A survey of professional football clubs in the summer of 2000 revealed that Watford had a wages to turnover ratio of 83 per cent. That in itself was not just unhealthy but downright worrying, and the concern was not completely assuaged by chief executive Tim Shaw, who argued the real figure was 75 per cent.

Shaw then admitted the report was right in that you cannot, in the long term, sustain over 50 per cent of the turnover on wages. “In our situation, we have the advantage of parachute money for two years but we have benchmarked our wages at the level of 50 per cent and anything over and above that we are investing in an attempt to get back into the Premier League,” he said.

Those efforts were handicapped at the outset of the 2000/01 campaign by a succession of injuries, which had reduced Graham Taylor’s squad to the “bare bones” and he admitted if the situation did not improve, he would have to look to bring in loan cover.

“We had 38 games in the Premiership, whereas we have 46 in the first division (second tier) and those extra games are all played in mid-week so you are afforded little in the way of respite or rest. At the moment, we do not seem to be able to get the numbers in the treatment room below ten,” he admitted.

Taylor revealed there are three types of injured players. “The first will never say anything about their injury and will not seek treatment. Then there is the type who will not say anything until you note there is something the matter with him or he has lost form, so when you talk to him, you find out. The third type never gets injured, never knows the physio and is never in the treatment room. Sam Ellis was like that.”

Graham recalled that there are some players who cannot play in discomfort or in a degree of pain. That player can become a problem because you can never have him fit, in his mind. “It is very difficult to have a person injury-free, so by definition it is very difficult to have a player with nothing whatsoever wrong with him,” said the Watford boss.

Watford, despite their injury problems, racked up a 4-1 victory at home to Sheffield United with Gifton Noel-Williams billed as the Comeback Kid.

The 20-year-old who had been the second youngest player to make his Watford first-team debut and the youngest goalscorer in the league and the FA Cup – all at the age of 16, had been the most promising prospect to emerge from the club’s youth scheme/academy for some years. Yet Gifton Reuben Elisha Noel-Williams had faced the prospect in 1999 of having to pack up the game.

When he cracked a bone on his knee, towards the end of the 1998/99 season, it was considered a body-blow to Watford’s promotion hopes. Yet the Hornets cobbled together a spectacular run in to reach the Play-Offs and beat Bolton to gain a passport to the top flight.

Behind the scenes, Graham Taylor and his staff were “gutted” by the revelation that Gifton had severe arthritis. It was discovered that the player was unable to raise his arms above his head.

“At 18 years of age, he had everything going for him. He had just scored a great goal against Sunderland and then he was injured,” Taylor recalled. “He was improving with every game and in fact improving with every training session. Everything you told him, he took on board.

“Then he had this kick which sparked certain medical conditions. In short, it looked as if he might have to hang up his boots at 18.

“They have been very, very hard times for him and the longer he stayed out, the more people realised his problem was a serious one. His knee can go at any time but he has had medication, which puts it under control. He has had to go to the USA and they have done very well for him.

“The fact is, we know if he does get a knock, it will take him longer to recover. So for him to play and score was a great bonus for Gifton.”

The home-grown, strapping striker made 193 outings and scored 41 Watford goals but clearly his condition handicapped his progress. While some thought he might become one of the greatest strikers the club has ever had, that promise went out the window when he was injured and his condition was discovered.

Graham had an extra reason for being grateful for that incredible run-in to the Play-Offs the previous year, because it took the heat off the situation with the young striker.

The entire staff was stunned by the medical condition they unearthed but Taylor insisted they turn over every stone in a bid to find some way of alleviating the problem, for the young man already had a family depending on him.

As they busied themselves behind the scenes and eventually sourced this treatment in the USA, Taylor took me into his confidence and explained that Gifton was likely to be out for some time.

I can recall Gifton talking to me one day and I asked him about his arthritis.

“You know!” he said as if stunned.

By then he had seen the light at the end of the tunnel but, of course, he did not enjoy a full career.

He left Watford on a free transfer in 2003 and by the age of 31, having played for Stoke, Burnley, Brighton, Millwall, Yeovil and a couple of Spanish clubs in between, he headed for the States.

A religious man, he needed that faith to support him as he spent those months facing the possibility that he was washed up at 20.