Watford made history by scoring seven goals in one half of a game for the first time on Saturday. It was also only the second occasion the Hornets had netted a total of seven to win a league game at Vicarage Road in almost 50 years.

The 7-2 win over the Tangerines was the 12th time Watford have ended a home league fixture by scoring that many goals, the sixth occasion since the end of World War Two but only the second since the end of 1967.

The last time Watford won a home league fixture with a final tally of seven goals was 1989 and it is with that game that we start our look back at the four other occasions it has happened since 1945.

Watford Observer:

Glyn Hodges in possession during the Bradford win.

Watford 7 Bradford City 2 (Division Two - Saturday, December 16, 1989)

Following their play-off semi-final exit on away goals the previous season, Watford had struggled in the first third of the subsequent campaign, winning just four of their opening 18 league games. However, a 3-1 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers sparked a sequence of five straight victories that included this high-scoring point of the campaign. Paul Wilkinson netted led the charge with a brace and Barry Ashby, Liburd Henry, Gary Penrice, Gary Porter and Lee Richardson were also on target. The Hornets were to finish the season in lower mid-table, after Colin Lee had replaced Steve Harrison as manager, while Bradford were relegated without an away league win to their name.

Watford 7 Grimsby Town 1 (Division Three - Saturday, December 2, 1967)

This match was significant not only for the margin of victory, but also for the final goals Tony Currie scored before he was sold to Sheffield United two months later. One of the country’s leading talents of the 1970s, Currie emerged spectacularly from his Watford apprenticeship by scoring six times in his first four league matches for the club, including a hat-trick in a 4-1 victory over Peterborough United. A second treble followed in this victory over Grimsby, with the other goals shared equally between Terry Garbett and Dixie Hale.

Watford 7 Coventry City 2 (Division Three - Tuesday, April 11, 1961)

Having scored a club record 92 goals the season before, Watford equalled their second highest total of 85 in the following campaign as they missed out on completing back-to-back promotions, finishing fourth in Division Three. The legendary Cliff Holton scored once against Coventry en route to again finishing as the club’s top scorer, but on this occasion it was Freddie Bunce and Peter Walker who took the scoring plaudits with a brace apiece. John Fairbrother and Tommy also netted in the rout.

Watford 7 Hartlepools United 2 (Division Four - Tuesday, October 13, 1959)

Watford finished higher in the table than fourth to achieve promotion in future seasons, but this was the year when scoring records tumbled as the legendary Holton-Dennis Uphill partnership netted a staggering 84 goals between them in all competitions. Holton was to finish the campaign with 42 league goals to his name, 19 of which came in a 14-game spell from September to October 1959. The first of four hat-tricks in that season came in the beating of Hartlepools (the ‘s’ remained until 1968), while Uphill and Bunce also scored twice.

Watford Observer:

Action from the 7-1 victory over Grimsby Town in 1967.

Watford 7 Crystal Palace 1 (Division Three (South) - Tuesday, September 7, 1954)

Six days prior to facing Palace, Len Goulden’s side had been on the receiving end of a 6-1 drubbing at Swindon Town. But after steadying the ship with a 0-0 draw at Exeter City, Palace were emphatically beaten as Roy Brown continued his fine start to the season by netting a hat-trick to score his sixth in as many games. Maurice Cook weighed in with a brace, with Jimmy Bowie and Jimmy Hernon netting the others.

Article compiled with the assistance of the Watford Mailing List's Jon Sinclair and watfordfcarchive.com