Football League Division Two
Team: Kelly, Watson, Clement, Venables, Hunt, Hazell, Bridges, Sibley, Clarke, Marsh, Leach
Sub: Harris
Attendance: 26,698
On Wednesday, 20th August 1969, Rangers travelled to Vicarage Road. David Miller’s match report appeared the following morning:
‘Watford, with one point from three games, are discovering in the Second Division what Queen’s Park Rangers painfully learned in the First – there is no substitute for skill.
It is a while since Rangers had the pleasant experience of showing the opposition how the game should be played, but last night there was no doubting their superiority.
Watford, to be sure, worked as hard, or harder, but as against Bolton on Saturday, could not finish.
It is difficult to survive at this level with a team assembled for an outlay of a mere £43,000.
Whatever else they lack, however, Watford are not short of support. The attendance – 26,698, was a little short of the 32-year-old record of 27,461 established against Luton. But they are clearly in need of more than a following.
Rangers, by comparison, had Venables, Bridges and Marsh, none of them notable for their physical commitment, but all with a shrewd eye for the opening or the half-chance.
Watford could never match these three, and although Scullion hit a post after a quarter of an hour, Bridges, who missed a reasonable chance a minute later, went racing through a few moments before half-time, shrugging off a tackle by Williams, to sweep the ball low past Walker.
Substituting Green for the injured Lees in the second-half, with Walker dropping back to centre-half, Watford exerted a lot of pressure, and Scullion, Green and Hale, all got in sight of goal without going really close.’
And this short report appeared elsewhere:
‘The touch of pedigree which QPR acquired in the First Division, enabled them to survive against the enthusiasm of Second Division newcomers Watford last night.
Barry Bridges secured two deserved points in front of a crowd of 26,698, Watford’s second highest for a league game.
Frank Clarke headed on Mike Kelly’s kick into the Watford half and Bridges, with a beautifully controlled run, shook off the challenge of John Williams and pushed the ball past the advancing Mike Walker.’
Then, three days later, Rangers defeated Millwall 3-2 at Loftus Road.
Steve Russell