It had been all the talk among Watford fans since the whispers first began at the start of the week, and now the return of Emmanuel Dennis to Vicarage Road – on loan from Nottingham Forest – has been confirmed.
One of very few plus points when the Hornets were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2021/22 season, Dennis joined Nottingham Forest and was on loan in Turkey when Watford stepped in to secure his services until the end of the season.
Many people say ‘never go back’ when it comes to returning to somewhere that you have enjoyed previous success, but that mantra didn’t stop the late, great Graham Taylor from having two incredible spells at Vicarage Road during which he twice brought top-flight football to Watford.
So, now that Dennis is back at the club here are a few other forwards who have left, only to return later.
Luther Blissett, 1975-83, 1984-88 and 1991-93
There is no other place to start other than with Watford’s greatest ever player, record appearance maker and goalscorer and current club ambassador – plus he had three spells as a player at the place he calls home.
The archetypal story of a hungry young player who progressed through the ranks, Blissett’s rise dovetailed perfectly with Taylor’s first stint as manager and the two were instrumental in taking Watford from Division Four to Division One.
Capped by England and winner of the Golden Boot for his 27 First Division goals, Blissett unsurprisingly attracted attention and became Watford’s first £1m player when he joined AC Milan in 1983.
After a season in Italy he returned to Watford, spending another four seasons at Vicarage Road before joining Bournemouth in 1988. His goalscoring feats at Dean Court were phenomenal as he averaged virtually a goal every two games.
His third and final stint as a Watford player was between 1991 and 1993, but he was to return again in 1996 as Taylor began his second spell at the club.
Blissett coached the first team and also managed the Reserves, before leaving in 2001 when Gianluca Vialli became manager.
However, the legendary striker never really left Vicarage Road because of his work on matchdays and support for the club on and off the field, and earlier this season he was appointed as Club Ambassador.
Cliff Holton 1958-61 and 1965-66
Going even further back, fans of a certain age will happily regale younger supporters with stories of Holton, who made his name at Arsenal where he played in the 1952 FA Cup Final while his 19 goals helped them win the First Division title in 1953.
Renowned for his powerful shooting ability, Holton scored an incredible 48 league and cup goals in the 1958/59 season which saw Watford promoted to Division Three.
During that campaign, he scored hat-tricks in two games played on consecutive days!
There was huge controversy when he was sold to Northampton in 1961, but Holton just carried on hitting the net with the Cobblers and broke their scoring record in his first season.
His second stay at Vicarage Road was shorter, but he still managed to score at a rate of a goal every two games, and his departure to Charlton in 1966 saw another famous Watford name – Stewart Scullion – head in the opposite direction.
Holton moved into engineering when he retired from the game in 1968, and died suddenly while on holiday in 1996 at the age of 67.
Bruce Dyer 1993-94 and 2003-05
A product of Watford’s youth system, Dyer rose to prominence when he became England’s first £1m teenager in 1994.
He had burst onto the first team scene having just turned 18, and his fast, powerful style quickly made him popular with the fans.
After less than 40 senior games, Crystal Palace splashed out the seven-figure sum to take him to Selhurst Park where he helped the Eagles achieve promotion and then made 22 Premier League appearances.
Dyer was called into the England Under-21 squad and when Palace were relegated, he scored 14 goals the following season and then another 18 as they returned to the top-flight.
He joined Barnsley for £700,000 in 1998 and scored more than 60 goals in over 200 appearances during five seasons at Oakwell.
A return to Vicarage Road in 2003 saw the striker net another 14 times for Watford over two seasons, before having short spells at eight different clubs over the next four years after which he retired.
He settled in the Barnsley area, and founded the Love Life Sports Ground in Grimethorpe.
Heidar Helguson 1996-2006 and 2009-10
The ‘Iceman’ became Watford’s first seven-figure signing when Graham Taylor paid Lillestrom £1.5m for his services in January 1999, and he promptly scored on his debut in a 3-2 home defeat to Liverpool.
It took Helguson very little time to become a firm fan favourite with his combination of bravery, strength and skill, plus an incredible leap that meant he was a handful for defenders several inches taller than him.
He couldn’t help avoid Watford’s relegation from the Premier League and he scored nine times the following season at the end of which Taylor retired and Vialli took over.
The Italian oddly used Helguson largely as a wing-back and usually from the bench, and while he made 39 appearances in 01/02, 28 of them were as a substitute.
Things changed markedly when Ray Lewington became manager and he finished the next season as top scorer with Watford reaching the FA Cup semi-finals.
Injury wrecked much of 03/04 campaign but the following season was his best for the club as he scored 20 goals in 46 appearances and won Player of the Season, Goal of the Season and Display of the Season.
At a time when money was very tight, it was no surprise that the club sold him to Fulham for £2m that summer, and he went on to play for Bolton and QPR before returning to Vicarage Road on loan in September 2009.
Again he scored on his ‘debut’, this time against Leicester and what was initially a three-month loan was made season-long and he netted 11 times in 29 appearances.
He returned to Iceland, for whom he earned 55 full international caps, after a season with Cardiff and is now retired.
Matej Vydra 2012-13 and 2014-16
When Watford won promotion to the Premier League in the 2014/15, there were few – if any – more exhilarating sights than Vydra turning on the afterburners and leaving Championship defences for dead.
The Czech Republic international first came to Vicarage Road when he was loaned to Watford by Udinese for the 2012/13 season.
He scored the winner on his debt in an epic 3-2 away win at Crystal Palace, and was to be a prolific and lethal marksman as he netted 20 goals in 41 Championship appearances.
Vydra was voted Championship Player of the Season (beating Glenn Murray and Tom Ince into second and third), but the campaign ended in disappointed as he was injured and substituted during the Play-Off defeat to Crystal Palace at Wembley.
The next season was spent on loan with West Brom in the Premier League, but appearances and goals were harder to come by and Vydra returned to Vicarage Road for another season-long loan in 14/15 and promptly banged in 16 goals, including the second in a win at Brighton that secured promotion to the Premier League.
That summer he signed permanently, but found himself behind Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo in the pecking order, and was loaned to Reading.
In August 2016, Vydra signed for Derby for a fee of around £8m and spent two seasons with the Rams before Burnley gave him the chance to play in the Premier League again when they signed him for around £11m in summer 2018.
Injuries niggled his time at Turf Moor and, after leaving in 2022 he had a spell without a club.
However, now aged 31, Vydra is back in his home country and has made 19 appearances for Viktoria Plzen this season.
Paul Wilkinson 1988-91 and 1995
Not many players finish top scorer for their club in three successive seasons, which is a feat Wilkinson achieved with Watford – but even fewer then leave and then repeat the achievement, but Wilkinson did just that in his first trio of seasons with Middlesbrough after leaving Vicarage Road.
A £300,000 purchase from Nottingham Forest, he had previously been part of the Everton team that won the old First Division in 1987.
A tall striker with long hair and a bushy moustache, Wilkinson was adept at both finishing and flicking-on for others, although he also became renowned for trying to claim goals where he hadn’t actually touched the ball!
Nonetheless, his haul of 55 goals in 159 appearances was impressive enough, although Watford fans equally enjoyed his often-exuberant arm-waving protests aimed at linesmen who flagged him offside.
The popular fanzine ‘Clap Your Hands, Stamp Your Feet’ even lovingly lampooned it in their ‘Learn to play the Watford way’ cartoon, giving detailed instructions of how to recreate the ‘Wilko Wave’ as well as counting them in match reports.
The striker joined Middlesbrough for £500,000 and he spent five years there, helping them gain promotion to the Premier League.
Wilkinson’s second spell at Vicarage Road was far shorter and less successful, playing four games without scoring on loan in December 1995 under the late Glenn Roeder.
After hangings up his boots Wilkinson moved into coaching, and had spells as caretaker manager of Northampton and Grimsby.
In July 2019 he was appointed manager of Bury, who were then in League One. However, six weeks later the club were expelled by the EFL due to lack of finances after a failed takeover bid, and Wilkinson never got to manage the The Shakers in a competitive fixture.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel