2008–09 Watford F.C. season

Watford
2008–09 season
Chairman Graham Simpson (until December 2009)
Jimmy Russo (from December 2009)
Manager Aidy Boothroyd (until October 2008)
Malky Mackay (caretaker in November 2008)
Brendan Rodgers (November 2008-June 2009)
Malky Mackay (June 2009)
Stadium Vicarage Road
League Championship 13th
FA Cup Fifth Round (eliminated by Chelsea)
League Cup Fifth Round (eliminated by Tottenham Hotspur)
Top goalscorer League: Tommy Smith (17)
All: Tommy Smith (17)
Highest home attendance 16,386 (vs Wolverhampton Wanderers, 25 October 2008)
Lowest home attendance 13,193 (vs Burnley, 27 January 2010)
Average home league attendance 14,858
Home colours
Away colours
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

Watford Football Club are an association football team from the county of Hertfordshire, England. Waford has played in the Championship since being relegated from the Premier League in 2006–07. The club finished the season in 13th position out of 24 Championship teams. The club went through four managers during the season.

Background, review and events

The 2008–09 season was their second consecutive one in the Football League Championship, following relegation from the Premier League in 2006–07.[1]

They reached the fifth round of both the League Cup and FA Cup, where they were eliminated by Premier League sides Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea respectively. Both teams went on to reach the finals of the corresponding competitions, with Chelsea going on to win the 2009 FA Cup Final.[2]

Off the pitch, there were a series of personnel changes through the course of the season. Chairman Graham Simpson and chief executive Mark Ashton resigned, and were replaced by Jimmy Russo and Julian Winter respectively. Following a decline in form throughout 2008, manager Aidy Boothroyd left the club by mutual consent, and was replaced by Brendan Rodgers. In turn, Rodgers controversially left the club a few weeks after the last game of the season, having previously suggested that rumours linking him to Reading were "questioning his integrity".[3] His replacement was first team coach and former player Malky Mackay.[4]

The season is perhaps best remembered for the "ghost goal" incident, which occurred in a league match against Reading on 20 September 2008. Following a corner from Reading player Stephen Hunt, John Eustace kicked the ball across the line, level with the six yard box. Initially, linesman Nigel Bannister seemed to signal for a goal kick, and players from both sides ran away from the penalty area, waiting for goalkeeper Scott Loach to take it. However, Bannister walked over to referee Stuart Attwell, and after a brief discussion, Attwell awarded Reading a goal. The match eventually finished 2–2. The match also marked Loach's debut; the "ghost goal" was the first goal he conceded in his Watford career.[5][6]

Match results

League Championship

League results

Match Date Stadium City Opponent Result Attendance Goalscorers Source
Watford Opponent
1 Sat 9 August Selhurst Park London Crystal Palace 0-0 15,614
2 Sat 16 August Vicarage Road Watford Charlton Athletic 1-0 14,413 Smith, T.W.
3 Sat 23 August City Ground Nottingham Nottingham Forest 2-3 20,005 Smith, T.W. (2)
4 Sat 30 August Vicarage Road Watford Ipswich Town 2-1 16,345 Eustace, J.M., O'Toole, J.J.
5 Sat 13 September Hillsborough Sheffield Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 17,066
6
7
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9
10
11
12
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14
15
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17
18
19
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24
25
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27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46

League table

Final league table
Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Promotion or relegation
1 Wolverhampton Wanderers (C) (P) 46 27 9 10 80 52+28 90 Promotion to Premier League
2 Birmingham City (P) 46 23 14 9 54 37+17 83
3 Sheffield United 46 22 14 10 64 39+25 80 Qualification to League Championship playoffs
4 Reading 46 21 14 11 72 40+32 77
5 Burnley (P) 46 21 13 12 72 60+12 76
6 Preston North End 46 21 11 14 66 54+12 74
7 Cardiff City 46 19 17 10 65 53+12 74
8 Swansea City 46 16 20 10 63 50+13 68
9 Ipswich Town 46 17 15 14 62 53+9 66
10 Bristol City 46 15 16 15 54 540 61
11 Queens Park Rangers 46 15 16 15 42 44−2 61
12 Sheffield Wednesday 46 16 13 17 51 58−7 61
13 Watford 46 16 10 20 68 72−4 58
14 Doncaster Rovers 46 17 7 22 42 53−11 58
15 Crystal Palace 46 15 12 19 52 55−3 0561
16 Blackpool 46 13 17 16 47 58−11 56
17 Coventry City 46 13 15 18 47 58−11 54
18 Derby County 46 14 12 20 55 67−12 54
19 Nottingham Forest 46 13 14 19 50 65−15 53
20 Barnsley 46 13 13 20 45 58−13 52
21 Plymouth Argyle 46 13 12 21 44 57−13 51
22 Norwich City (R) 46 12 10 24 57 70−13 46 Relegation to League One
23 Southampton (R) 46 10 15 21 46 69−23 0452
24 Charlton Athletic (R) 46 8 15 23 52 74−22 39

Updated to games played on 17 March 2012.
Source: The Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
1 Crystal Palace were give a one-point deduction for using an ineligible player during a match against Sheffield United on 3 May 2009.[7]
2 Southampton were given a ten-point deduction for breaching insolvency regulations, regarding their holding company. As they finished in the bottom three this season, the points deduction will be applied next season.[8]
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results summary
OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
46 16 10 20 68 72  −4 58 11 6 6 42 32  +10 5 4 14 26 40  −14

Last updated: 17 March 2013.
Source: Fussballdaten.de

FA Cup

Match Date Stadium City Opponent Result Attendance Goalscorers Source
Watford Opponent
3 3 January 2009 Vicarage Road Watford Scunthorpe United 1–0 8,690 Rasiak  67' — [MR 1]
4 24 January 2009 Vicarage Road Watford Crystal Palace 4–3 10,006 DeMerit  17'
Cork  27'
Hoskins  67'
Rasiak  70'		 Hill  48'
Ifill  83', 90'		 [MR 2]
5 14 February 2009 Vicarage Road Watford Chelsea 1–3 16,851 Priskin  69' Anelka  75', 77', 90' [MR 3]

League Cup

Match Date Stadium City Opponent Result Attendance Goalscorers Source
Watford Opponent
1 12 August 2008 Vicarage Road Watford Bristol Rovers 1–0 5,574 Hoskins  88' — [MR 4]
2 28 August 2008 Vicarage Road Watford Darlington 2–1 5,236 Francis  37'
O'Toole  116'		 Blundell  90' [MR 5]
3 23 September 2008 Vicarage Road Watford West Ham United 1–0 12,914 Mullins  70' (o.g.) — [MR 6]
4 11 November 2008 Liberty Stadium Swansea, Wales Swansea City 1–0 9,549 Williamson  21' — [MR 7]
5 3 December 2008 Vicarage Road Watford Tottenham Hotspur 1–2 16,501 Priskin  13' Pavlyuchenko  45' (pen.)
Bent  76'		 [MR 8]

Player information

First-team squad

Squad at end of season[9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Estonia GK Mart Poom
2 England DF Gavin Hoyte (on loan from Arsenal)
3 England DF Mat Sadler
4 England MF Jack Cork (on loan from Chelsea)
6 United States DF Jay DeMerit
7 Scotland MF Don Cowie
8 England MF John Eustace
9 Hungary FW Tamás Priskin
10 Poland FW Grzegorz Rasiak (on loan from Southampton)
11 Jamaica MF Jobi McAnuff
12 England DF Lloyd Doyley
13 England GK Scott Loach
14 Jamaica MF Lee Williamson
15 England DF Jon Harley
16 England GK Richard Lee
17 England GK Stuart Searle
18 England FW Theo Robinson
19 England FW Steve Kabba
20 Sierra Leone MF Al Bangura
No. Position Player
21 England FW Tommy Smith
22 England FW Will Hoskins
23 England DF Adrian Mariappa
24 England DF Mike Williamson
25 Scotland MF Gareth Williams
26 Republic of Ireland MF John-Joe O'Toole
27 England MF Billy Gibson
28 Latvia MF Aleksandrs Cauņa (on loan from Skonto)
30 Wales GK Jonathan North
31 England DF Jordan Parkes
32 England MF Lewis Young
33 England FW Liam Henderson
35 England MF Ross Jenkins
36 England DF Eddie Oshodi
37 England FW Marvin Sordell
38 England DF Rob Kiernan
39 England DF Danny Rose (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)
40 Estonia DF Andrei Stepanov
41 Northern Ireland DF Lee Hodson

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
4 Nigeria DF Sam Sodje (on loan from Reading)
5 England DF Leigh Bromby (on loan to Sheffield United)
7 Jamaica MF Damien Francis (retired)
7 England MF Liam Bridcutt (on loan from Chelsea)
19 England FW Lionel Ainsworth (to Huddersfield Town)
No. Position Player
24 England DF Darren Ward (on loan from Wolves)
28 England FW Moses Ashikodi (to Shrewsbury Town)
29 France DF Cédric Avinel (on loan to Gueugnon)
30 England GK Mark Tyler (on loan from Peterborough United)
34 England DF Dale Bennett (on loan to Kettering Town)

References

Match reports

  1. ↑ "Watford 1-0 Scunthorpe". BBC. 3 January 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  2. ↑ "Watford 4-3 Crystal Palace". BBC. 24 January 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  3. ↑ "Watford 1-3 Chelsea". BBC. 14 February 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  4. ↑ "Watford 1-0 Bristol Rovers". BBC. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  5. ↑ "Watford 2-1 Darlington (aet)". BBC. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  6. ↑ "Watford 1-0 West Ham". BBC. 23 September 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  7. ↑ "Swansea 0-1 Watford". BBC. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  8. ↑ "Watford 1-2 Tottenham". BBC. 3 December 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2013.

Other references

  1. ↑ Chris Bevan (21 April 2007). "Watford 1–1 Man City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  2. ↑ Chris Bevan (30 May 2009). "Chelsea 2–1 Everton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  3. ↑ Frank Smith (22 May 2009). "'No contact at all' from Reading for Rodgers". Newsquest.
  4. ↑ "Mackay appointed Watford manager". BBC Sport. 15 June 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  5. ↑ "Watford 2–2 Reading". BBC Sport. 20 September 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  6. ↑ Richard Evans (30 June 2010). "England's future stars - ones to watch for the 2014 World Cup squad". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  7. ↑ "Crystal Palace have one point deduction for fielding ineligible Rui Fonte". The Guardian. 1 June 2009. Archived from the original on 12 June 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  8. ↑ "Southampton Football Club". The Football League. 23 April 2009. Archived from the original on 26 April 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  9. ↑ http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/2008-2009/flcham/watford.htm

External links

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