Watford – Vicarage Road

By SeasideEssexXile

Vicarage Road – Watford

With having had a trip up t’North, albeit the hole that is Knobbersville, only 4 days previously it’s the North West’s more illustrious footballing team that take on the Hornets this Saturday. With all this Lancashire talk those geezers from the smoke will be thinking ferrets, flat caps and mills, in comparison to ourselves as when we hear the term ‘weaving’ we think of their ex chairman’s attempts to remain hairy.

Now who would want an attention seeking flamboyant chairman who uses a club as a plaything?????? Perhaps we have more in common than we realise.

The Ground
Vicarage Rd has had ongoing redevelopment since the 90’s and the overall completion should be finished in the next 3 years. Capacity will rise to around the 23k mark and with most of this latter work being around the corporate + home areas not much will change for visiting fans.
The ground still has a traditional feel to it, although it now also plays host to the egg chasers of Saracens and has a video screen in 1 corner.

We’ll be sat in the Vicarage Road Stand behind a goal, room for 2200 although I expect the travelling numbers to be around the 800 mark.

How to Get There
M55, M6 South all the way to the M1. Leave the 1at J5 and take the A4008 (Stephenson Way), signposted Watford Town Centre. Bear left on dual carriageway, by-passing the first roundabout, keep towards Town Centre. At next roundabout take 2nd exit and follow signs to Town Centre. Immediately in front of you is the Harlequin Centre. Stay in the middle or left lane of the three lane carriageway on ring road. After the second set of traffic lights (Watford High Street Station on your left), move into the left lane and take the next turning signposted Hospital and West Watford, this is Vicarage Road.
Car parking is available on the local industrial estates as well as the Vicarage Road Girls School, close to the ground and £5.

For the Virgin lovers amongst us
The nearest station is Watford High Street, a ten minute walk away from the ground. However from the North it’ll be Watford Junction which is about a 20 minute walk.

You can catch a local train from the Junction to the High St station then leave the station & take main road straight opposite (Clarendon Road) all the way (over Ring Road at lights) up to the High Street. Turn left and go past the Wetherspoons (Moon under Water) on your right and then take the first right after 100 yards into Market Street. Continue along again crossing Ring Road to T junction & then left the chippy. The ground is the next right turn. Watford has its own tube station, which is on the Metropolitan Line and is about 1mile from the ground.

Where to drink
Take your pick, Moon Under the Water (Wetherspoons) as listed above, The Odd Fellows on Fearnley Street is close to the ground. Back on the High Street there are plenty to choose from including The Horns and the One Bell (a favourite for away fans). The ground itself has ‘Harrys Bar’ but no ale on sale inside the ground to away supporters.

Plod & Stewards
Say hello to every Northerners favourite force the Met. Now whether it’s because I’ve never forgiven them for the Barnet fiasco in the early 90’s I have a deep mistrust & dislike towards the nations largest blue line. Watch what you say and how you say it, if your face doesn`t fit and a solitary plod has had a bad night on the Friday then it can go either way.

Stewarding has been criticised on this site recently but I expect a low presence from those in yellow at the ground. With no history at all between the two sets of fans, it’ll be just another trip to the capital.

Fear Factor Rating – 3.

Saturdays trek comes hot on the heels of our visit to the Welsh capital which saw the defence finally breached in the last 7 minutes. Not a great start to the season from Watford, and with our decent away form a point from this game could pile even more pressure on their likeable manager – Mr Boothroyd. Here’s hoping that come Saturday that the words of one of Watford’s most famous managers come back to the fore once again – ‘Do I not like orange’ (well it’s tangerine actually Graeme).

Onwards + Upwards