Watford Quiz
Free Watford quiz with explained answers — Graham Taylor's rise, the 1984 final at Wembley, Blissett to Milan and Deeney's stoppage-time counter.
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easy
Elton John became chairman of Watford in which year?
WhyThe club were still a Fourth Division side at the time. It was the year before Graham Taylor arrived as manager. -
easy
Which club beat Watford 6‑0 in the 2019 FA Cup final at Wembley?
WhyThe scoreline equalled the record margin of victory in an FA Cup final, first set back in 1903. -
medium
Ben Foster spent two loan seasons at Watford in the mid-2000s, including the promotion campaign. Which club did he belong to at the time?
WhyHe had moved to Old Trafford from Stoke City in 2005, and years later returned to Watford permanently. -
medium
Watford came from two goals down to win the 2019 FA Cup semi-final 3‑2 after extra time. Who were their opponents?
WhyGerard Deulofeu scored twice and a 94th-minute penalty forced extra time. -
hard
Which goalkeeper saved Anthony Knockaert's stoppage-time penalty in Watford's 2013 Championship play-off semi-final against Leicester?
WhyThe Spaniard, a former Premier League number one, had to keep the ball out twice in the same passage of play. -
medium
Who scored Watford's opening goal in the 1999 play-off final, an overhead kick just before half-time?
WhyA different forward added the second goal in the closing minute, so it was not the man who sealed it. -
medium
By what score did Watford lose the 1984 FA Cup final?
WhyGraeme Sharp scored before half-time and the contested second followed just after it. Watford never replied. -
hard
Watford's 1983‑84 UEFA Cup run ended in the third round, beaten 7‑2 on aggregate by which club?
WhyThe Czechoslovak side won 3-2 at Vicarage Road and then 4-0 at home in December 1983. Watford had already beaten Kaiserslautern and Levski Spartak to get there. -
medium
Watford were relegated from the First Division, ending the top-flight run that began with promotion in 1982, in which season?
WhyIt was the season straight after Graham Taylor left. Dave Bassett was sacked in January and Steve Harrison could not save them. -
medium
Watford signed the young Scottish striker Mo Johnston in November 1983 from which club?
WhyGraham Taylor went north for a forward who had scored 41 goals in 85 games in Scotland. Johnston then hit 20 league goals in 29 games in his first season at Vicarage Road. -
hard
How many points did Watford finish with in the 1999‑2000 Premier League season?
WhyThey won six of their 38 matches and finished bottom of the table. -
medium
Who was Watford's head coach when they won promotion to the Premier League in April 2015?
WhyThe Serb was the last of several men in the dugout that season, taking over in early October. -
medium
Which club did Watford beat 2‑1 away in the 2016 FA Cup quarter-finals?
WhyOdion Ighalo and Adlène Guédioura scored at the Emirates Stadium to knock out the holders. -
hard
How many Premier League goals did Odion Ighalo score for Watford in the 2015‑16 season?
WhyHe was comfortably the club's top scorer that season, finishing with 17 across all competitions. -
medium
Graham Taylor was managing which club when Watford appointed him in 1977?
WhyHe had become the Football League's youngest manager there in 1972 and won a divisional title with them in 1976. Grimsby was where he played, not where he managed. -
medium
Mo Johnston left Watford in October 1984 to join which club?
WhyHe returned to Glasgow for around £400,000 and won the Scottish Cup in 1985 and the league in 1986. His notorious move to that club's city rivals came five years later. -
hard
Who scored the only goal of Watford's 1984 FA Cup semi-final win?
WhyThe 6ft 4in centre-forward headed in a John Barnes cross after eleven minutes. Blissett was in Italy for the whole of that season. -
medium
Watford have played their home matches at Vicarage Road since which year?
WhyThey moved there from Cassio Road, where they had spent 24 years. The other date on this list is the year the club itself was formed by a merger. -
medium
Which Italian club did the Pozzo family already own when they bought Watford?
WhyThe club from Friuli supplied Watford with a wave of loan signings in 2012-13, including Matěj Vydra and Almen Abdi. -
hard
The winning side's second goal in the 1984 FA Cup final was hotly disputed, the scorer appearing to head the ball out of Steve Sherwood's hands. Who scored it?
WhyA Scotland centre-forward who had joined the winners earlier that season. His strike partner had already opened the scoring before half-time. -
medium
Graham Taylor left Watford in May 1987 to manage which club?
WhyHe took his new club straight back to the top flight in 1987-88, then to First Division runners-up in 1989-90, before becoming England manager in 1990. -
medium
Who scored the only goal as Watford won 1‑0 away at Anfield in August 1999?
WhyHe struck inside the opening quarter of an hour at Anfield, past goalkeeper Sander Westerveld. -
hard
Which Watford defender scored the opening goal in the 2006 Championship play-off final against Leeds United?
WhyThe American centre-back had been playing non-league football in England only a few years before, and was named man of the match. -
medium
Who scored the stoppage-time goal that sent Watford to the 2013 play-off final, seconds after Leicester had a penalty saved at the other end?
WhyThe striker who finished the counter-attack went on to captain the club to promotion two years later. -
medium
Watford reached the 1984 FA Cup final by winning a semi-final at Villa Park against which club?
WhyTheir opponents were a Third Division side, and it remains the only time that club has reached an FA Cup semi-final. -
hard
Which Watford player was sent off at Luton Town in April 1984 and suspended, ruling him out of the FA Cup final?
WhyThe left-back was dismissed by referee Roger Milford after a tangle with Luton's Paul Elliott. Les Taylor captained the side at Wembley in his absence. -
medium
Who was the first head coach appointed by Watford after the Pozzo family takeover in 2012?
WhyThe former Chelsea and Italy forward took them all the way to the 2013 play-off final in his first season. -
easy
Graham Taylor's first season at Watford, 1977‑78, ended with the club winning which division?
WhyThey were in the bottom tier of the Football League when he arrived, and finished eleven points clear of Southend United. -
hard
Watford reached the 1999 play-off final by beating Birmingham City on penalties in the semi-final. What was the shootout score?
WhyThe tie finished 1-1 on aggregate after extra time and the shootout ran deep into sudden death. -
easy
In which year did the Pozzo family buy Watford?
WhyThe takeover was completed in June, a few weeks after that season's Championship campaign ended. -
easy
Luther Blissett was sold in 1983, after topping the First Division scoring charts, to which Italian club?
WhyThe £1 million move followed his 27-goal league season. He managed only five league goals in Italy and was back at Vicarage Road a year later. -
hard
In October 1978, Third Division Watford won a League Cup third-round tie away from home with two Luther Blissett headers. Which club did they knock out?
WhyWatford trailed at half-time at Old Trafford before Blissett's two second-half goals turned it around. It was their first ever win over that opponent. -
easy
Which club did Watford beat 2‑0 in the 1999 First Division play-off final at Wembley?
WhyThe beaten finalists came through their semi-final on away goals and played their home games at the Reebok Stadium. -
easy
Watford finished runners-up in the First Division in 1982‑83. Which club took the title ahead of them?
WhyThe champions that season were managed by Bob Paisley, in what proved to be his final campaign in charge. -
easy
Watford reached their first FA Cup final in 1984, losing at Wembley to which club?
WhyHoward Kendall's side ended a 14-year wait for a trophy that afternoon, and went on to win the league title the following season. -
easy
In which year did Aidy Boothroyd lead Watford to promotion to the Premier League?
WhyThey went up via the play-offs, beating Leeds United 3-0 in the final. -
easy
Who managed Watford in the 1999 play-off final and through the Premier League season that followed?
WhyHe had managed England before returning to the club he first took up the divisions in the 1980s. -
easy
John Barnes left Watford in 1987 to join which club?
WhyThe £900,000 move took him to Anfield, where he won two league titles. He had cost Watford next to nothing from non-league Sudbury Court six years earlier. -
easy
Watford, the club that plays at Vicarage Road, are known by which nickname?
WhyThe name was adopted alongside the switch to gold and black. Think of the insect those colours belong to.
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About Watford
Watford were formed by a merger in 1898, spent 24 years at Cassio Road and have played at Vicarage Road since 1922. The Hornets nickname did not arrive until 1959-60, when the club dropped blue for gold and black and supporters voted the new name in. Elton John became chairman in 1976, with the club in the bottom tier of the Football League, and a year later they went looking for a manager. Graham Taylor was at Lincoln City, where he had become the Football League's youngest manager in 1972 and won a divisional title in 1976. His first season at Vicarage Road, 1977-78, ended with the Fourth Division won, eleven points clear of Southend United. In October 1978 a Third Division Watford side went to Old Trafford in the League Cup third round, trailed at half-time and won the tie with two Luther Blissett headers after the break — the club's first ever win over Manchester United.
Promotion took them into the First Division in 1982, and they finished 1982-83 as runners-up, behind a Liverpool side playing out Bob Paisley's final campaign in charge. Blissett topped the First Division scoring charts with 27 league goals that season and was sold to AC Milan for £1 million; he managed five league goals in Italy and was back at Vicarage Road a year later. The 1983-84 season then ran on two fronts. In the UEFA Cup, Kaiserslautern and Levski Spartak were beaten before Sparta Prague ended it in the third round, 2-3 at Vicarage Road and 4-0 in Prague that December, 7-2 on aggregate. With Blissett in Italy for the whole of that season, Taylor had gone north in November for Mo Johnston of Partick Thistle, a forward with 41 goals in 85 games in Scotland behind him, and Johnston answered with 20 league goals in 29 games in his first year.
The other front was the FA Cup. George Reilly, the 6ft 4in centre-forward, headed in a John Barnes cross after eleven minutes at Villa Park to beat Third Division Plymouth Argyle in the semi-final — still the only time Plymouth have reached that stage. Wilf Rostron never made the final: the left-back was sent off at Luton Town in April by referee Roger Milford after a tangle with Paul Elliott, and the suspension left Les Taylor to lead the side out at Wembley. Everton won it 2-0, Graeme Sharp scoring before half-time and Andy Gray, the Scotland centre-forward who had joined them earlier that season, adding a second still argued about: he appeared to head the ball out of Steve Sherwood's hands. Howard Kendall's side ended a 14-year wait for a trophy that afternoon and won the league title the season after. Then Watford's came apart. Johnston went to Celtic in October 1984 for around £400,000; Barnes, signed from non-league Sudbury Court for next to nothing, left for Liverpool in 1987 for £900,000; Taylor followed that May, to Aston Villa. Relegation arrived in 1987-88, the season straight after he went, with Dave Bassett sacked in January and Steve Harrison unable to save a top-flight run that had begun with promotion in 1982.
Taylor came back from managing England for the return nobody had scripted: Birmingham City beaten 7-6 on penalties in a 1999 semi-final that finished 1-1 on aggregate and ran deep into sudden death, then Bolton Wanderers beaten 2-0 in the play-off final, Nick Wright's overhead kick landing just before half-time and a second arriving in the closing minute. That August Tommy Mooney won 1-0 at Anfield inside the opening quarter of an hour, past Sander Westerveld, though the Premier League season around it brought six wins from 38 and bottom place on 24 points. Aidy Boothroyd went up through the play-offs in 2006, Jay DeMerit — an American centre-back in non-league football in England a few years earlier — scoring the opener in a 3-0 win over Leeds United, with Ben Foster on loan from Manchester United for the promotion campaign. The Pozzo family, Udinese already theirs, completed their takeover in June 2012, and their first head coach, Gianfranco Zola, reached the 2013 play-off final by way of a semi-final settled in one passage of play: Manuel Almunia keeping out Anthony Knockaert's stoppage-time penalty, Troy Deeney finishing the counter-attack seconds later. Deeney was captain when promotion came in April 2015 under Slaviša Jokanović, and Odion Ighalo scored 15 Premier League goals the season after, striking with Adlène Guédioura at the Emirates to knock the holders out of the 2016 FA Cup. The 2019 run ended at Wembley again — Gerard Deulofeu twice as Watford came from two down to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 after extra time in the semi-final, then a 6-0 defeat to Manchester City in the final. Every answer here explains itself.
Watford quiz answers, explained
Every question from the quiz above. Play it first; each answer stays folded until you open it.
Elton John became chairman of Watford in which year?
Show answer
1976. The club were still a Fourth Division side at the time. It was the year before Graham Taylor arrived as manager.
Which club beat Watford 6‑0 in the 2019 FA Cup final at Wembley?
Show answer
Manchester City. The scoreline equalled the record margin of victory in an FA Cup final, first set back in 1903.
Ben Foster spent two loan seasons at Watford in the mid-2000s, including the promotion campaign. Which club did he belong to at the time?
Show answer
Manchester United. He had moved to Old Trafford from Stoke City in 2005, and years later returned to Watford permanently.
Watford came from two goals down to win the 2019 FA Cup semi-final 3‑2 after extra time. Who were their opponents?
Show answer
Wolverhampton Wanderers. Gerard Deulofeu scored twice and a 94th-minute penalty forced extra time.
Which goalkeeper saved Anthony Knockaert's stoppage-time penalty in Watford's 2013 Championship play-off semi-final against Leicester?
Show answer
Manuel Almunia. The Spaniard, a former Premier League number one, had to keep the ball out twice in the same passage of play.
Who scored Watford's opening goal in the 1999 play-off final, an overhead kick just before half-time?
Show answer
Nick Wright. A different forward added the second goal in the closing minute, so it was not the man who sealed it.
By what score did Watford lose the 1984 FA Cup final?
Show answer
2‑0. Graeme Sharp scored before half-time and the contested second followed just after it. Watford never replied.
Watford's 1983‑84 UEFA Cup run ended in the third round, beaten 7‑2 on aggregate by which club?
Show answer
Sparta Prague. The Czechoslovak side won 3-2 at Vicarage Road and then 4-0 at home in December 1983. Watford had already beaten Kaiserslautern and Levski Spartak to get there.
Watford were relegated from the First Division, ending the top-flight run that began with promotion in 1982, in which season?
Show answer
1987‑88. It was the season straight after Graham Taylor left. Dave Bassett was sacked in January and Steve Harrison could not save them.
Watford signed the young Scottish striker Mo Johnston in November 1983 from which club?
Show answer
Partick Thistle. Graham Taylor went north for a forward who had scored 41 goals in 85 games in Scotland. Johnston then hit 20 league goals in 29 games in his first season at Vicarage Road.
How many points did Watford finish with in the 1999‑2000 Premier League season?
Show answer
24. They won six of their 38 matches and finished bottom of the table.
Who was Watford's head coach when they won promotion to the Premier League in April 2015?
Show answer
Slaviša Jokanović. The Serb was the last of several men in the dugout that season, taking over in early October.
Which club did Watford beat 2‑1 away in the 2016 FA Cup quarter-finals?
Show answer
Arsenal. Odion Ighalo and Adlène Guédioura scored at the Emirates Stadium to knock out the holders.
How many Premier League goals did Odion Ighalo score for Watford in the 2015‑16 season?
Show answer
15. He was comfortably the club's top scorer that season, finishing with 17 across all competitions.
Graham Taylor was managing which club when Watford appointed him in 1977?
Show answer
Lincoln City. He had become the Football League's youngest manager there in 1972 and won a divisional title with them in 1976. Grimsby was where he played, not where he managed.
Mo Johnston left Watford in October 1984 to join which club?
Show answer
Celtic. He returned to Glasgow for around £400,000 and won the Scottish Cup in 1985 and the league in 1986. His notorious move to that club's city rivals came five years later.
Who scored the only goal of Watford's 1984 FA Cup semi-final win?
Show answer
George Reilly. The 6ft 4in centre-forward headed in a John Barnes cross after eleven minutes. Blissett was in Italy for the whole of that season.
Watford have played their home matches at Vicarage Road since which year?
Show answer
1922. They moved there from Cassio Road, where they had spent 24 years. The other date on this list is the year the club itself was formed by a merger.
Which Italian club did the Pozzo family already own when they bought Watford?
Show answer
Udinese. The club from Friuli supplied Watford with a wave of loan signings in 2012-13, including Matěj Vydra and Almen Abdi.
The winning side's second goal in the 1984 FA Cup final was hotly disputed, the scorer appearing to head the ball out of Steve Sherwood's hands. Who scored it?
Show answer
Andy Gray. A Scotland centre-forward who had joined the winners earlier that season. His strike partner had already opened the scoring before half-time.
Graham Taylor left Watford in May 1987 to manage which club?
Show answer
Aston Villa. He took his new club straight back to the top flight in 1987-88, then to First Division runners-up in 1989-90, before becoming England manager in 1990.
Who scored the only goal as Watford won 1‑0 away at Anfield in August 1999?
Show answer
Tommy Mooney. He struck inside the opening quarter of an hour at Anfield, past goalkeeper Sander Westerveld.
Which Watford defender scored the opening goal in the 2006 Championship play-off final against Leeds United?
Show answer
Jay DeMerit. The American centre-back had been playing non-league football in England only a few years before, and was named man of the match.
Who scored the stoppage-time goal that sent Watford to the 2013 play-off final, seconds after Leicester had a penalty saved at the other end?
Show answer
Troy Deeney. The striker who finished the counter-attack went on to captain the club to promotion two years later.
Watford reached the 1984 FA Cup final by winning a semi-final at Villa Park against which club?
Show answer
Plymouth Argyle. Their opponents were a Third Division side, and it remains the only time that club has reached an FA Cup semi-final.
Which Watford player was sent off at Luton Town in April 1984 and suspended, ruling him out of the FA Cup final?
Show answer
Wilf Rostron. The left-back was dismissed by referee Roger Milford after a tangle with Luton's Paul Elliott. Les Taylor captained the side at Wembley in his absence.
Who was the first head coach appointed by Watford after the Pozzo family takeover in 2012?
Show answer
Gianfranco Zola. The former Chelsea and Italy forward took them all the way to the 2013 play-off final in his first season.
Graham Taylor's first season at Watford, 1977‑78, ended with the club winning which division?
Show answer
The Fourth Division. They were in the bottom tier of the Football League when he arrived, and finished eleven points clear of Southend United.
Watford reached the 1999 play-off final by beating Birmingham City on penalties in the semi-final. What was the shootout score?
Show answer
7‑6. The tie finished 1-1 on aggregate after extra time and the shootout ran deep into sudden death.
In which year did the Pozzo family buy Watford?
Show answer
2012. The takeover was completed in June, a few weeks after that season's Championship campaign ended.
Luther Blissett was sold in 1983, after topping the First Division scoring charts, to which Italian club?
Show answer
AC Milan. The £1 million move followed his 27-goal league season. He managed only five league goals in Italy and was back at Vicarage Road a year later.
In October 1978, Third Division Watford won a League Cup third-round tie away from home with two Luther Blissett headers. Which club did they knock out?
Show answer
Manchester United. Watford trailed at half-time at Old Trafford before Blissett's two second-half goals turned it around. It was their first ever win over that opponent.
Which club did Watford beat 2‑0 in the 1999 First Division play-off final at Wembley?
Show answer
Bolton Wanderers. The beaten finalists came through their semi-final on away goals and played their home games at the Reebok Stadium.
Watford finished runners-up in the First Division in 1982‑83. Which club took the title ahead of them?
Show answer
Liverpool. The champions that season were managed by Bob Paisley, in what proved to be his final campaign in charge.
Watford reached their first FA Cup final in 1984, losing at Wembley to which club?
Show answer
Everton. Howard Kendall's side ended a 14-year wait for a trophy that afternoon, and went on to win the league title the following season.
In which year did Aidy Boothroyd lead Watford to promotion to the Premier League?
Show answer
2006. They went up via the play-offs, beating Leeds United 3-0 in the final.
Who managed Watford in the 1999 play-off final and through the Premier League season that followed?
Show answer
Graham Taylor. He had managed England before returning to the club he first took up the divisions in the 1980s.
John Barnes left Watford in 1987 to join which club?
Show answer
Liverpool. The £900,000 move took him to Anfield, where he won two league titles. He had cost Watford next to nothing from non-league Sudbury Court six years earlier.
Watford, the club that plays at Vicarage Road, are known by which nickname?
Show answer
The Hornets. The name was adopted alongside the switch to gold and black. Think of the insect those colours belong to.
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