1914–15 Watford F.C. season

English football team season March 2015 March 2015 Watford 1914–15 Cassio Road Southern League First Division 1st FA Cup Sixth qualifying round (eliminated by Rochdale) Southern Charity Cup First round (eliminated by Luton Town) 8,000 (vs Luton Town, 2 April 1915) George Edmonds (17) George Edmonds (17) 1,000 (vs Southend United, 3 February 1915) 1913–14 1919–20 _black_stripes _blackstripes _black_stripes _2 white stripes ffffff ffffff ffffff 000000 000000 Watford Football Club are an association football team from the county of Hertfordshire, England. The 1914–15 season was their nineteenth season of league football, since joining the Southern League as West Hertfordshire for the 1896–97 season. Watford finished the season as champions of the Southern League First Division, winning 22 and drawing 8 of their 38 league matches. In other competitions, Watford were eliminated from the FA Cup in the sixth qualifying round by Rochdale, and from the Southern Charity Cup by fellow Southern League team Luton Town. The club's manager was Harry Kent, and its top scorer George Edmonds, with 17 goals from 35 appearances. Other notable players included Skilly Williams, who began what would be a 13-year period as the club's first choice goalkeeper,Illustrated Who's Who p. 243 and Fred Gregory, whose goal against Gillingham sealed the title for Watford.Illustrated Who's Who p. 101 Gregory and Williams were also the only two men to play in all 40 of Watford's games. As a result of the suspension of league football due to the First World War, Watford were the reigning champions for the next five years, until they were beaten to the 1919–20 title on goal average by Portsmouth.Watford Season by Season p. 62 Background History of Watford F.C. Although he had managed Watford since the departure of John Goodall in 1910, Harry Kent made two final competitive appearances in December 1913, before retiring completely as a player. Watford lost both matches, and off the pitch Kent had an equally difficult season. Watford finished in 18th position in the Southern League First Division, and only managed to avoid relegation on the final day of the season with a 2–0 win over QPR. Despite a 10–0 thrashing of Bournemouth in their opening FA Cup match, they were defeated by Gillingham in the following round. Furthermore, financial difficulties forced Kent to offload several key players at the end of the season. Top scorer Thomas Ashbridge and full back Harry Pantling were sold to Sheffield United for £500 each,Illustrated Who's Who p. 26, 181 while first choice goalkeeper Joe Webster transferred to West Ham United for £300.Illustrated Who's Who p. 237 Other former first team regulars to leave the club before the start of 1914–15 included David Donald, Billy Dryden and Tommy Mitchell. Southern League Despite Britain's declaration of war in August 1914, the Southern League continued as normal for the 1914–15 season. Watford started their campaign on 2 September with a 2–1 win against Cardiff F.C. They continued their strong start to the season with a run of 6 wins and 3 defeats from the opening 9 fixtures, including a 3–0 home win against 1913–14 champions Swindon Town. However, the following two fixtures yielded consecutive league defeats to Reading and Southampton, and Watford's remaining 8 games of 1914 provided only two further wins. The new year brought a dramatic change in fortunes for Watford's season. Watford won 10 and drew 2 of their first 12 games of 1915, with George Edmonds, Peter Ronald and injured Charlie White's replacement Arthur Green all scoring freely. A win and a defeat against Luton Town, a 2–0 defeat to West Ham United and a heavy 6–0 loss at Swindon enabled Reading and Cardiff to close in on Watford's points tally and goal average. But Watford secured the title in their penultimate match, with Fred Gregory scoring the decisive goal in a 3–2 win at Gillingham. Results Legend #CCFFCC Win 1px solid #AAAAAA #FFFFCC Draw 1px solid #AAAAAA #FFCCCC Loss 1px solid #AAAAAA Southern League collapsible 2 September 1914 Watford 2–1 Cardiff City Ronald White Cassio Road 1,500 W collapsible 5 September 1914 Portsmouth 2–3 Watford Edmonds Ronald White Fratton Park 7,000 W collapsible W 12 September 1914 Watford 3–0 Swindon Town Edmonds White own goal Cassio Road 3,000 collapsible D 16 September 1914 Watford 0–0 Brighton & Hove Albion Cassio Road 1,500 collapsible D 19 September 1914 Southend United 0–0 Watford Kursaal 4,000 collapsible D 26 September 1914 Watford 2–2 QPR Edmonds Hastings Cassio Road 5,000 collapsible W 3 October 1914 Millwall 0–3 Watford Tattersall The Den 15,000 collapsible W 10 October 1914 Watford 2–0 Bristol Rovers Val GregoryRonald Cassio Road 3,000 collapsible W 17 October 1914 Croydon Common 0–1 Watford Edmonds Croydon Common Athletic Ground 6,000 collapsible L 24 October 1914 Watford 0–1 Reading Cassio Road 5,000 collapsible L 31 October 1914 Southampton 3–1 Watford Hastings The Dell collapsible D 7 November 1914 Watford 0–0 Northampton Town Cassio Road 6,000 collapsible W 14 November 1914 Watford 1–0 Crystal Palace Hastings Cassio Road collapsible D 21 November 1914 Plymouth Argyle 1–1 Watford own goal Home Park collapsible L 28 November 1914 Watford 0–1 West Ham United Cassio Road collapsible L 5 December 1914 Norwich City 2–0 Watford The Nest (football ground) 3,000 collapsible W 12 December 1914 Watford 4–0 Gillingham McLauchlan Waterall Cassio Road 2,500 collapsible D 25 December 1914 Watford 1–1 Exeter City McLauchlan Cassio Road 2,000 collapsible L 26 December 1914 Exeter City 4–1 Watford Hastings St James Park 6,000 collapsible W 1 January 1915 Cardiff City 2–3 Watford Edmonds Green Tattersall Ninian Park 1,900 collapsible W 2 January 1915 Watford 2–1 Portsmouth Edmonds Cassio Road 3,000 collapsible D 23 January 1915 Reading 1–1 Watford White Elm Park collapsible W 3 February 1915 Watford 2–1 Southend United Ronald own goal Cassio Road 1,000 collapsible W 13 February 1915 Bristol Rovers 2–3 Watford Edmonds Green Eastville Stadium 1,000 collapsible W 20 February 1915 Watford 3–0 Croydon Common Hastings Ronald Cassio Road 3,000 collapsible W 27 February 1915 Watford 4–0 Millwall Edmonds Green Hastings Ronald Cassio Road 3,000 collapsible W 6 March 1915 Watford 5–2 Southampton Green Hastings Kennedy Ronald Tattersall Cassio Road collapsible D 13 March 1915 Northampton Town 1–1 Watford Val Gregory Eastville Stadium 10,000 collapsible W 18 March 1915 QPR 2–5 Watford Edmonds GreenVal Gregory Tattersall Loftus Road 5,000 collapsible W 20 March 1915 Crystal Palace 0–1 Watford Tattersall The Crystal Palace collapsible W 27 March 1915 Watford 2–0 Plymouth Argyle Edmonds Tattersall Cassio Road 3,000 collapsible L 2 April 1915 Watford 2–4 Luton Town Kennedy Ronald Cassio Road 8,000 collapsible L 3 April 1915 West Ham United 2–0 Watford Boleyn Ground 10,000 collapsible W 5 April 1915 Luton Town 0–2 Watford EdmondsFred Gregory Kenilworth Road 7,000 collapsible L 6 April 1915 Swindon Town 6–0 Watford County Ground 1,000 collapsible W 10 April 1915 Watford 2–1 Norwich City Edmonds Kennedy Cassio Road collapsible W 17 April 1915 Gillingham 2–3 Watford Edmonds Green Fred Gregory Priestfield Stadium collapsible W 24 April 1915 Brighton & Hove Albion 1–2 Watford Edmonds Green Goldstone Ground 3,000 FA Cup collapsible L 19 December 1914 Sixth qualifying round Rochdale 2–0 Watford 4,000 Spotlands Southern Charity Cup collapsible L 4 November 1914 First round Luton Town 2–0 Watford Kenilworth Road Final standings 1914–15 Southern Football League#Division One Two points were awarded for a win, one point for draws, and none for defeats.https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engsouthernleaghist.html England: Southern League final tables 7 July 2010 24 July 2005 Dinant Abbink RSSSF Richard Rundle Due to the war, no clubs were relegated at the end of the season, although Croydon Common ceased trading before the start of the 1919–20 season. thumb|right|150px|Goalkeeper Skilly Williams played in every competitive game. Division One WAT Players Statistics Key P: Games played G: Goals scored right|thumb|350px|A depiction of the 2–3–5 formation used by Watford for the majority of the season. Wingers were then more commonly referred to as outside forwards; the wide and central half backs were known as wing halves and centre halves respectively. Position P G P G P GLeagueCupsTotalBob BarnshawCentre half 11000110Harold BullingFull back 35020370George Edmonds George Edmonds (footballer)Centre forward 3517103617Albert Green 1Inside forward 23800238Fred Gregory Fred Gregory (footballer, born 1886)Full back / Wing half 38220402Val GregoryWing half 32310333Ernie GrimsdellFull back 01 100010William Hastings William Hastings (footballer)Outside forward 34620366Sam Hatton 1Full back 001010Jim Kennedy Jimmy Kennedy (footballer)Centre half 32320343James McGuire 1Outside forward 03 300030Joe McLauchlanCentre forward 06 632083F.A. McMorranWing half 06 601070Peter RonaldInside forward 35910369Alex Stewart 1Full back 37010380Tommy WaterallOutside forward 3310203510Charlie White Charlie White (association footballer)Inside forward 19420214Skilly WilliamsGoalkeeper 38020400 References General Jones Trefor 1998 Watford Season by Season 0-9527458-1-X The Watford Football Club Illustrated Who's Who Jones Trefor 1996 0-9527458-0-1 http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Watford/Watford.htm Watford: Historical Football Kits Historical Football Kits 7 July 2010 Specific 3 https://www.fchd.info/WATFORD.HTM Watford Football Club History Database Richard Rundle 7 July 2010 Illustrated Who's Who p. 267 Watford Season by Season p. 58 Watford Season by Season p. 59 Watford Season by Season p. 60 Watford Season by Season p. 61 External links Watford Football Club official site Watford Category:Watford F.C. seasons