Wednesday, September 28, 1983

Already 3-1 down after the first leg in Germany, a Watford side missing seven injured first teamers faced 1.F.C.Kaiserslautern in the UEFA Cup first round.

Lacking options, Graham Taylor gave a debut to slightly-built 19-year-old striker Ian Richardson.

Four minutes in, Richardson's speed saw him latch onto John Barnes' flick-on to put the Hornets ahead on the night.

Shortly aftewards, a fierce low cross from the right by another youngster, right-back Charlie Palmer, was pushed out by goalkeeper Armin Reichel but deflected in by defender Werner Melzer.

In the second half, Richardson chipped Richard Jobson's right-wing cross over Reichel to complete the victory in defiance of the opinion, widely touted after the first leg, that Watford's now demonised "long ball game" was unsuited to European competition.

Reproduced by kind permission of Matt Rowson from his book,Watford FC On This Day

You can relive the goals from that great night in Europe here.