Vicarage Road, Watford
v Nottingham Forest, Division One 
Saturday 3rd March 2003, 3pm
By Chris O'Hanlon

1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be)

Back on the road again, this time to Watford's Vicarage Road ground. Home of Elton, Harry the Hornet and Saracens. 

This was the game that Darren Huckerby made his debut for the reds, his arrival perfectly timed as we had found out in the week that our star striker David Johnson would be up for up to 6 weeks!

A large contingent had made the trip from Nottingham and I hoped it would be a better game than the one at the City Ground, which Watford won 1-0 and Forest ended up with 9 men.

2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking

Watford is one of the easier London based grounds to get to, the journey down the M1 was a doddle. That is, until you try to get off the M1 at Junction 5! We arrived at the junction at 13.40, and when you consider it is only 2 miles to the centre of Watford, it is astonishing that we only just got to the ground in time to see the teams come out. 

The problem…Watford Ring Road. This may as well be the official football car park, as the speed at which you go round is so slow. We slowly made our way round to the Gade car park, which was full almost to capacity by the time we had found a car parking space. From here it was a 10 minute walk to the ground, which wasn't too bad.

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?

We had planned to go for a drink, but due to the traffic there was no chance of that happening, so we walked down Vicarage Road and took in some of the atmosphere on the way to the ground. As Vicarage Road provides the only access by road to the whole stadium, it tends to get very busy with supporters walking in different directions, particularly round the back of the North Stand and it is easy to get separated from your mates.

 

The away end is split in half one side for those buying tickets on the day, and the half for those with advance tickets. This isn't explained very well, and quite a few fans tried to get in the wrong entrance (us included!) and were promptly sent down Vicarage Road to the other end of the stand.

The home fans seemed quite friendly, as we had to queue right next to them as they went into the Rous stand and we went in the North Stand.

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground

The ground itself is slightly hidden from Vicarage Road, and it is difficult to get an impression of what the ground is like from the outside. Once inside the ground is quite smart, with 3 of the stands being redeveloped in recent times. The Rous stand is a two-tiered stand, with a row of executive boxes at the top and an arched roof, which adds a bit of character. The Rookery End is a large single tiered stand for home supporters, with the North Stand being pretty much a mirror image.

The 4th side of the ground is the East Stand, which looks outdated compared with its neighbours and is in fact a collection of 2 or 3 separate stands! One third is uncovered and I noticed that people sat here were given (or had brought) waterproofs to keep the rain off.

In the corner between the North and Rous Stands there is a large television screen, which shows replays of incidents throughout the game (though strangely, not the Forest goal…hmmm!!)

Vicarage Road is not the biggest ground in the world but still quite a smart stadium, although the corners are very open and this affected the atmosphere considerably.

5. Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, toilets etc..

This was a game of two halves. Watford were efficiently good in the first half and deserved to be leading 1-0 at half time through a header by the impressive Heider Helgussen. In the second half it was all Forest and we were unlucky to only come away with a point. Huckerby scored on his debut, much to the delight of the 4,000 travelling fans and looking back, a point at Vicarage Road is a good result.

The atmosphere was ok, though the home fans hardly sang at all and most of the noise came from the travelling fans in the North Stand. The stewards were friendly and showed most people to their seat instead of aimlessly pointing as they do at most other grounds.

The back of the North Stand is cramped anyway and even more so when the stand is full. The toilets were acceptable if not impressive although the queues for the food outlets were huge.

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game

After the game it was the same problem as on the way into the ground. The sheer volumes of people on Vicarage Road mean that its very easy to get lost and very slow to get out. We took a detour down one of the many side streets and walked parallel with Vicarage Road and this was a lot quieter. 

Then, it was back on to the delight that is…Watford Ring Road. If I had to live in Watford this thing would drive me mad. As it is I've only been there twice and can look back with some amusement at the fact that it took us an hour and a quarter to travel 2 miles to the motorway. Once your on the motorway however, the traffic flows easily and we got back in a couple of hours.

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out

Not a bad day out overall. The Ring Road was a nightmare, and I would advise anyone going to Watford to either go by train, or go early. You need to leave at least an hour to get into Watford and park. The ground is pleasant and the people are friendly and welcoming and this makes for a stress free day out.

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