When Watford run out in a one-off blue kit on Saturday, it will be a tribute to the most important single figure in Hornets’ history – Sir Elton John.
This may seem to be slightly disrespectful to the late, great Graham Taylor, but without Elton, there is no GT at Vicarage Road.
Watford’s greatest ever manager was brought to the club by, for all the rock-and-roll glamour and excess, a football man. And a Watford man. And for that, everyone associated with the club and, indeed, the town should be ever grateful.
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That he is the greatest celebrity sports fan in history is unquestionable. Name me anyone else as revered for their art and celebrity who bought the club they supported as a child and led them to the greatest period in their history? And more importantly, he created a legacy in his tiny corner of suburbia that lasts to this day.
The story is romantic, of course. Kid starts going to match in the 1950s, ostensibly to be close to his dad. Sticks with them through the hard times, earns fame and fortunes from being one of the biggest rock stars on the planet, then buys his club, leading them to the top flight, Wembley and Europe.
When he joined the board in 1976 – and Saturday’s kit (in the blue Watford used to wear when Elton first started going to Vicarage Road) is part of a season-long celebration of 50 years since – Watford were perennial lower-league fodder, playing in front of a few thousand every week.
His first managerial appointment would prove to be the stuff of legend. But even hiring Taylor in the first place showed his football acumen. With Bobby Moore the favourite, a decade after being England’s World Cup-winning captain, it would be easy for Elton to be swayed by someone who nearly rivalled his own stardust.
Instead, according to the recent Watford Forever biography, he called the England manager Don Revie to ask who the best manager in the lower divisions was. Lincoln City’s Taylor was the answer.
What those two achieved has been well-documented. From Fourth to First Division in six seasons, runners-up in the league in 1982-83, Europe and the FA Cup final the following season. And off the field, Watford was welcoming.
Hooliganism wasn’t an issue as the Family Enclosure, Family Terrace and Junior Hornets were started. If you lived in the area, you were bombarded with mailouts. Add those together and pride in the town soared.
Amid this, the club gave Elton some sanity and humility, mostly from Taylor himself. There is one story in Watford Forever that hits hard: Taylor catching Elton in the boardroom early, slamming a bottle of brandy in front of him, bellowing: “That’s what you have for breakfast, isn’t it? What the f**k do you think you’re doing?”
Elton recalled: “It shook me to the core. In effect, Graham saved my life. I had to become the person Graham thought I was capable of being.”
When Occupation Road, which runs behind what is now the Sir Elton John Stand to the Rookery End, was renamed Yellow Brick Road in 2023, Elton was more than magnanimous in saying: “Watford Football Club has done more for me in my lifetime than I ever did for it.”
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Maybe, Elton, but what you’ve done for all of us is incalculable. He’s played five concerts at Vicarage Road and one of the more wholesome memories of following Watford recently was the outpouring of joy for his 2023 Glastonbury set among Watford fans. It provided us a moment to come together, on social media at least, with love for one of our own at a time when matches were toxic.
That legacy remains. Before Elton came on board, Watford spent a grand total of three seasons in the top two divisions (all in the second). Since promotion to the old Second Division in 1979, the Hornets have spent all but two seasons in the top two divisions and have spent at least part of each of the past five decades in the top flight.
And about 20,000 fans will sing “Your Song” and “Elton John’s Taylor-made Army” with a bit more gusto on Saturday.
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