Match: v Watford - Carling Cup Round One

Date: Tuesday, August 24th, 2004

Result: Watford 1 Cambridge United 0

THE JOURNEY

Departure Time: 4pm

Arrival at Ground: I was expecting there to some heavy traffic around at the time of day, and so there was - tonnes of it & all heading in the opposite direction, which meant that there was ample time to investigate the vagaries of Watford's confusing one-way system.

I'm glad that I did allow plenty of time though as, even when we arrived at about 5.10pm, parking spaces close to the ground looked to be at a premium, so I fully expect that there are myriad tales of later arrivals desperately looking for somewhere to leave their car.

AT THE GROUND

The Ground: It's six years since our last visit to Vicarage Road, so this was less familiar territory for U's fans than most matches of late.

Set close to the town centre and aforementioned one-way system, the ground is hemmed in by a combination of narrow streets, industrial units and allotments. A narrow, unmade road runs along one side of the ground, lined by garages and bejewelled by assorted detritus, such as the skeleton of an old car door. I parked at the bottom of this road and found it to be rather steeper than I would have liked, given the amount of broadcasting equipment that I was carrying at the time!

Large, entirely separate stands surrounded the pitch with a sea of red and yellow seats. Those behind either goal were single tiers that climbed impressively rearward to a precipitous back row, while the main stand, to the right of the away fans, was a two-tier affair, with executive boxes running between the upper and lower sections.

The stand along the remaining side was older, with the half nearer to the away fans closed for safety reasons. Well, almost closed & although condemned as being unsafe, it was apparently safe enough to house the Directors' Box!

Two of the corners were occupied; one by a giant screen for replays, and the other with hospitality boxes in a three-storey building that looked not unlike a mini racecourse grandstand.

Watford is one of those clubs with traditional run-out music - or it used to be. The more inspiring work of Carl Orff has now been slotted in to coincide with the players emerging from the retractable tunnel that serves as an umbilical cord to the dressing rooms. But traditionalists had been appeased as 'Carmina Burana' was incongruously preceded by the theme from Z-Cars.

United Fans: Once again travelling in good numbers, the U's fans were loud and very supportive throughout.

View from Away End: Good, as there were no pillars in the way.

Home Fans: Apart from the occasional clapping and chanting of 'red and yellow army', the only noise emanating from the home fans was the sound of them getting on their players' backs.

Stewards: Briefed before the match to be intolerant of supporters standing up, they were as good as their word and ejected at least one United fan for refusing to use his seat. It's a shame that both sets of supporters weren't treated the same though. Supporters in the home section could, apparently, do pretty much as they liked.

Programme: £2 for 48 pages, although those numbered pages were surrounded by an outer cover section that was neither numbered nor carried any information about the match. Once inside, 1881 - the year in which Watford FC was formed in case you're wondering (it's explained in the programme) - was a good read for both sets of supporters, with features on Micah Hyde and Steve Butler among those of particular interest for United supporters.

AFTERWARDS

The Journey Home: Our third short journey of the season, which the Football League had thoughtfully handed us to gently get us back into the swing of things after the summer break, was only hampered on the way back by a short section through some road works where a 10 MPH convoy system was in operation to protect the workers who, apparently, needed to have their coffee break in the middle of the road.

Mileage: 97 miles

Total Distance for Season: 365.2 miles

Mark Johnson, with additional reporting by Gordon McMillan