one of the most remarkable passages of play ever seen in football, cueing absolute pandemonium inside Vicarage Road. From Johnny Phillips’ commentary chaos to Gianfranco Zola’s fall and two pitch invasions, the Hornets’ route to the play-off final could barely have been more theatrical.
Liverpool’s hopes of avoiding defeat for an entire Premier League season were ended in sensational style at the hands of the Hornets, with an Ismaïla Sarr brace and a Troy Deeney goal sealing a famous 3-0 win that ended the joint-longest winning streak (18) and the second-longest unbeaten run (44) in English top-flight history.
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