Watford: Vicarage Road

Snapshot

Team:	Watford
Nickname:	Hornets
Founded:	1881
Manager:	Sean Dyche
League:	Championship

Vicarage Road | Built in 1922

Rookery Stand (7,000): Main derivation of Vicarage Road atmosphere. Expect songs, drum and strong language. Look out for Liam on the front row, our resident conductor seen walking up and down the aisle with foghorn for a voice and listen out for ‘oi oi’, apparently a new ‘Watford Welcome’… yet to spread.

Upper Rous (3,000): Best seats in the house, but also most expensive. Get bang on the halfway line you’ve got a better view than the birds in the sky. Place yourself a few rows down from the top row though otherwise you’ll find yourself watching the match on the televisions in the executive boxes behind you, as well as admiring their bottle of bolli.

Lower Rous (3,000): Good view again can be obtained from the lower section of this stand as long as your not found taking corners. Family-oriented in areas but not without your average male football fan happy to use expletives. Depends who you find yourself sitting next to I feel…

East Stand (2,000): Only half used now due to health and safety reasons. Served me superbly as young one with the parents, not many months left on the East Stand’s clock though. Expect families and over 50’s, look out for Julie and current injured players. Non season-ticket holders unlikely to be found sitting here unless you’ve got a freebie.

Vicarage Road Stand (5,000): Away fans now only designated half of the former home end as Watford manage to persuade local schools, football clubs or scouts to fill the adjacent side for a small fee, which, whether or not they are entertained, is actually a fantastic scheme for the obvious ‘football in the community’ reasons, and the fact it reduces the away contingent, and in turn any noise they generate.

Tickets / Where to sit

Upper Rous ticket prices are £30 Adults, £18 Concessions and 13.00 Under 16s.

The ticket prices increase on match days to £32 Adults, £20 Concessions but Under 16s remain at £13. Limited seats are available in this stand.

Please note that tickets for home matches can be purchased on the day of the game, subject to availability, however we would like to stress that it is unlikely that tickets will be available on cash turnstiles and you will need to go to the Ticket Office to purchase.

Tel: 0844 856 1881

Getting to Vicarage Road

Train

Main station is Watford Junction; good links with most lines; Silverlink, Virgin, Great Western, Noddy Trains…Check out The Train Line.com for times, availability and prices – book in advance, save money for beer (always drink responsibly).

Twenty five minute walk to ground and you pretty much walk in a straight line – head to the town centre and then follow the yellow shirts to the Vic. If there’s no yellow shirts about, there’s a good chance you’ve got the wrong day.

The walk is straightforward and the one-way system means a cab doesn’t speed the process up too much. Expect around a tenner but shouldn’t be more; which can obviously be worth it for a group of five (London cabs available) – or just let the 32 year-old that blagged a student train ticket pay for it all.

Other train station in Watford is Watford High Street which isn’t worth mentioning for away fans and the home fans that use it will know about it anyway so this is a pretty pointless sentence.

Car

Best Junction to come off the M25 is probably J19 (nearest) but depends on individual preferences and what your Sat Nav tells you, best (nearest) for M1 – J5.

Parking

Street parking is near impossible around Watford and the parking availability is certainly not great in comparison to fellow Championship clubs.

(1) Chater Junior School, Addiscombe Road WD18 0WN; £5 entrance; £115 for season ticket to

guarantee you space every week. Probably not worth it for away fans mind.

(2) Watford Grammar School for Girls, Ladies Close, Watford, WD18 0AE and always a lovely

couple of girls on the door taking your £5. Be sure to get out quick if blocking someone in; take

your time if you’re blocked in.

(3) Gade Car Park Beechen Grove WD17 1NA. £4 all day; can’t go wrong.

(4) Church Car Park Exchange Road WD18 0BU, on one-way system opposite Vicarage Road.

(5) The Avenue Council Car Park at end of Hempstead Road opposite Horns Pub. Again,

£4 all day; obviously no security at this one.

Top four are 5-10 minute walk to ground with top two being closest and also offering advantage of manned car park, for which you pay an extra £1. And no, you can’t park in the hospital which is next to the ground, excuses rarely wash… (I’ve heard).

Map

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Where to drink

What I love about Watford is the majority of pubs and bars (and clubs) are located along the pedestrianised high street – which makes for a great night out. Anyway, there’s a good choice for both home and away fans and a good variety.

The other benefactor is that there are dedicated Home and Away pubs, which I find important in a pre-match build up. You’ll find some pubs and bars mixed but if you’re a home fan and there’s a large away contingent present, stay away from the Wetherspoons (Moon Under Water). It’s been turned over before and I doubt it was because of the plastic-fry-ups or watered down lager.

Where to eat

The establishments listed in the Home and Away sections above detail whether food (or close to it) is served. Otherwise, here’s a variety… (Restaurants, bakeries, fish & chips, fast food, pie shop).

Where to stay

Park Inn Watford - 30-40 St. Albans Road, WD17 1RN Watford. A 2-minute walk from Watford Junction, this hotel offers good prices for a one-night stay.

Watford Programme

Watford: £3.00

Watford Songs

"Hello, hello,

We are the Watford boys,

Hello, hello,

We are the Watford boys,

If you are a Luton fan, surrender or you die,

We all follow the Watford."

"We're by far the greatest team,

The world has ever seen,

And it's Watford FC,

Watford FC are great,

We're by far the greatest team,

The world has ever seen."

"Watford till I die,

I'm Watford till I die,

I know I am,

I'm sure I am,

I'm Watford till I die."

Watford Shop & Merchandise

One man and his dog on a Thursday morning; 1,000 people on a Saturday afternoon, and merchandise ranging from pencil sharpeners to slippers for the dog.

Club Records

Honour Year(s)

Football League First Division Runners-up 1982–83

Football League Second Division[nb 1] Runners-up 1981–82

Play-off winners 1998–99, 2005–06

Football League Third Division[nb 2] Champions 1968–69, 1997–98

Runners-up 1978–79

Football League Fourth Division Champions 1977–78

Southern Football League Champions 1914–15

Runners-up 1919–20

FA Cup Runners-up 1983–84

Semi-finalists 1969–70, 1986–87, 2002–03, 2006–07

League Cup Semi-finalists 1978–79, 2004–05

Club Contact

Address: Watford Football Club, Vicarage Road Stadium, Vicarage Road, Watford, WD1 8ER

Tel(s): 0870 442 1881 Fax: 01923 496001 Email: yourvoice@watfordfc.com