Friday 7th November 2025 ko 20:00

EFL Championship

WATFORD 1 (Bola 6)

BRISTOL CITY 1 (Twine 29)

Att 19,574

Entry £30

No Programme

Parking £12

It has to be said there is absolutely no possibility of acting on impulse when you’re watching Championship football. Tickets have to be bought in advance, and since they were for the away end, and Robyn and I don’t live in Bristol we had to discover where to collect our tickets and once there, even to confirm whether the booth in fact, actually had our tickets. Then you need to research where to park- we used the official parking at Watford Grammar School for Girls for £12 and that’s before you think about the M25 at rush hour…

That is of course the slings and arrows of modern football- my history watching of Oxford United home and away in the 80’s and beyond meant I saw plenty of Vicarage Road over the years, including when you could sing about Elton John and he’d grin and wave at you. He unlike so many celebrity fans always put his money where his mouth was; and deserves enless respect for that. These also were the days of Graham Taylor, another who could take the brickbats- Oxford fans I remember clearing the local greengrocer out of turnips before one game at The Manor; he laughed but nowadays you’d never get the produce into the ground!

Back then the away end was opposite to now, part of the Vicarage Road experience was to walk along by what’s now the Elton John stand, then through and around the allotments before reaching the turnstiles. There was a fair chance you’d buy your programme, for a while oddly square from then-known groundhopper Wolfie just before encountering the allotmenteers! I remember the floodlights failing once and the PA asking whether there was an electrician in the house? There was, an Oxford fan, he fixed the lights and it seemed that the Hornets were a little ungrateful- they cruised to an easy win.

Since then Vicarage Road, has been extensively remodeled, I remember the Vicarage Road Stand as a terrace, and what’s now the Sir Elton John Stand as a derelict Main Stand. Even the Rookery Stand in front of those allotments was a terrace, split down the middle between home and away fans. Certainly what you see now is a vastly improved stadium, but with prices to match!

In late 2025 Robyn and I caught Watford having changed yet another manager bringing back Javi Gracia and he resigned early this month. From Bristol City fan Robyn’s perspective she wondered whether she ought to go at all- the Robins were in the midst of the worst injury crisis anyone could remember so many thought this would be a home banker. So bad was the crisis that two keepers were named on the bench and flop striker Fally Mayulu started. He gave the kind of performance that made it crystal clear he wasn’t interested in fighting for his place and in January he moved to Portuguese outfit Arouca. If they had seen this game, I doubt they’d have offered him terms.

So with all that in mind as an away fan the last thing you wanted to see was your side concede early, and that is precisely what happened. Ross McCrorie and George Tanner signalled “Yours!” to Imran Louza’s through ball and Marc Bola slotted home under nowhere near enough pressure. Robyn, I’m certain feared a rout, but the visitors showed great character to work their way back into the game, and Watford broke possibly the most obvious rule in the Championship.

It is as simple as to say you cannot allow Bristol City a free kick in Scott Twine’s range. Jeremy Petris hauled down City’s one fit, hard-working striker Sinclair Armstrong running the channels just outside the box, and Twine did the rest although keeper Egil Selvik could and should have done better. What followed was a highly entertaining end-to-end encounter assuming of course you were a neutral; I’m sure any Watford fan will have been disappointed that they could only take a point from such a depleted visiting side.

As for me I contemplated the Taylor sculpture as we headed back to the car- when I first visited here he was manager. How times change.