Find betting tips and Championship predictions for all of Watford’s fixtures in the league this season below.
Watford Predictions
Watford Football Club is a professional English football club based in the town of Watford. The club currently competes in the Championship, which is the second tier of the English football pyramid.
Watford currently plays their home matches at Vicarage Road, which has been the club’s home since 1922, having previously played at Cassio Road. As of today, the stadium has a maximum capacity of up to 22,200 and also been the home venue of Wealdstone Football Club and rugby union side Saracens in the past.
Nicknamed the Hornets, Watford’s biggest rivals are Luton Town.
Watford Honours
Watford have won numerous honours in their history, all of which have come outside of the major titles available in England. To date, they have never won the Premier League, FA Cup or League Cup, but have won multiple lower league titles. They have twice been champions of the third tier of English football, first doing so in the 1968/69 season when they were promoted alongside Swindon Town in a season that saw both teams finish with identical records, with Watford snatching the title on goal average. The club won the competition again in the 1997/98 season as they finished three points above runners-up Bristol City. Watford have also won the old Fourth Division once in their history, coming in the 1977/78 season when they, led by Graham Taylor, cruised their way to the title ahead of Southend United, Swansea City and Brentford. Their haul of trophies is complete with the Southern Football League, which they won in 1914/15.
Watford History
Watford Football Club was founded in 1881 as Watford Rovers, before changing to their current identity in 1898. They initially joined the Southern League, but became members of the Football League in 1920. The Hornets were mainly a Third Division team for much of their early history and didn’t make it as high as the Second Division until 1969, although they were a Fourth Division team by 1975. However, the appointment of Graham Taylor in 1977 sparked a golden time in the club’s history. Taylor guided the club from the Fourth Division to the First Division for the first time after winning promotion three times in his first five years in charge.
This included back-to-back promotions from the Fourth and Third Divisions in his first two seasons, before making it out of the Second Division at the third time of asking in 1981/82. In the 1982/83 season, newly-promoted Watford finished second in the First Division behind only champions Liverpool, having finished ahead of the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest. The following season, they then made it to the FA Cup final for the first time, losing 2-0 to Everton at Wembley. The club remained in the First Division until Taylor’s departure to Aston Villa in 1987, after which they were immediately relegated to the Second Division at the end of the 1987/88 season.
Since then, the club have routinely appeared in the second tier of English football, although a highlight came when Taylor returned to the club and again guided them to back-to-back promotions in 1998 and 1999 to become a top flight club once more. They also made it back to the FA Cup final in 2019 but were beaten 6-0 by Manchester City, who in turn won the domestic treble with the victory.