In 1977 Graham Taylor and Elton John drew up a ten-year plan to steer Watford Football Club from the depths of the Fourth Division to the top flight.
They did it in five.
The Hornets took on and defeated the giants of English football in the Eighties. They were runners-up to Liverpool in the Football League, they played in Europe, and reached the FA Cup final at Wembley for the first time.
Enjoy the Game by Lionel Birnie, published in 2010, is a book that tells the story of that incredible decade based on dozens of interviews with the players and management who made it happen.
Now, for the first time, it's available as an audio series, read by Watford supporter, actor and voice artist Colin Mace.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In 1977 Graham Taylor and Elton John drew up a ten-year plan to steer Watford Football Club from the depths of the Fourth Division to the top flight.
They did it in five.
The Hornets took on and defeated the giants of English football in the Eighties. They were runners-up to Liverpool in the Football League, they played in Europe, and reached the FA Cup final at Wembley for the first time.
Enjoy the Game by Lionel Birnie, published in 2010, is a book that tells the story of that incredible decade based on dozens of interviews with the players and management who made it happen.
Now, for the first time, it's available as an audio series, read by Watford supporter, actor and voice artist Colin Mace.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
'I wish we’d been told it was just a normal game of football,' Neil Price
The FA Cup final on May 19, 1984 put Watford on the biggest stage in world football, in front of a global audience of hundreds of millions. Just six years earlier they'd been facing the likes of Southport and Darlington in the Fourth Division.
Finishing runners-up to Liverpool had been one thing but to reach Wembley marked the culmination of the journey, the realisation of a dream.
Elton's tears flowed as Abide with Me and the national anthem played and the magnitude of the achievement sank in.
For the players, the build-up to the final was tricky, Everton were a formidable opponent on the cusp of turning themselves into the best team in England, one of their goals should have been disallowed and, if truth be told, the occasion got to them as Watford’s day in the sun ended up giving them the blues.
Enjoy the game by Lionel Birnie. Read by Colin Mace. Produced by Jon Moonie.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.