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
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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	54	0	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	056^1
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	045^2
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

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
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 GK Mart Poom 2 DF Gavin Hoyte (on loan from Arsenal) 3 DF Mat Sadler 4 MF Jack Cork (on loan from Chelsea) 6 DF Jay DeMerit 7 MF Don Cowie 8 MF John Eustace 9 FW Tamás Priskin 10 FW Grzegorz Rasiak (on loan from Southampton) 11 MF Jobi McAnuff 12 DF Lloyd Doyley 13 GK Scott Loach 14 MF Lee Williamson 15 DF Jon Harley 16 GK Richard Lee 17 GK Stuart Searle 18 FW Theo Robinson 19 FW Steve Kabba 20 MF Al Bangura

No. Position Player 21 FW Tommy Smith 22 FW Will Hoskins 23 DF Adrian Mariappa 24 DF Mike Williamson 25 MF Gareth Williams 26 MF John-Joe O'Toole 27 MF Billy Gibson 28 MF Aleksandrs Cauņa (on loan from Skonto) 30 GK Jonathan North 31 DF Jordan Parkes 32 MF Lewis Young 33 FW Liam Henderson 35 MF Ross Jenkins 36 DF Eddie Oshodi 37 FW Marvin Sordell 38 DF Rob Kiernan 39 DF Danny Rose (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) 40 DF Andrei Stepanov 41 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 DF Sam Sodje (on loan from Reading) 5 DF Leigh Bromby (on loan to Sheffield United) 7 MF Damien Francis (retired) 7 MF Liam Bridcutt (on loan from Chelsea) 19 FW Lionel Ainsworth (to Huddersfield Town)

No. Position Player 24 DF Darren Ward (on loan from Wolves) 28 FW Moses Ashikodi (to Shrewsbury Town) 29 DF Cédric Avinel (on loan to Gueugnon) 30 GK Mark Tyler (on loan from Peterborough United) 34 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

• Watford Football Club official site
• The Football League official site