# 1993–94 Watford F.C. season

During the 1993–94 English football season, Watford F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

## Season summary

In July 1993, after Steve Perryman left to join Tottenham Hotspur, Roeder was hired as Watford's new manager at the start of the 1993–94 season. However, Watford were fined £10,000 for an illegal approach, and ordered to pay Gillingham a further £30,000 in compensation.
Watford endured a poor season and came nowhere near to mounting a serious promotion challenge which at one stage produced just 4 wins from 20 league games, picking up just 16 points out of 60 during that run which also included 7 defeats in 8 games. As a result of their poor form, they were involved in a relegation battle and at that stage just ahead of the relegation zone on goals scored, and their form didn't improve heading to the closing stages of the season and again lost 7 from 8 games between 5 February and 19 March which saw the Hornets in the relegation zone and looked set for the drop but their final 10 games saw Watford win six to secure survival for another season in Division One.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 17 | Portsmouth | 46 | 15 | 13 | 18 | 52 | 58 | −6 | 58 |
| 18 | Barnsley | 46 | 16 | 7 | 23 | 55 | 67 | −12 | 55 |
| 19 | Watford | 46 | 15 | 9 | 22 | 66 | 80 | −14 | 54 |
| 20 | Luton Town | 46 | 14 | 11 | 21 | 56 | 60 | −4 | 53 |
| 21 | West Bromwich Albion | 46 | 13 | 12 | 21 | 60 | 69 | −9 | 51 |

## Results

Watford's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 14 August 1993 | Luton Town | A | 1–2 | 9,149 | Furlong |
| 21 August 1993 | Barnsley | H | 0–2 | 5,937 | |
| 28 August 1993 | Oxford United | A | 3–2 | 5,159 | Charlery, Porter, Alsford |
| 4 September 1993 | Charlton Athletic | H | 2–2 | 6,925 | Porter, Inglethorpe |
| 7 September 1993 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 1–0 | 7,870 | Venus (own goal) |
| 11 September 1993 | Grimsby Town | A | 2–2 | 4,783 | Nogan, Porter |
| 18 September 1993 | Notts County | H | 3–1 | 6,959 | Furlong (2), Lavin |
| 25 September 1993 | Sunderland | H | 1–1 | 7,694 | Ashby |
| 2 October 1993 | Millwall | A | 1–4 | 7,707 | Nogan |
| 10 October 1993 | Middlesbrough | H | 2–0 | 7,582 | Furlong, Dyer |
| 16 October 1993 | Birmingham City | A | 0–1 | 12,823 | |
| 23 October 1993 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 4–3 | 7,492 | Porter (3), Charlery |
| 30 October 1993 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1–4 | 15,299 | Soloman |
| 3 November 1993 | Southend United | A | 0–3 | 4,584 | |
| 6 November 1993 | Stoke City | H | 1–3 | 7,767 | Dyer |
| 20 November 1993 | Bristol City | H | 1–1 | 6,045 | Soloman |
| 28 November 1993 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–3 | 7,485 | Nogan |
| 4 December 1993 | Stoke City | A | 0–2 | 13,465 | |
| 7 December 1993 | Portsmouth | A | 0–2 | 8,242 | |
| 11 December 1993 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 0–2 | 17,460 | |
| 19 December 1993 | Luton Town | H | 2–2 | 7,567 | Dyer (2) |
| 27 December 1993 | Leicester City | A | 4–4 | 21,744 | Furlong (2), Dyer (2) |
| 28 December 1993 | Peterborough United | H | 2–1 | 7,155 | Furlong (2) |
| 1 January 1994 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 1–2 | 8,271 | Furlong |
| 3 January 1994 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–2 | 14,539 | Cooper (own goal) |
| 15 January 1994 | Birmingham City | H | 5–2 | 7,636 | Hessenthaler, Furlong (3), Porter |
| 22 January 1994 | Middlesbrough | A | 1–1 | 8,089 | Furlong |
| 29 January 1994 | Derby County | A | 2–1 | 15,308 | Soloman, Furlong |
| 5 February 1994 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1–3 | 10,150 | Inglethorpe |
| 12 February 1994 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 0–1 | 10,087 | |
| 19 February 1994 | Derby County | H | 3–4 | 8,277 | Ashby, Furlong, Bazeley |
| 26 February 1994 | Charlton Athletic | A | 1–2 | 7,546 | Porter |
| 5 March 1994 | Oxford United | H | 2–1 | 7,049 | Hessenthaler, Ford (own goal) |
| 12 March 1994 | Notts County | A | 0–1 | 6,378 | |
| 15 March 1994 | Grimsby Town | H | 0–3 | 5,109 | |
| 19 March 1994 | Sunderland | A | 0–2 | 16,479 | |
| 26 March 1994 | Millwall | H | 2–0 | 9,036 | Lavin, Hessenthaler |
| 30 March 1994 | Nottingham Forest | A | 1–2 | 23,044 | Porter |
| 2 April 1994 | Leicester City | H | 1–1 | 8,645 | Bailey |
| 5 April 1994 | Peterborough United | A | 4–3 | 7,734 | Furlong, Bailey, Dublin, Lavin |
| 9 April 1994 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 1–2 | 7,347 | Bailey |
| 12 April 1994 | Barnsley | A | 1–0 | 4,380 | Furlong |
| 16 April 1994 | Southend United | H | 3–0 | 7,694 | Bailey, Mooney, Foster |
| 23 April 1994 | Bristol City | A | 1–1 | 8,324 | Furlong |
| 30 April 1994 | Portsmouth | H | 1–0 | 10,141 | Hessenthaler |
| 8 May 1994 | Crystal Palace | A | 2–0 | 28,749 | Hessenthaler, Mooney |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 8 January 1994 | West Ham United | A | 1–2 | 19,802 | Porter (pen) |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R1 1st leg | 17 August 1993 | Brentford | A | 2–2 | 4,297 | Dyer, Furlong |
| R1 2nd leg | 24 August 1993 | Brentford | H | 3–1 (won 5–3 on agg) | 4,938 | Holdsworth, Soloman, Dyer |
| R2 1st leg | 21 September 1993 | Millwall | H | 0–0 | 5,954 | |
| R2 2nd leg | 6 October 1993 | Millwall | H | 3–4 (lost 3–4 on agg) | 5,381 | Hessenthaler, Porter, Nogan |

### Anglo-Italian Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| Group 6 | 31 August 1993 | Luton Town | H | 2–1 | 2,854 | Dyer, Inglethorpe |
| Group 6 | 15 September 1993 | Southend United | A | 0–3 | 1,881 | |

## Players
### First-team squad

    Squad at end of season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ENG | Perry Digweed |
| — | GK | ENG | Simon Sheppard |
| — | GK | ENG | Perry Suckling |
| — | DF | ENG | Julian Alsford |
| — | DF | ENG | David Barnes |
| — | DF | ENG | Darren Bazeley |
| — | DF | ENG | Jason Drysdale |
| — | DF | ENG | Keith Dublin |
| — | DF | ENG | Colin Foster |
| — | DF | ENG | David Holdsworth |
| — | DF | ENG | Keith Millen |
| — | DF | ENG | Jason Soloman |
| — | DF | WAL | Alan McCarthy |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | WAL | Rob Page |
| — | DF | SCO | Gerard Lavin |
| — | DF | CAN | Mark Watson |
| — | MF | ENG | Paul Harding (on loan from Notts County) |
| — | MF | ENG | Andy Hessenthaler |
| — | MF | ENG | Gary Porter |
| — | MF | ENG | Craig Ramage |
| — | MF | AUS | Richard Johnson |
| — | FW | ENG | Dennis Bailey |
| — | FW | ENG | Paul Furlong |
| — | FW | ENG | Alex Inglethorpe |
| — | FW | ENG | Tommy Mooney (on loan from Southend United) |
| — | FW | WAL | Lee Nogan |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | ENG | Barry Ashby (to Brentford) |
| — | MF | ENG | Roger Willis (to Birmingham City) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | ENG | Bruce Dyer (to Crystal Palace) |
| — | FW | LCA | Ken Charlery (to Peterborough United) |