If you are going to make a mistake..Make it an expensive mistake.

The Table	The Fixtures	The Squad
Watford Home 2000-01	Program £2	Watford Away 2000-01

News

Please note, dear reader this is what happens when you spend money that you have, but have not received yet. The repercussions of this season will be felt for years to come.

It all started with Vialli assembling his squad. His policy was to  purchase players on free transfers but give them large wages. Having missed out on Dennis Wise who went to Leicester City he then proceeded to Ramon Vega a Swiss international who came from Celtic, Stephen Glass from Newcastle, Stephen Hughes from Everton, Patrick Blondeau from Marseille, Filippo Galli from Italian club Brescia (Named team captain) and finally he pays 900k for Forward Marcus Gayle from Rangers.

These signings appear to have caught the publics imagination as 4000 + attend the pre-season open day.

WATFORD Leisure plc announces its intention to seek a listing on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange via a Placing and Subscription of New Ordinary Shares. Shares open at 1p each.
Toshiba are named club sponsors.

Plans are unveiled for the new east stand, The 4,000 seat structure would mean that capacity would remain at 23,000

However as the season starts, results are mixed as new players attempt to bed in to new systems. Home games are generally won and away games are generally lost... If this appears like a bland statement, it matches the football displayed. We start with mid table security and embrace it for the rest of the season

September and Watford provide comedy. In a home match against Birmingham, Pierre Issa in a chase with a Birmingham forward falls over and dislocates his shoulder.
As is customary in these cases on come four stout stretcher bearers and some medical staff. They stick the stricken Issa on a stretcher and carry him off Via the Rookery end. Passing the stand the stretcher bearer nearest the stand and next to the in pain Issa's shoulder, looses his footing and falls over dumping the in pain Issa on the floor and on to that shoulder. What become of the stretcher bearer is not known, hopefully he received a knighthood, Issa recovered and went on to display the abject mediocrity that he was noted for for the rest of the season. The incident can be viewed on you tube here.

In an off the field incident in October midfielder Paolo Vernazza is stabbed in the leg by a burglar when returning to his home after a night out. Fears over his career are short lived however as Paolo returns by the first week of November.
A Tuesday night match against Millwall is postponed due to a Fire which in turn causes explosions in a industrial facility near to the New Den.

However in November and December we have a run of 1 defeat in 10 games leading up to a League Cup 5th round game against a struggling Sheffield Wednesday. Vialli for some reason known only to himself changes formation and tinkers with the starting line-up. We lose 4-0.

January arrives, so do Paul Okon and Jermain Pennant. However things go poorly and after being booed off after a 2-1 home defeat by Burnley in early February, Chief Executive Tim Shaw calls for greater understanding all round and that this is a learning curve. He also insists we are not going to throw it all away off the back of some poor results over a relatively short space of time.
Watford secure the freehold on Vicarage Road for £750,000 ending almost 80 years of being Brewery Tenants to Benskins who had originally built the ground in 1922.

February and Graham Taylor gives up playing with his Roses and steps back into management at Aston Villa, one of the shortest retirements on record. Plans for the new East Stand are given the green light by the council...Should not be to long before we see a new stand then!

The end of February arrives and with the criticism growing of the teams performance and rumours of money troubles at the club, Tim Shaw goes on the attack with the admittance the board of directors has made mistakes in the way they have purchased players. He then states that the directors have put 6.5 million into the club over the past 2 years and they were not prepared to continue pumping money in on this scale in the future. He insists there is no outside debt and an overdraft level they can control. To make matters worse a ITV digital, a television company that has promised millions to the Football League is just about to go to the wall. Having budgeted for that money the directors are starting to get sweaty palms as 2 million a year is a lot of money to go up in smoke.

Watford enter April firmly planted in the mediocrity of Mid-Table and they maintain this with 3 defeats in the next four matches including Nigel Gibbs playing in the last of 491 games for Watford. It is an emotional send off against Gillingham. He then moves on to a coaching role within the club and he is also granted a second testimonial against Tottenham Hotspurs .

With the season now finished what plans will Vialli and the board have for the 2002-03 season?

In the League We finish 14th out of 24 of Division 1.
We Won 16 Drew 11 Lost 19
We Scored 62 Goals and conceded 56.

In the FA Cup 3rd Round
3rd Rnd Arsenal (H) 2-4

League Cup  5th Round
1st Rnd Plymouth (H) 1-0
2nd Rnd Bristol City (A) 3-2
3rd Rnd Bradford City (H) 4-1
4th Rnd Charlton Athletic (H) 3-2
5th Rnd Sheffield Wednesday (A) 4-0

Highest Scorer Tommy Smith 11 Goals

Manager: Gianluca Vialli

IN for this season came

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road