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) |
---|
|
|
← 1913–14 |
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]
Background
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 |
|
![](../I/m/Soccerball_shade.svg.png) |
Attendance: 1,500
|
|
|
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 |
|
![](../I/m/Soccerball_shade.svg.png)
![](../I/m/Soccerball_shade.svg.png) |
Attendance: 5,000
|
|
|
7 November 1914 |
Watford |
0–0 |
Northampton Town |
Cassio Road |
|
|
|
|
|
Attendance: 6,000
|
|
|
28 November 1914 |
Watford |
0–1 |
West Ham United |
Cassio Road |
|
|
|
|
![](../I/m/Soccerball_shade.svg.png) |
|
|
|
Sixth qualifying round 19 December 1914 |
Rochdale |
2–0 |
Watford |
Spotlands |
|
|
![](../I/m/Soccerball_shade.svg.png)
|
|
|
Attendance: 4,000
|
|
|
25 December 1914 |
Watford |
1–1 |
Exeter City |
Cassio Road |
|
|
McLauchlan |
|
![](../I/m/Soccerball_shade.svg.png) |
Attendance: 2,000
|
|
|
26 December 1914 |
Exeter City |
4–1 |
Watford |
St James Park |
|
|
![](../I/m/Soccerball_shade.svg.png)
![](../I/m/Soccerball_shade.svg.png)
![](../I/m/Soccerball_shade.svg.png)
|
|
Hastings |
Attendance: 6,000
|
|
|
6 April 1915 |
Swindon Town |
6–0 |
Watford |
County Ground |
|
|
![](../I/m/Soccerball_shade.svg.png)
![](../I/m/Soccerball_shade.svg.png)
![](../I/m/Soccerball_shade.svg.png)
![](../I/m/Soccerball_shade.svg.png)
![](../I/m/Soccerball_shade.svg.png)
|
|
|
Attendance: 1,000
|
|
|
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
![](../I/m/2-3-5_(pyramid).svg.png)
A depiction of the
2–3–5 formation used by Watford for the majority of the season. Wingers were then more commonly referred to as outside forwards; the wide and central half backs were known as
wing halves and centre halves respectively.
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 |
01 !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 |
03 !3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
McLauchlan, JoeJoe McLauchlan |
Centre forward |
06 !6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 3 |
McMorran, F.A.F.A. McMorran |
Wing half |
06 !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
- Jones, Trefor (1998). Watford Season by Season. ISBN 0-9527458-1-X.
- Jones, Trefor (1996). The Watford Football Club Illustrated Who's Who. ISBN 0-9527458-0-1.
- "Watford: Historical Football Kits". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- Specific
- ↑ Richard Rundle. "Watford". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Watford Season by Season p. 61
- ↑ Illustrated Who's Who p. 243
- ↑ Illustrated Who's Who p. 101
- ↑ Watford Season by Season p. 62
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Watford Season by Season p. 59
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Illustrated Who's Who p. 267
- ↑ Watford Season by Season p. 58
- ↑ Illustrated Who's Who p. 26, 181
- ↑ Illustrated Who's Who p. 237
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Watford Season by Season p. 60
- ↑ Dinant Abbink; Richard Rundle (24 July 2005). "England: Southern League final tables". RSSSF. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
External links
|
---|
| | | FA competitions | |
---|
| Football and Southern Leagues | |
---|
| Lower leagues | |
---|
| Related events | |
---|
| Club seasons | | First Division |
- Aston Villa
- Blackburn Rovers
- Bolton Wanderers
- Bradford City
- Bradford Park Avenue
- Burnley
- Chelsea
- Everton
- Liverpool
- Manchester City
- Manchester United
- Middlesbrough
- Newcastle United
- Notts County
- Oldham Athletic
- Sheffield United
- Sheffield Wednesday
- Sunderland
- Tottenham Hotspur
- West Bromwich Albion
|
---|
| Second Division |
- Arsenal
- Barnsley
- Birmingham City
- Blackpool
- Bristol City
- Clapton Orient
- Derby County
- Fulham
- Glossop
- Grimsby Town
- Huddersfield Town
- Hull City
- Leeds City
- Leicester Fosse
- Lincoln City
- Nottingham Forest
- Preston North End
- Stockport County
- Wolverhampton Wanderers
|
---|
| Southern League | First Division |
- Brighton
- Bristol Rovers
- Cardiff City
- Croydon Common
- Crystal Palace
- Exeter City
- Gillingham
- Luton Town
- Millwall
- Northampton Town
- Plymouth Argyle
- Portsmouth
- Queens Park Rangers
- Reading
- Southampton
- Southend United
- Swindon Town
- Watford
- West Ham United
|
---|
| Second Division | |
---|
|
---|
|
|