2007–08 Watford F.C. season
Encyclopedia
The 2007–08 football season was Watford Football Club's 62rd consecutive season of competitive football since the Second World War. It began on 1 July 2007, and concluded on 30 June 2008, although competitive games were only played between August and May.

Season summary

Following relegation from the Premier League in 2006–07, Watford started the 2007–08 season strongly, winning eleven of their opening sixteen games and opening up an 8 point gap at the top of the Championship table. However, after the departure of Adam Johnson to Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...

 on 11 November 2007 Watford's form declined; they won six of their next sixteen Championship games, and only one of their final sixteen. In January 2008 Watford sold captain Gavin Mahon
Gavin Mahon
Gavin Andrew Mahon is an English footballer who is currently under contract at League One club Notts County.-Career:...

 and top scorer Marlon King
Marlon King
Marlon Francis King is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Birmingham City. After starting his career in non-League football with Dulwich Hamlet, he played for Barnet, Gillingham, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest before moving to Watford in 2005...

, but purchased Mat Sadler, Leigh Bromby
Leigh Bromby
Leigh David Bromby is an English footballer who plays for Leeds United in The Championship of the English Football League. He can play as a Central Defender or Right Back or Left Back. He's the only player to have played 100 games for each of the steel city rivals Sheffield United and Sheffield...

 and John Eustace
John Eustace
John Mark Eustace is an English footballer who plays for Watford as a central midfielder. He has previously been contracted to Coventry City and Stoke City, and has spent time on loan at Dundee United, Middlesbrough, Hereford United and Derby County.-Coventry City:Born in Solihull, Eustace began...

. Watford finished the 2007–08
2007-08 in English football
The 2007–08 season was the 128th season of competitive football in England.-European competitions:In October 2007 Arsenal equalled the UEFA Champions League record victory with a 7–0 win over Slavia Prague at the Emirates Stadium. The record was broken the following month when Liverpool...

 season in 6th position, and were eliminated in the play-off
Football League Play-Offs
The Football League play-offs are an annual series of football matches to determine some of the promotion places within the Football League. Essentially, each division of the league offers a certain number of automatic promotion places to the top two or three clubs. A further promotion place is...

 semi finals to Hull City
Hull City A.F.C.
Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...

.

Legend

Football League

League standings by round

Round01020304050607080910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546
Ground A H A H H A A H H A H A A H A H A H H A A H A H H A A H A H A H A H A H A H A A H H A H H A
Result W W L W W W D D W W W W W L W D L L L W D L W D L W L D D W W W D D D D D D D L W L D L L D
Points 3 6 6 9 12 15 16 17 20 23 26 29 32 32 35 36 36 36 36 39 40 40 43 44 44 47 47 48 49 52 55 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 65 68 68 69 69 69 70
Position 5♣ 1♦ 4♣ 2♦ 1♦ 1♦ 1♦ 1♦ 1♦ 1♦ 1♦ 1♦ 1♦ 1♦ 1♦ 1♦ 1♦ 1♦ 1♦ 1♦ 1♦ 2♦ 1♦ 2♦ 2♦ 2♦ 3♣ 2♦ 3♣ 2♦ 1♦ 1♦ 2♦ 3♣ 3♣ 2♦ 3♣ 3♣ 4♣ 5♣ 4♣ 5♣ 5♣ 5♣ 5♣ 6♣

Play-offs

Watford's sixth-placed finish meant that they qualified for the play-off semi finals, where they would play a home and away match against third-placed Hull City. As 6–1 aggregate winners, Hull qualified for the final at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...

, and as a result of victory in that match they earned qualification to the Premier League for the 2008–09 season.

Semi final first leg
Semi final second leg

FA Cup

As a Championship club, Watford did not enter the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 until the third round stage. Their potential opponents were the 20 Premier League teams, the 23 other Championship clubs, and 20 teams from lower divisions which had progressed through the first and second rounds, and in some cases additional qualifying games.

Third round
Fourth round

League Cup

For the 2007–08 season, all Football League clubs entered the League Cup in the first round. For the first round, the draw was split into two regional sections of 36 teams. The 18 highest placed teams in the league from the previous season were seeded in each region. Watford, having been relegated from the Premier League, were therefore seeded
Seed (sports)
A seed is a preliminary ranking that can be used in arranging a sports tournament. It is called a seed because of the analogy with plants where the seed might grow into a top rank at the end of that tournament, or might instead wither away...

, and placed in the southern section of the draw.

First round
Second round

Ownership and finance

Watford Football Club is owned by the holding company Watford Leisure Plc (LSE
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...

: WFC). Its 2007–08 financial year coincided with the football season, running from 1 July 2007 until 30 June 2008. The company's annual accounts were released in November 2008, showing an operating loss of £10.977 million, but a net profit of £426,000 as a result of the sale of player registrations and land. Watford Leisure's chief executive was Mark Ashton, while their chairman was self-professed lifelong Watford fan Graham Simpson, who also owned shares in the company. The club's other major shareholders were Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 Michael Ashcroft
Michael Ashcroft
Michael Anthony Ashcroft, Baron Ashcroft, KCMG, , is an international businessman, philanthropist and politician. He holds dual British and Belizean nationality, and is a Belonger of the Turks & Caicos Islands. Ennobled as a life peer in 2000, he sits in the House of Lords on the Conservative benches...

 through his investment company Fordwat, and brothers Jimmy and Vince Russo through their business Valley Grown Salads.

Player statistics

Key
# = Squad number; Pos = Playing position; P = Number of games played; G = Number of goals scored;
= Yellow cards;
= Red cards; GK = Goalkeeper; DF = Defender
Defender (football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

; MF = Midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

; FW = Forward

Statistics do not include games played for other clubs. Starting appearances are given first, followed by substitute appearances in parentheses where applicable. All players who were named in a Watford first-team matchday squad are listed. This includes players who only featured as unused substitutes.

This table of statistics is incomplete. You can help by expanding it.
Pos Name P G P G P G P G P G
Notes
League FA Cup League Cup Playoffs Total Discipline
MF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 0
MF 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0
DF 16 0 0 0 0 2 0 18 0 0 0
MF 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
MF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
DF 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 0
DF 36 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 39 0 4 0
FW 0 0 0 2 0 4 1 0
MF 13 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 15 0 3 2
MF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MF 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0
FW 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FW 12 1 0 0 0 1 1 12 10 1
FW 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0
FW 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MF 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 0
FW 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 1
FW 11 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 2 0
GK 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0
GK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MF 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 0 3 0
DF 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0
MF 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 5 0
MF 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
MF 1 1 0 0 3 4 1
DF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
GK 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 0 0
FW 0 2 1 0 2 2 0
DF 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 2 0
DF 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0
DF 1 2 0 0 1 0 9 4 0
MF 44 0 0 0 2 0 7 3 0
MF 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 0
FW 1 0 0 0 2 0 2 5 1

In

Date Player From Fee
5 June 2007   Jobi McAnuff
Jobi McAnuff
Joel Joshua Frederick Dave "Jobi" McAnuff is a professional footballer who plays for and captains Reading F.C.. He is a midfielder and has played for Jamaica.-Early career:...

 
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

 
29 August 2007   Nathan Ellington
Nathan Ellington
Nathan Levi Fontaine Ellington is an English footballer who plays a striker for Championship side Ipswich Town.-Non-league and Bristol Rovers:...

 
West Bromwich Albion
5 January 2008   Lionel Ainsworth
Lionel Ainsworth
Lionel Glenn Robert Ainsworth is an English footballer who currently plays for Shrewsbury Town in Football League Two. He plays as a right winger...

 
Hereford United
24 January 2008   Mat Sadler Birmingham City
31 January 2008   Leigh Bromby
Leigh Bromby
Leigh David Bromby is an English footballer who plays for Leeds United in The Championship of the English Football League. He can play as a Central Defender or Right Back or Left Back. He's the only player to have played 100 games for each of the steel city rivals Sheffield United and Sheffield...

Sheffield United
31 January 2008   John Eustace
John Eustace
John Mark Eustace is an English footballer who plays for Watford as a central midfielder. He has previously been contracted to Coventry City and Stoke City, and has spent time on loan at Dundee United, Middlesbrough, Hereford United and Derby County.-Coventry City:Born in Solihull, Eustace began...

Stoke City

Out

Date Player To Fee
3 July 2007   Chris Powell
Chris Powell
Christopher George Robin "Chris" Powell is an English football manager and retired player, who had a long career as a left back, crowned by five caps for the English national team...

 
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...

11 July 2007   Harry Forrester
Harry Forrester (footballer)
Harry Lee Forrester is an English footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Brentford. He has also been capped at youth level for England and was on trial at Ajax but rejected them to join Brentford on a free transfer....

Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

7 August 2007   Hameur Bouazza
Hameur Bouazza
Hamer Bouazza , first name sometimes misspelled as Hameur, is an Algerian footballer who currently plays for Millwall in the Football League Championship. He usually plays as a left winger, but can also play on the right....

 
Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

 
16 August 2007   Clarke Carlisle
Clarke Carlisle
Clarke James Carlisle is an English professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Football League One side Preston North End, on loan from Burnley. Born in Preston, he began playing football at a young age, taking inspiration from his father who played semi-professionally. Carlisle...

 
Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...

18 January 2008   Anthony McNamee
Anthony McNamee
Anthony McNamee is an English footballer. He is a left-sided midfielder and currently plays for on loan from Milton Keynes Dons.-Watford:...

Swindon Town
25 January 2008   Marlon King
Marlon King
Marlon Francis King is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Birmingham City. After starting his career in non-League football with Dulwich Hamlet, he played for Barnet, Gillingham, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest before moving to Watford in 2005...

Wigan Athletic

Loans in

Start date Player From End date
31 August 2007   Santiago Aloi River Plate
Club Atlético River Plate
Club Atlético River Plate is an Argentine sports club based in the Nuñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently competes in Nacional B, the second tier of Argentine football....

 (Argentina
Argentine football league system
The Argentine football league system consists of two national divisions , and a series of regionalized lower divisions...

)
14 September 2007   Adam Johnson Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...

22 November 2007   Lionel Ainsworth
Lionel Ainsworth
Lionel Glenn Robert Ainsworth is an English footballer who currently plays for Shrewsbury Town in Football League Two. He plays as a right winger...

Hereford United
18 January 2008   Calum Davenport
Calum Davenport
Calum Ray Paul Davenport is an English footballer, who is currently playing for Wootton Blue Cross after being released by West Ham United. He plays as a centre back.-Coventry City:...

West Ham United
25 January 2008   Collins John
Collins John
Collins John is a Liberian-born Dutch footballer.-Club:John started his professional career at Dutch first division side FC Twente as a 17-year old, going on to score 11 league goals during one-and-a-half seasons combined...

Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...


Loans out

Start date Player To End date
10 August 2007   Toumani Diagouraga
Toumani Diagouraga
Toumani Diagouraga is a French footballer of Malian descent who plays for Brentford as a central midfielder.-Career:Diagouraga was born in Paris to Malian parents and was spotted by a Watford scout, subsequently joining the Hornets Academy. He signed professional terms in November 2004 aged 16,...

Hereford United
10 August 2007   Theo Robinson
Theo Robinson
Theo Laroyan R. S. Robinson is an English footballer who plays for Football League Championship side Derby County.-Watford:...

Hereford United
14 September 2007  * Cédric Avinel
Cédric Avinel
Cédric Mickael Avinel is a Guadeloupean international footballer, who currently plays for Clermont Foot Auvergne 63.-Créteil and Watford:...

Stafford Rangers
17 September 2007   Scott Loach
Scott Loach
Scott James Loach is an English footballer. He plays as a goalkeeper for Watford in the Football League Championship, having previously spent loan spells with non-league Stafford Rangers and League Two sides Morecambe and Bradford City. He has played for England at under-21 level, and in August...

Stafford Rangers
18 September 2007   Will Hoskins
Will Hoskins
William Richard "Will" Hoskins is an English football player who plays for Brighton & Hove Albion as a striker. He came through the youth scheme at Rotherham United and has represented England at many levels up to under-20....

Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...

30 November 2007   Alex Campana
Alex Campana
Alessandro "Alex" Campana is an English footballer who currently plays for Hemel Hempstead Town. He is a right midfielder.-Career:...

Wealdstone
Wealdstone F.C.
Wealdstone Football Club are an English semi-professional football club who formed in Wealdstone, in the London Borough of Harrow, but are currently based a few miles away in Ruislip, in the London Borough of Hillingdon. At present, the club are members of the Isthmian League Premier Division. They...

1 January 2008   Scott Loach
Scott Loach
Scott James Loach is an English footballer. He plays as a goalkeeper for Watford in the Football League Championship, having previously spent loan spells with non-league Stafford Rangers and League Two sides Morecambe and Bradford City. He has played for England at under-21 level, and in August...

Morecambe
Morecambe F.C.
Morecambe Football Club is an English football club based in Morecambe, Lancashire. It plays its football in League Two, the fourth division of English football, having been promoted in 2007 for the first time in their history to the Football League. They played their home matches at Christie Park...

1 January 2008   Gavin Mahon
Gavin Mahon
Gavin Andrew Mahon is an English footballer who is currently under contract at League One club Notts County.-Career:...

Queen's Park Rangers
17 January 2008   Jordan Parkes
Jordan Parkes
Jordan David Parkes is an English professional association footballer, playing as a full-back for Barnet.Parkes left Parmiter's School in Garston, Hertfordshire aged sixteen in order to pursue a football career at Watford...

Brentford
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....

18 January 2008   Moses Ashikodi
Moses Ashikodi
Moses Ashikodi is a footballer who plays for York City as a striker, on loan from Kettering Town.-Millwall:Born in Lagos, Lagos State, Ashikodi started his career at Millwall as an associated schoolboy...

Swindon Town
18 January 2008   Anthony McNamee
Anthony McNamee
Anthony McNamee is an English footballer. He is a left-sided midfielder and currently plays for on loan from Milton Keynes Dons.-Watford:...

Swindon Town
28 January 2008   Scott Loach
Scott Loach
Scott James Loach is an English footballer. He plays as a goalkeeper for Watford in the Football League Championship, having previously spent loan spells with non-league Stafford Rangers and League Two sides Morecambe and Bradford City. He has played for England at under-21 level, and in August...

Bradford City
Bradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK