New book marking Watford's 100 years at Vicarage Road on sale Saturday

The Hornets are set to celebrate this historic anniversary on Tuesday night when they face Middlesbrough in the Championship, exactly 100 years since the ground hosted its first match when ‘The Brewers’, as the club were then known, faced Millwall on August 30, 1922 in a Division Three South fixture.

The centenary is being marked by the publication of ‘100 Years at Vicarage Road’. Written by long-standing supporter and club historian Geoff Wicken, the author will be joined by Luther Blissett, Tommy Smith and club captain Tom Cleverley to sign copies in the Hornets shop at midday on Saturday prior to the game with Queens Park Rangers.

Geoff describes the 256-page book as “a reflection on 100 years at Vicarage Road and how it is a place of memories and belonging”.

He said: “There’s a structure to it which tells the story, decade by decade, of the evolution of the ground and key moments in its development, but the main thrust of it are images to allow people to look back at how it’s changed over the years, and there’s a significant number of recollections from supporters and players without whom the story wouldn’t be there.”

The front cover of '100 Years at Vicarage Road'

The club have made various appeals after the past two years asking for supporters to get in touch with their stories and recollections of the stadium and this has resulted in around 50 being included in the book.

Geoff explained: “They all reflect on different aspects of the supporters’ relationship to the stadium. Their introduction to the stadium in some cases often through parents, experiences like their first match, what it felt like. And there’s some lovely little touching, meaningful reflections from some supporters and some some sweeps of history from others.

“It was very important, I thought, to have the voice of the supporters in the book because that’s such a big part of what makes Vicarage Road a special place for so many people. It does come back to this sense of belonging and the memories which are generated.

“The book also reflects on the great games, the memorable moments, the occasions when we’ve clinched promotion at Vicarage Road. And there’s also one or two quirkier stories in there and some splendid pictures of, for example, motorcycle football taking place in the ground in the 1920s, a boxing tournament in 1950 – there’s a fabulous overhead picture of that – and some really quite lovely shots throughout the 100 years which capture some great detail.”

Pictures in ‘100 Years at Vicarage Road’ are primarily sourced from the Hornets archive maintained by club photographer Alan Cozzi and the Watford Observer archive and Geoff admitted one of the hardest tasks had been selecting which images to include. It was also difficult to track down photos of the club’s earliest days at the ground.

Geoff said: “Good quality images from the 1920s are very few and far between but we did find some from 1924 which was the first big cup tie played at the ground against Newcastle United and they were in the Getty image library.

“One of those is a particularly lovely picture and is one of the examples of a picture telling you what the words don’t.

“I’d read in Oliver Phillips centenary history and it’s backed up by the Watford Observer of the time they installed 750 temporary seats for this game, but neither of those sources said where they were in the stadium. Then you see this picture and they’re along the touchline! They’re at grand level all in front of the main grandstand and you can see a few people hanging on to the fence at the back and clustered round the drainpipe on the side of the stand.”

This image from Watford Museum of pitch works being carried is one of the pictures to feature in the book

While Geoff had no shortage of images to choose from for most of the club’s time at Vicarage Road, the unpredictable element was knowing how many supporters would get in touch with their memories and stories.

The author need not have been concerned though, with the number of quality of responses making it the most rewarding part of writing the book.

Geoff said: “When we put the first appeal out a number of people responded very quickly and it became apparent from right the start that we were going to have some cracking stories.

“People wrote about getting lost at the very first match they went to as a six-year-old and an announcement having to be made about retrieving them, or what the ground was like in the late 1940s, or trying to climb over a fence to get into a game in the late 1930s. There was a whole sweep of stories some of which go way back.

“No one wrote a story reflecting their experience of the 1920s of course, that would have been a bit too much to hope for, but someone wrote about the experience her mum had had as a young girl going to a game in the 1920s.

“That (the responses) was pleasing and I suppose it also tells you about the relationship supporters have with the place.

"This is a town club. The ground is 100 years old and if you reflect on that it’s in the same place, in the same town, it’s a walk from the town centre - people have always walked to games. And people feel a good sense of belonging in a way I imagine supporters of clubs who have moved stadiums…that’s a bond those supporters are still building and maybe don’t even have at all.

“It’s a bond that is created through generations. A lot of people remaining within the town, they’re born here, they grow up here, they go to games here, it’s really very strong and people feel that quite keenly I think.”

'100 Years at Vicarage Road' will cost £20.22, £1 of which will be donated to the club's community sports and education trust. It will also be available to buy online from the Hornets Shop (plus postage and packing).