Saturday, December 18, 1897
West Herts faced a trip to Warmley in the second division of the Southern League.
The Watford Observer reported that Great Western had "put on a saloon so that it was possible to pleasantly while away the long run from Paddington to Bristol".
Whether being excessively relaxed by their trip or disrupted by the state of Warmley's pitch, "used as West Herts are to the very best of pitches", the visitors seemed ill-prepared for the encounter conceding five in the first half and another six in the second, without reply.
Warmley would go on to score 108 goals in 22 league games that season, finishing behind Royal Artillery by virtue of a single dropped point and going out of business a year later.
Reproduced by kind permission of Matt Rowson from his book, Watford FC On This Day
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