1914–15 Watford F.C. season

Watford
1914–15 season
Stadium Cassio Road
Southern League First Division 1st
FA Cup Sixth qualifying round (eliminated by Rochdale)
Southern Charity Cup First round (eliminated by Luton Town)
Top goalscorer League: George Edmonds (17)
All: George Edmonds (17)
Highest home attendance 8,000 (vs Luton Town, 2 April 1915)
Lowest home attendance 1,000 (vs Southend United, 3 February 1915)
Home colours
← 1913–14 1919–20 →

Watford Football Club are an association football team from the county of Hertfordshire, England. The 1914–15 season was their nineteenth season of league football, since joining the Southern League as West Hertfordshire for the 1896–97 season. Watford finished the season as champions of the Southern League First Division, winning 22 and drawing 8 of their 38 league matches.[1] In other competitions, Watford were eliminated from the FA Cup in the sixth qualifying round by Rochdale, and from the Southern Charity Cup by fellow Southern League team Luton Town. The club's manager was Harry Kent, and its top scorer George Edmonds, with 17 goals from 35 appearances.[2] Other notable players included Skilly Williams, who began what would be a 13-year period as the club's first choice goalkeeper,[3] and Fred Gregory, whose goal against Gillingham sealed the title for Watford.[4] Gregory and Williams were also the only two men to play in all 40 of Watford's games.[2]

As a result of the suspension of league football due to the First World War, Watford were the reigning champions for the next five years, until they were beaten to the 1919–20 title on goal average by Portsmouth.[5]

Contents

Background

Main article: History of Watford F.C.

Although he had managed Watford since the departure of John Goodall in 1910, Harry Kent made two final competitive appearances in December 1913, before retiring completely as a player.[6][7] Watford lost both matches, and off the pitch Kent had an equally difficult season. Watford finished in 18th position in the Southern League First Division, and only managed to avoid relegation on the final day of the season with a 2–0 win over QPR. Despite a 10–0 thrashing of Bournemouth in their opening FA Cup match, they were defeated by Gillingham in the following round.[7][8] Furthermore, financial difficulties forced Kent to offload several key players at the end of the season. Top scorer Thomas Ashbridge and full back Harry Pantling were sold to Sheffield United for £500 each,[9] while first choice goalkeeper Joe Webster transferred to West Ham United for £300.[10] Other former first team regulars to leave the club before the start of 1914–15 included David Donald, Billy Dryden and Tommy Mitchell.[6]

Southern League

Despite Britain's declaration of war in August 1914, the Southern League continued as normal for the 1914–15 season. Watford started their campaign on 2 September with a 2–1 win against Cardiff F.C. They continued their strong start to the season with a run of 6 wins and 3 defeats from the opening 9 fixtures, including a 3–0 home win against 1913–14 champions Swindon Town. However, the following two fixtures yielded consecutive league defeats to Reading and Southampton, and Watford's remaining 8 games of 1914 provided only two further wins.[11]

The new year brought a dramatic change in fortunes for Watford's season. Watford won 10 and drew 2 of their first 12 games of 1915, with George Edmonds, Peter Ronald and injured Charlie White's replacement Arthur Green all scoring freely.[2] A win and a defeat against Luton Town, a 2–0 defeat to West Ham United and a heavy 6–0 loss at Swindon enabled Reading and Cardiff to close in on Watford's points tally and goal average. But Watford secured the title in their penultimate match, with Fred Gregory scoring the decisive goal in a 3–2 win at Gillingham.[2]


Results

Legend

      Win       Draw       Loss

[11]

2 September 1914 Watford 2–1 Cardiff City Cassio Road  
Ronald
White		 Attendance: 1,500
5 September 1914 Portsmouth 2–3 Watford Fratton Park  

Edmonds
Ronald
White		 Attendance: 7,000
12 September 1914 Watford 3–0 Swindon Town Cassio Road  
Edmonds
White
own goal		 Attendance: 3,000
16 September 1914 Watford 0–0 Brighton & Hove Albion Cassio Road  
Attendance: 1,500
19 September 1914 Southend United 0–0 Watford Kursaal  
Attendance: 4,000
26 September 1914 Watford 2–2 QPR Cassio Road  
Edmonds
Hastings
Attendance: 5,000
3 October 1914 Millwall 0–3 Watford The Den  
Tattersall Attendance: 15,000
10 October 1914 Watford 2–0 Bristol Rovers Cassio Road  
Val Gregory
Ronald		 Attendance: 3,000
17 October 1914 Croydon Common 0–1 Watford Croydon Common Athletic Ground  
Edmonds Attendance: 6,000
24 October 1914 Watford 0–1 Reading Cassio Road  
Attendance: 5,000
31 October 1914 Southampton 3–1 Watford The Dell  


Hastings
First round 4 November 1914 Luton Town 2–0 Watford Kenilworth Road  

7 November 1914 Watford 0–0 Northampton Town Cassio Road  
Attendance: 6,000
14 November 1914 Watford 1–0 Crystal Palace Cassio Road  
Hastings
21 November 1914 Plymouth Argyle 1–1 Watford Home Park  
own goal
28 November 1914 Watford 0–1 West Ham United Cassio Road  
5 December 1914 Norwich City 2–0 Watford The Nest (football ground)  

Attendance: 3,000
12 December 1914 Watford 4–0 Gillingham Cassio Road  
McLauchlan
Waterall		 Attendance: 2,500
Sixth qualifying round 19 December 1914 Rochdale 2–0 Watford Spotlands  

Attendance: 4,000
25 December 1914 Watford 1–1 Exeter City Cassio Road  
McLauchlan Attendance: 2,000
26 December 1914 Exeter City 4–1 Watford St James Park  



Hastings Attendance: 6,000
1 January 1915 Cardiff City 2–3 Watford Ninian Park  

Edmonds
Green
Tattersall		 Attendance: 1,900
2 January 1915 Watford 2–1 Portsmouth Cassio Road  
Edmonds Attendance: 3,000
23 January 1915 Reading 1–1 Watford Elm Park  
White
3 February 1915 Watford 2–1 Southend United Cassio Road  
Ronald
own goal		 Attendance: 1,000
13 February 1915 Bristol Rovers 2–3 Watford Eastville Stadium  

Edmonds
Green		 Attendance: 1,000
20 February 1915 Watford 3–0 Croydon Common Cassio Road  
Hastings
Ronald		 Attendance: 3,000
27 February 1915 Watford 4–0 Millwall Cassio Road  
Edmonds
Green
Hastings
Ronald		 Attendance: 3,000
6 March 1915 Watford 5–2 Southampton Cassio Road  
Green
Hastings
Kennedy
Ronald
Tattersall
13 March 1915 Northampton Town 1–1 Watford Eastville Stadium  
Val Gregory Attendance: 10,000
18 March 1915 QPR 2–5 Watford Loftus Road  

Edmonds
Green
Val Gregory
Tattersall		 Attendance: 5,000
20 March 1915 Crystal Palace 0–1 Watford The Crystal Palace  
Tattersall
27 March 1915 Watford 2–0 Plymouth Argyle Cassio Road  
Edmonds
Tattersall		 Attendance: 3,000
2 April 1915 Watford 2–4 Luton Town Cassio Road  
Kennedy
Ronald


Attendance: 8,000
3 April 1915 West Ham United 2–0 Watford Boleyn Ground  

Attendance: 10,000
5 April 1915 Luton Town 0–2 Watford Kenilworth Road  
Edmonds
Fred Gregory		 Attendance: 7,000
6 April 1915 Swindon Town 6–0 Watford County Ground  





Attendance: 1,000
10 April 1915 Watford 2–1 Norwich City Cassio Road  
Edmonds
Kennedy
17 April 1915 Gillingham 2–3 Watford Priestfield Stadium  

Edmonds
Green
Fred Gregory
24 April 1915 Brighton & Hove Albion 1–2 Watford Goldstone Ground  
Edmonds
Green		 Attendance: 3,000

Final standings

Two points were awarded for a win, one point for draws, and none for defeats.[12] Due to the war, no clubs were relegated at the end of the season, although Croydon Common ceased trading before the start of the 1919–20 season.[11]

P: Games played

W: Games won

D: Games drawn

L: Games lost

F: Goals for

A: Goals against

GA: Goal average

Pts: Points
Team P W D L F A GA Pts
1 Watford 38 22 8 8 68 46 1.478 52
2 Reading 38 21 7 10 68 43 1.581 49
3 Cardiff City 38 22 4 12 72 38 1.895 48
4 West Ham United 38 18 9 11 58 47 1.234 45
5 Northampton Town 38 16 11 11 56 51 1.098 43
6 Southampton 38 19 5 14 78 74 1.054 43
7 Portsmouth 38 16 10 12 54 42 1.286 42
8 Millwall London 38 16 10 12 50 51 0.98 42
9 Swindon Town 38 15 11 12 77 59 1.305 41
10 Brighton & Hove Albion 38 16 7 15 46 47 0.979 39
11 Exeter City 38 15 8 15 50 41 1.22 38
12 QPR 38 13 12 13 55 56 0.982 38
13 Norwich City 38 11 14 13 53 56 0.946 36
14 Luton Town 38 13 8 17 61 73 0.836 34
15 Crystal Palace London 38 13 8 17 47 61 0.77 34
16 Bristol Rovers 38 14 3 21 53 75 0.707 31
17 Plymouth Argyle 38 8 14 16 51 61 0.836 30
18 Southend United 38 10 8 20 44 64 0.688 28
19 Croydon Common 38 9 9 20 47 63 0.746 27
20 Gillingham 38 6 8 24 43 83 0.518 20

Players

Statistics

Key

P: Games played

G: Goals scored

Name Position P G P G P G
League Cups Total
Barnshaw, BobBob Barnshaw Centre half 11 0 0 0 11 0
Bulling, HaroldHarold Bulling Full back 35 0 2 0 37 0
Edmonds, GeorgeGeorge Edmonds Centre forward 35 17 1 0 36 17
Green, AlbertAlbert Green Inside forward 23 8 0 0 23 8
Gregory, FredFred Gregory Full back / Wing half 38 2 2 0 40 2
Gregory, ValVal Gregory Wing half 32 3 1 0 33 3
Grimsdell, ErnieErnie Grimsdell Full back 1 0 0 0 1 0
Hastings, WilliamWilliam Hastings Outside forward 34 6 2 0 36 6
Hatton, SamSam Hatton Full back 0 0 1 0 1 0
Kennedy, JimJim Kennedy Centre half 32 3 2 0 34 3
McGuire, JamesJames McGuire Outside forward 3 0 0 0 3 0
McLauchlan, JoeJoe McLauchlan Centre forward 6 3 2 0 8 3
McMorran, F.A.F.A. McMorran Wing half 6 0 1 0 7 0
Ronald, PeterPeter Ronald Inside forward 35 9 1 0 36 9
Stewart, AlexAlex Stewart Full back 37 0 1 0 38 0
Waterall, TommyTommy Waterall Outside forward 33 10 2 0 35 10
White, CharlieCharlie White Inside forward 19 4 2 0 21 4
Williams, SkillySkilly Williams Goalkeeper 38 0 2 0 40 0


References

General
Specific
  1. ^ Richard Rundle. "Watford". Football Club History Database. http://www.fchd.btinternet.co.uk/WATFORD.HTM. Retrieved 7 July 2010. 
  2. ^ a b c d Watford Season by Season p. 61
  3. ^ Illustrated Who's Who p. 243
  4. ^ Illustrated Who's Who p. 101
  5. ^ Watford Season by Season p. 62
  6. ^ a b Watford Season by Season p. 59
  7. ^ a b Illustrated Who's Who p. 267
  8. ^ Watford Season by Season p. 58
  9. ^ Illustrated Who's Who p. 26, 181
  10. ^ Illustrated Who's Who p. 237
  11. ^ a b c Watford Season by Season p. 60
  12. ^ Dinant Abbink; Richard Rundle (24 July 2005). "England: Southern League final tables". RSSSF. http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/engsouthernleaghist.html. Retrieved 7 July 2010. 

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