# 2013–14 Watford F.C. season

Watford Football Club is an English football club from Watford, Hertfordshire. They played in the 2013–14 Football League Championship, for the seventh consecutive season since relegation from the Premier League in 2006–07. The manager was Giuseppe Sannino.

## Background

Gianfranco Zola replaced Sean Dyche as Watford manager at the end of the 2011–12 season following Sean Dyche's dismissal. Following the takeover of Watford by the Pozzo family, Watford loaned a significant number of players on season-long deals from fellow Pozzo-owned clubs Udinese and Granada. The use of a large number of loan players drew criticism from fellow managers, who argued that a large number of loan players from a few clubs should not be allowed. However, despite the number of loanees at the club, Watford used the second-most academy players after Middlesbrough, using eight different academy players throughout the season.

## Pre-season

Watford attended a pre-season training camp in northern Italy and played friendly fixtures before playing more fixtures in the UK

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 11 | Nottingham Forest | 46 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 67 | 64 | +3 | 65 |
| 12 | Middlesbrough | 46 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 62 | 50 | +12 | 64 |
| 13 | Watford | 46 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 74 | 64 | +10 | 60 |
| 14 | Bolton Wanderers | 46 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 59 | 60 | −1 | 59 |
| 15 | Leeds United | 46 | 16 | 9 | 21 | 59 | 67 | −8 | 57 |

## Summary

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | W | W | D | D | L | D | W | W | W | L | W | L | D | L | D | L | L | D | D | L | D | W | D | L | D | L | W | D | W | W | D | L | W | L | W | L | D | W | D | W | D | W | L | L | L | L |
| Position | 9 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 |

## Players
### Statistics

Statistics correct as of game played 3 May 2014. Numbers in brackets indicate substitute appearances
2013–14 Watford player details :
| No. | Pos | Name | P | G | P | G | P | G | P | G | | | Age | Joined club | Yth | Notes |
| No. | Pos | Name | Championship | Championship | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline | | Age | Joined club | Yth | Notes |
| 1 | GK | Manuel Almunia | 37 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 2012 | No | — |
| 2 | DF | Reece Brown | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 2013 | No | — |
| 3 | DF | Héctor Bellerín | 6 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 (2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 2013 | No | † |
| 4 | DF | Gabriele Angella | 39 (1) | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 (1) | 1 | 43 (2) | 8 | 11 | 1 | 25 | 2013 | No | — |
| 5 | DF | Essaïd Belkalem | 5 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 (3) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 25 | 2013 | No | † |
| 6 | DF | Joel Ekstrand | 31 (2) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 37 (2) | 0 | 11 | 0 | 25 | 2012 | No | — |
| 7 | MF | Cristian Battocchio | 21 (14) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 27 (14) | 5 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 2012 | No | — |
| 8 | MF | Josh McEachran | 5 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 2013 | No | † |
| 8 | MF | Alexander Merkel | 7 (4) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 (4) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 2014 | No | † |
| 9 | FW | Troy Deeney | 44 | 24 | 3 | 1 | 0 (1) | 0 | 47 (1) | 25 | 4 | 0 | 25 | 2010 | No | — |
| 10 | MF | Lewis McGugan | 31 (3) | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 33 (4) | 11 | 7 | 0 | 25 | 2013 | No | — |
| 11 | FW | Fernando Forestieri | 19 (9) | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 (1) | 0 | 22 (10) | 8 | 8 | 0 | 24 | 2012 | No | — |
| 12 | DF | Lloyd Doyley | 23 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 24 (2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 2001 | Yes | — |
| 13 | FW | Mathias Ranégie | 8 (2) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 (2) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 29 | 2014 | No | — |
| 15 | FW | Javier Acuña | 3 (6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 (6) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 2013 | No | — |
| 15 | MF | Albert Riera | 6 (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 (2) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 32 | 2014 | No | — |
| 16 | MF | Sean Murray | 22 (12) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 27 (12) | 6 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 2010 | Yes | — |
| 17 | DF | Fitz Hall | 3 (2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 2013 | No | — |
| 18 | DF | Daniel Pudil | 29 (8) | 2 | 1 (1) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 33 (9) | 2 | 7 | 0 | 28 | 2012 | No | — |
| 19 | DF | Marco Faraoni | 26 (12) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 31 (12) | 4 | 9 | 0 | 22 | 2013 | No | — |
| 20 | FW | Diego Fabbrini | 8 (13) | 1 | 1 (1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 (14) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 2013 | No | — |
| 20 | FW | Park Chu-young | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 2014 | No | † |
| 21 | MF | Ikechi Anya | 29 (6) | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 31 (7) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 2012 | No | — |
| 22 | MF | Almen Abdi | 9 (4) | 2 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 9 (7) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 2012 | No | — |
| 23 | MF | Iriney | 12 (3) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 (3) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 33 | 2013 | No | — |
| 23 | MF | Samba Diakité | 1 (5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (5) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 2014 | No | † |
| 25 | FW | Uche Ikpeazu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2013 | No | — |
| 26 | FW | Bernard Mensah | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2011 | Yes | — |
| 27 | DF | Marco Cassetti | 32 (3) | 1 | 1 (1) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 34 (5) | 1 | 10 | 1 | 36 | 2012 | No | — |
| 28 | MF | Connor Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 3 (2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 2011 | Yes | — |
| 28 | MF | Dániel Tőzsér | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 28 | 2014 | Yes | † |
| 29 | MF | George Thorne | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 2013 | No | † |
| 29 | DF | Lucas Neill | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 2014 | No | - |
| 30 | GK | Jonathan Bond | 9 (1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 2010 | Yes | — |
| 31 | DF | Tommie Hoban | 5 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 (2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 2011 | Yes | — |
| 32 | MF | Luke O'Nien | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2013 | Yes | — |
| 33 | DF | Nyron Nosworthy | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 2011 | No | — |
| 36 | FW | Alex Jakubiak | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 2010 | Yes | — |
| 37 | DF | Josh Doherty | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 2012 | Yes | — |
| — | MF | Ross Jenkins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 2008 | Yes | — |
| — | DF | Adam Thompson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 2010 | Yes | — |

### Transfers

updates as 20 September 2013

#### In

| Date | Player | From | Fee |
| 1 July 2013 | Uche Ikpeazu | Reading | Free |
| 2 July 2013 | Lewis McGugan | Nottingham Forest | Free |
| 19 July 2013 | Daniel Pudil | Granada | Free |
| 19 July 2013 | Marco Cassetti | Udinese | Free |
| 19 July 2013 | Cristian Battocchio | Udinese | Free |
| 19 July 2013 | Almen Abdi | Udinese | Free |
| 19 July 2013 | Diego Fabbrini | Udinese | Free |
| 19 July 2013 | Gabriele Angella | Udinese | Free |
| 19 July 2013 | Javier Acuña | Udinese | Free |
| 19 July 2013 | Marco Faraoni | Udinese | Free |
| 22 July 2013 | Ikechi Anya | Granada | Free |
| 22 July 2013 | Reece Brown | Manchester United | Free |
| 24 July 2013 | Joel Ekstrand | Udinese | Free |
| 25 July 2013 | Iriney | Granada | Free |
| 3 January 2014 | Mathias Ranegie | Udinese | Free |
| 24 February 2014 | Lucas Neill | Unattached | Free |

#### Out

At the end of the 2012–13 season, the club announced that seven players would be released at the end of their contracts, alongside Chris Iwelumo, who had already agreed to join Scunthorpe United. After being released by the club, Jack Bonham signed for Brentford, Stephen McGinn signed for Sheffield United and Mark Yeates signed for Bradford City.
| Date | Player | To | Fee |
| 3 June 2013 | Chris Iwelumo | Scunthorpe United | Free |
| 7 June 2013 | Jack Bonham | Brentford | Free |
| 7 June 2013 | Mark Yeates | Bradford City | Released |
| 7 June 2013 | Prince Buaben | - | Released |
| 7 June 2013 | Stephen McGinn | Sheffield United | Free |
| 7 June 2013 | Piero Mingoia | Accrington Stanley | Released |
| 7 June 2013 | Aaron Tumwa | - | Released |
| 7 June 2013 | Stephan Hamilton-Forbes | - | Released |
| 1 July 2013 | Craig Forsyth | Derby County | Undisclosed |
| 2 July 2013 | John Eustace | Derby County | Free |
| 20 July 2013 | Lee Hodson | Milton Keynes Dons | Free |
| 24 July 2013 | Carl Dickinson | Port Vale | Mutual Termination |
| 29 July 2013 | Jonathan Hogg | Huddersfield Town | £400k |
| 31 July 2013 | Britt Assombalonga | Peterborough United | £1.3M |
| 9 January 2014 | Adam Thompson | Southend United | Undisclosed |

### Loans

updates as 20 September 2013

#### In

| Start | Player | Parent club | End |
| 12 August 2013 | Essaïd Belkalem | Granada | 30 June 2014 |
| 20 September 2013 | Josh McEachran | Chelsea | 2 January 2014 |
| 6 November 2013 | George Thorne | West Bromwich Albion | 2 January 2014 |
| 22 November 2013 | Héctor Bellerín | Arsenal | 18 February 2014 |
| 3 January 2014 | Alexander Merkel | Udinese | 30 June 2014 |
| 29 January 2014 | Dániel Tőzsér | Genoa | 30 June 2014 |
| 31 January 2014 | Samba Diakité | QPR | 30 June 2014 |
| 31 January 2014 | Park Chu-young | Arsenal | 30 June 2014 |

#### Out

| Start | Player | To | Loan End Date |
| 9 August 2013 | Adam Thompson | Southend United | 4 January 2014 |

### International

On 14 August 2013, Cristian Battocchio made his Italian Under-21 debut in a 4–1 friendly win over Slovakia.
| Country | Team | Player |
| Algeria | Senior | Essaïd Belkalem |
| Scotland | Senior | Ikechi Anya |
| England | Under-21 | Jonathan Bond |
| Italy | Under-21 | Christian Battocchio |
| Northern Ireland | Under-21 | Adam Thompson |
| Republic of Ireland | Under-21 | Sean Murray |
| Republic of Ireland | Under-21 | Connor Smith |

## Coaching staff

| Role | Name |
| Head coach | Giuseppe Sannino |
| Assistant coach | Adolfo Sormani |
| Assistant coach | Bastiano Porcu |
| Goalkeeping coach | Alec Chamberlain |
| Youth (U-18) Coach | David Hughes |
| Chief scout | Filippo Giraldi |
| Scouting Co-Ordinator | Luke Warrington |
| Head of Medical | Marco Cesarini |
| Kit Manager | Will Jones |
| Head of sports science | Gianni Brignardello |
| Sports scientist | Ben Dixon |