retired_brianrt

In 1988 at the age of 13 I travelled to Aberdeen and signed for Jocky Scott as one of, if not his first signing at Pittodrie, signing as an apprentice professional.

We used to play five-a-sides in the car park behind the main stand every Monday morning as apprentices. The opposition was usually Steve Jackson, Ian O'Callaghan, Shawn Hunter, Terry Bennett and Trevor Warne, while our team consisted of Bobby Graham, Tommy Smith, Chris Lawler, Gordon Wallace and myself.

We never ever won these games because the opposition would have played until it got dark to ensure they got the result. In the next three years I progressed through the youth ranks and played in the FA Youth Cup Final against Rangers when we were beaten 3-2 on aggregate by the 'Gers who included a young Ally McCoist in their team.

I eventually made 125 appearances in the reserve team at Pittodrie between 1988 and 1992 and scored 32 goals. After the 1992 season, where I made my debut, and played in the last 9 games of the season, I did not play in the reserves again, but played 198 games as part of the squad which became one of the best in the clubs history

I was in digs at the time 5 minutes from the ground, and when I managed to find time to myself it was spent watching the training of the team (when I was a reserve team player that is) I aspired to be successful in whatever endeavour I persued, and now I like to think that I have been, at least thus far anyway

I was devastated when I left the club, but my career was revitalised when I went to Watford. My life changed in 2002, when my career ended, but I never imagined then I would be managing the club of my dreams 9 years later, guiding them to the Premiership and to a League Cup triumph. I am proud to be a part of the clubs history, and I love being at this club. They mean everything to me, and without Watford I don't know what I'd have done with my life

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Bolton provided the opening opposition of the month, and again it was a match that I fully expected three points from. We got off to an ideal start after 7 minutes, when Rhys Murphy picked up the loose ball from Henri Saivet and fired home past the stranded Jaaskelainen. Despite being much the better side, we had to wait until the final minute of added on time at the end of the game to seal the points for good, as Finnish midfielder Mika Vayrynen picked up the ball and slotted home beautifully to send the Lancashire side home on the wrong end of a 2-0 defeat and keeping us top of the table

retired_brianrt

The semi-final of the F.A Cup was next on our growing agenda, and seen as we had avoided Arsenal and Liverpool, who would contest the other semi, I was confident of progressing to our second domestic final of the season. Our opponents West Ham had other ideas though, as they played much the better for 90 minutes. They took a 33rd minute lead when Dean Ashton rose highest and powered his header past a stranded Kuszczak. I thought this might wake us up, but it didn't and to be fair to the Londoners, they should have settled it in the second half. I suppose we could have counted ourselves somewhat fortunate to be heading into an extra 30 minutes, thanks to Riki's 77th minute strike. The Spaniard struck again 6 minutes into additional time, and it looked like we would be heading for a win we did not deserve, but Clint Dempsey saved the day and volleyed home the equaliser after 118 minutes to take the game to penalties. The deciding two were when the score was deadlocked at 3-3, and when Dempsey slotted his home, it was left to Seitaridis to take the penalty he had to score. The Greek full-back ran up and pinged his penalty back off the post, to send West Ham into the final and break the hearts of our fans

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Giourkas had let the penalty miss get to him, so for this reason Justin Hoyte came into the team for the next game, which was, strangely, against West Ham again, although this time it was in the league. This time, the result was much different, as we controlled the game with composed ease and won 1-0 thanks to Henri Saivet's 33rd Premiership goal of the season, which not only kept us top of the table, but stretched out lead to 5 points, thanks to Arsenal being held by Spurs. The title was getting closer and closer, and all we had to do was to win our games

retired_brianrt

Our next game was at Vicarage Road, and it saw the visit of Middlesbrough. They were battling to avoid relegation, and needed the points just as much as we did, so I didn't expect anything but a battle. That was exactly what we got, as the visitors defended like trojans in the first half, and deservedly went in goalless, despite all of our pressure. The second half was different, and our superior ability shone through, as goals from Saivet and Murphy gave us a 2-0 win, but I had to give credit to the Teesiders, they had battled hard, and they were unlucky to lose the game

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Jess was getting more and more excited about the wedding, seen as it was less than two months away, and the fact that she was running around without my help suited her, because she knew I had the football side of things to focus on. I was also pleased to hear that Beefy would be attending, because I had been worried that he would be away with the England side, but on that particular day he would be at the biggest day in my life (well the second one anyway)

There was still a league title to win there though, and the next part of the quest to do this saw us visit Ewood Park, and a side that had never failed to cause us problems in Blackburn. They did exactly the same again in this game, and just as it looked like we would be going in level, Matt Derbyshire kept up his scoring record against us by heading home. We were back on level terms four minutes into the second half, as Rhys Murphy volleyed home from 12 yards, and there were no more goals in the match which meant we secured a good point and kept ourselves at the head of the table

retired_brianrt

Two home games finished off the penultimate month of the season, and the first of these saw relegation threatened Reading make the visit to Vicarage Road. They needed the points just as much as we did, although for very different reasons. It was a game that we were superb in, and had sealed all three points before 25 minutes had passed, thanks to a goal from Rhys Murphy and a brace from Franch striker Henri Saivet, who took his tally to 36 for the season, an incredible record by anyone's standards. It was a game that showed why both teams were in the positions they were in, and I knew that we were just two wins away from being crowned Premiership champions

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I was pleased that Ian was making a success of his tebure as England coach, and with my Watford side having one hand on the Premiership trophy my life was really taking a turn for the better at the moment, and with the wedding rapidly approaching too, I knew I had everything to look forward to in my life. The next thing that was to look forward too was another home game, this time it was already relegated Leeds who made the trip. It turned out to be one of the strangest games of football I've ever been involved in, or seen for that matter, as 9 goals were shared between the sides. Once Saivet opened the scoring after 4 minutes, the floodgates opened, and Mika Vayrynen soon doubled the lead before a quarter of an hour had passed. The Yorkshire side seemed intent on putting up a fight though, and two goals in three minutes from Puri and Braulio got them back on level terms. This only seemed to make us pick up our game, and come half time there was three more goals to be scored, with a Wesley Sneijder penalty, a Rhys Murphy header and Saivet's second, aswell as Oswaldo scoring right on half time leaving the score at 5-3 in our favour. Only one more goal was to be scored in the second half, and that came from Henri Saivet, as he completed his hat-trick after 71 minutes, and sent us to a bizarre 6-3 win and just three points away from a Premiership winners medal

retired_brianrt

April 2011 Summary

(Premiership unless stated)

Watford 2-0 Bolton
Murphy (7) Vayrynen (90)

(F.A Cup Semi Final)
Watford 2-2 West Ham
Riki (77,96) : Ashton (33) Dempsey (118)
(West Ham won 4-3 on pens)

West Ham 0-1 Watford
Saivet (34)

Watford 2-0 Middlesbrough
Saivet (57) Murphy (71)

Blackburn 1-1 Watford
Derbyshire (45) : Murphy (49)

Watford 3-0 Reading
Murphy (16) Saivet (21,24)

Watford 6-3 Leeds
Saivet (4,39,71) Vayrynen (14) Sneijder (pen 34) Murphy (36) : Puri (27) Braulio (30) Oswaldo (45)

retired_jgirl87

League Cup win - :thup:

Premiership title (nearly) - :cool:

retired_brianrt

Thanks Spav. I never expected things to go this well so soon but I can't say that I'm not happy

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We needed one more win to secure ourselves the league, and it certainly wasn't going to be easy, as a trip to Anfield beckoned. Liverpool were looking to secure themselves a Champions league spot, and they needed a win to do that, but we started the better of the teams, and we got our rewards just before half an hour had passed, as Henri Saivet picked up the ball and beat three men before sliding past Reina. The next goal came seven minutes into the second half, and it was the equaliser, Andriy Voronin breaking free and dinking over Kuszczak, This certainly helped us to pick up our game, and when a 68th minute Rhys Murphy goal put us back in front, we were just 22 minutes away. It was secured just 8 minutes later, as Mika Vayrynen curled home from the edge of the area to seal the 3-1 win, and seal our first ever Premiership title

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The team were still on a high from our incredible win, and the board were on cloud nine. The fans, and former players were praising me all over the place, but I was playing it down. It was a team effort to achieve what we had done, and it was a superb team effort. I wanted us to end the season on a high, but I was worried that we would suffer a title hangover in our next match against Aston Villa. We went behind after 3 minutes, as Cani volleyed home from Barry's cross, but we secured a point after ten minutes, as Pekhart rose highest and headed home. No more goals were imminent in the game, and we continued our unbeaten run. Not only that, but we were Premiership champions

retired_brianrt

May 2005 Summary

(Premiership unless stated)

Liverpool 1-3 Watford
Voronin (52) : Saivet (29) Murphy (68) Vayrynen (76)

Watford 1-1 Aston Villa
Pekhart (10) : Cani (3)

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<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> PL W D L GD PTS1. WATFORD 38 23 12 3 +53 812. Arsenal 38 20 13 5 +34 733. Man Utd 38 21 10 7 +29 734. Liverpool 38 19 12 7 +21 695. Chelsea 38 18 11 9 +28 656. Everton 38 18 9 11 +19 637. Tottenham 38 16 12 10 +17 608. Aston Villa 38 16 10 12 -1 58</pre>

retired_brianrt

The end of season awards were a success for us, and to add to the League Cup and Premiership title we had won throughout the season, we picked up a total of four awards at the ceremony. I earned the vote for manager of the year, and Rhys Murphy capped his terrific first season with 1st place in the young player of the season award. Without a shadow of a doubt though, the undoubted star of our season was French striker Henri Saivet. The under-21 international had scored 40 goals in the Premiership alone, and 48 throughout the other competitions, which was a record for the club, and for the Premiership. He was an absolute assassin in front of goal, and his value had sky-rocketed in the season. I would be fighting hard to keep Henri, and he was going nowhere. He is an absolute star in the making, and I know he will be a future international

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The board had approached me about a new contract, but as I had two years left on my current one I said that I didn't need to sign another one just yet. I was still focusing on the footballing issues, such as transfers and defending our Premiership title, but there was one major event in the summer, as I prepared to marry the love of my life. The wedding was drawing closer all the time, and I had Ian and Shaun always supporting me. It was three days before the wedding when my parents arrived, and they were delighted that I had got myself settled down again. They only ever wanted the best for me, and they knew I was in love with Jess. My mum in particular was being a typical mother, asking how I was. if I was sure I was doing the right thing, basically just giving me the Spanish inquisition, but she seemed satisfied after a few minutes

retired_brianrt

"Yes, yes I do. So how much are we talking about?"

"..."

"It's a little too much for me I'm afraid Arsene. I was looking more in the region of £5 million"

"..."

"OK. So £5 million and 50% of next sale clause? That sounds OK to me. When will you be available for a meeting?"

"..."

"Excellent. I will see you then. Thanks Arsene"

I had managed to secure a fee for Arsenal defender Michele Rigione, who was a top class centre back, and for £5million I was delighted to be on the verge of getting the Italian to sign for us. I hadn't known that my dad had been stood in the doorway listening in

"What are you doing son?"

"Dad. I didn't know you were there. I was just sorting out some transfer dealings"

"Why? You do know what today is don't you?"

"Of course I know what it is, I'm getting married"

"And you're doing work?"

"Don't worry about it, it's just a little bit of business. I'm not going to run off or anything"

"No. Well as long as you know what it is today"

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Despite my dads concerns, there were no hitches, and the day went off well. By ten o'clock that night, we were sat at home as a married couple, and I was more happy than I had ever been in my life. Jess made me happy, and I wanted to do the same to her. She meant everything to me, and without her in my life I wouldn't know what to do. We didn't have time for a honeymoon, due to my obvious commitments, but I had promised her a holiday either over christmas or the next summer, and she understood that my work was important to me. I was pleased that all my friends were there, and that the day went off well. I was just hoping my good fortune off the field could be transferred onto it