Fans, former players and the Mayor of Watford gathered at The Horns pub on Saturday lunchtime, to mark 47 years to the day that club legend Luther Blissett made his full home league debut – and scored – for the club.

As a sprightly 18-year-old on that Saturday in 1976, Blissett had been making a name for himself with his goalscoring exploits in the South-East Counties League for the youth team, as well as for the reserves in the Midweek League.

Manager Mike Keen handed him his debut in a team that included many names that would go on to win the Division Four title under Graham Taylor a couple of years later: Alan Garner, Alan Mayes, Keith Mercer and so on.

A crowd of just 4,536 were at Vicarage Road that day as Blissett and Peter Coffill scored the goals in a 2-1 win over Swansea City.

It was the first step on a journey that was to lead Blissett to become the club’s highest appearance maker and all-time record goalscorer, club legend status, England caps and goals, Watford’s first £1m player and a bond with the fans and the town like no other.

Saturday at The Horns – an event organised by the Former Players Club - was all about that first game and first goal, 47 years ago, and Blissett cut a special cake, mingled with fans and had pictures taken outside the pub and also at the nearby Elton John mural, on the wall of Watford Library.

“Saturday was quite amazing,” said Blissett.

“There as one lady who drove 100 miles just to be there, and that shows the old Watford spirit we all talk about is still there.

“We just have to keep working hard to keep bringing people together who share that spirit, and that’s why the work of the Former Players Club is so important.”

Even though he has attended so many different functions and events down the years, Blissett admitted he still gets emotional on occasions such as Saturday.

“There’s always a bit of emotion. Always. I tried to express to the supporters who attended on Saturday how much it meant to me to see them there,” he said.

“Coming together for a common cause is very important, and I think it’s a shame the fanbase seems so fragmented these days because there are so many different supporter groups.

“We’re all fans of Watford. We all support Watford Football Club. That should override everything else.”

Blissett said he was delighted that 47 years after his full home debut, defender Ryan Andrews made his against Bristol City and played so well.

“I thought that was great, and I’m pleased he had another good game,” said Blissett.

“He’s come in and acquitted himself really well. It’s so important to get homegrown players coming through, because they have an immediate connection with the club and the supporters.

“It’s good to see the odd one or two homegrown players popping up, and hopefully next season we’ll see players who have been on the periphery this season becoming a regular part of the squad.”

Back to that Saturday in 1976 – did Blissett remember feeling nervous before his home debut?

“I don’t remember anything like that. It’s become a bit of a blur, even the game itself. The only thing that really stuck in my mind about it was scoring the goal,” he said.

“I didn’t think my own performance in the game was particularly great, but I was pleased that we won and I scored what turned out to be the winner.

“I was told on the Friday I was starting and that was great, but I never really spent any time thinking about what it would actually be like. I’ve always looked at it that I was delighted to be playing football, and that this was another game of football.”

Like every striker, ask about the actual goal, and the detail is there!

“Oh yeah, I remember the goal really well,” laughed Blissett. “It is a very weird thing, but then I suppose football is a results sport, and for a striker a result is scoring a goal and so you remember the mechanics of what you did.

“I think it was either Kevin McCarthy or Peter Coffill played the ball into me with my back to goal, on the edge of the left-hand side of the D at the Vicarage Road End.

“I shaped as if I was going to turn towards the old Shrodells Stand, and instead went the other way. I didn’t need to look where the goal was and I just struck it to the keeper’s top-left corner.”

That was goal number one of 186 for Watford – did he ever expect to go on and set records like that?

“Naaah, no way,” Blissett laughed. “That thought did not even come anywhere near my consciousness.

“It’s an old phrase, but you took each day and each game at a time. You went in and trained, and worked hard. I did the work that had to be done, and then I’d get on the train and go home to Willesden every day.

“The young players cleaned the senior pro’s boots in those days. I think I was doing Walter Lees’ boots. But the youth players used to clean pretty much all the boots in those days.

“I had no win bonus or goal bonus. I got my first pro contract and I had no idea about things like that at all. I remember when I was offered my first contract, my games teacher who took football at school asked me to bring it in so he could have a look at it. He’d never seen one before.”

The mental image of modern-day players hopping on a train home after scoring on their full home debut is one very difficult to picture.

“I remember saying to my Mum when I got home that we’d won and I’d scored. She just said ‘well done son’.

“There was no big thing made of it because football back then wasn’t really like that. Players used to carry their boots around their necks as they walked into the ground before a game, mingling with supporters as they walked.

“The exciting bit was playing in games or being out on the training pitch. It was innocent. It was just about the football.

“It was the same with the supporters. It was all just about the football. You just happened to be playing football for a job and you were playing for the team they supported.”