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Gordon Watson (footballer, born 1971)

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Gordon Watson
Personal information
Date of birth (1971-03-20) 20 March 1971 (age 53)
Place of birth Sidcup, England
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Charlton Athletic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1991 Charlton Athletic 31 (7)
1991–1995 Sheffield Wednesday 66 (15)
1995–1997 Southampton 52 (8)
1997–1999 Bradford City 21 (5)
1999–2000 Bournemouth 6 (0)
2000–2001 Portsmouth 0 (0)
2001–2003 Hartlepool United 49 (23)
Total 225 (58)
International career
1991 England U21 2 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gordon Watson (born 20 March 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward.

He played for Charlton Athletic, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Bradford City, Bournemouth and Hartlepool United, making over 200 appearances in the Football League.[2]

Early and personal life

Born in Sidcup,[3] Watson grew up in children's homes in London.[4] Throughout his career he was known as "Flash", after the comic book hero, Flash Gordon.[5][4][6]

Club career

Charlton Athletic

Watson started his career with the youth team of Charlton Athletic. He made a "successful transition" into the senior squad,[7] scoring seven goals in 31 appearances for them in the Football League.[3]

Sheffield Wednesday

He signed for Sheffield Wednesday for a fee of £250,000, with a further £100,000 payable depending on appearances.[7] He made his debut for the club in March 1991.[1] He made his last appearance for the club in May 1995.[1] He scored 15 goals in 66 Football League appearances for them,[3] scoring six further goals in 21 appearances in other competitions.[1]

In March 1995, after four years at Hillsborough, Watson was signed by relegation-threatened Southampton (under manager Alan Ball) for a fee of £1,200,000.[5]

Southampton

He made his Saints debut at Nottingham Forest on 18 March 1995[8] and scored against Newcastle United in his home debut four days later as the Saints came from a goal down after 89 minutes to snatch a "priceless" 3–1 victory.[8] Watson went on to make 12 Premier League appearances (scoring three goals) in the 1994–95 season as Saints lifted themselves to a 10th-place finish.[9]

According to Holley & Chalk's In That Number, Watson was "an effervescent,never-say-die forward, the sort the crowd always love and, although not the most skilful of front-runners, he had a swashbuckling style that unnerved defences."[5]

Alan Ball left The Dell at the end of the 1994–95 season, to be replaced by Dave Merrington. The 1995–96 season was a poor one for both the Saints (finishing in 17th place, just above the relegation zone) and Watson, with only three goals from 25 league appearances, with the goal-scoring being shared by Matthew Le Tissier and Neil Shipperley, with seven league goals each.[10] For 1996–97, Saints appointed a new manager in Graeme Souness who brought in Egil Østenstad as first choice striker to play alongside Le Tissier, leaving Watson to make only the occasional appearance.[11] His final appearance for The Saints was in a humiliating FA Cup defeat at Elm Park, Reading on 4 January 1997.[12]

Bradford City

Two weeks later, Watson was sold to Bradford City for £500,000[5] and was the club's then record signing.[4]

On 1 February 1997, while making his third appearance for Bradford City, he suffered a double fracture of his right leg in a tackle with Huddersfield Town defender Kevin Gray.[13][4] The tackle was described by football pundit, Jimmy Hill, as "late, dangerous and violent"[14] and was one of the worst tackles he had ever seen.[15]

Watson and the club took the matter to court, suing both Huddersfield Town and Gray for negligence.[16] Watson won the case,[17] and was awarded initial damages of £50,000.[18] Further damages were later awarded, bringing the total to £959,143.[19]

In his second game back for the club after injury, 18 months later, he scored two goals to help Bradford City to victory.[20] He scored a total of five goals in 21 Football League appearances for the club.[3]

Bournemouth

On expiry of his contract with Bradford City (now promoted to the Premiership) in June 1999, Watson declined the offer of a new contract explaining that he was not "fit enough or good enough to represent Bradford City in the top flight".[21]

In August 1999 he signed for Bournemouth in an effort to rebuild his career but only made 11 league and cup appearances in the 1999–00 season, without scoring.[3]

Hartlepool United

After leaving Bournemouth he played for the reserve team of Portsmouth.[4] He finished his career with Hartlepool United, scoring 23 goals in 49 games in the Football League.[3] While playing for Hartlepool he continued to live on the south coast, training during the week with the Southampton squad,[22] and flying up to Hartlepool for matches.[4] He was top-scorer for the club during his first season with them, scoring 18 goals in all competitions, and he signed a new one-year contract in May 2002.[23] At the start of his second season with the club he spoke of his desire to help the club get promoted.[24] He broke his left leg in September 2002,[6][25] playing for the club's reserves in January 2003,[26] before returning to first-team training with the club in February 2003.[27] He had previously spent time recuperating at Lilleshall.[28] In July 2003, after leaving Hartlepool, he was linked with a return to former club Sheffield Wednesday, after trialling with the club.[29][30]

International career

Watson won two caps for the England under-21 team.[4]

Later life

After retiring as a player, Watson combined working in investments in the City of London with a media career.[20] In March 2019 he spoke about former club Bradford City's relegation battle, saying it would be a "miracle" if they stayed up, and that they needed a complete overhaul in the summer.[31]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Profile". Sheffield Wednesday Archive. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  2. ^ Gordon Watson at Soccerbase
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Profile". Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Transfer Database. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Nick Spencer (16 October 2001). "Who doesn't want to be a millionaire?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 595.
  6. ^ a b "Saturday Spotlight: 'Hit-man' Watson strolls back into town". Northern Echo. 4 September 2010. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  7. ^ a b David C. Ramzan (2014). Charlton Athletic: A History. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445616766.
  8. ^ a b Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 239.
  9. ^ Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 241.
  10. ^ Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 245.
  11. ^ Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 246.
  12. ^ Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 407.
  13. ^ Holley & Chalk 2013, p. 496.
  14. ^ Brennan, Stuart (12 October 2010). "Danger signs loom large over De Jong reaction". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  15. ^ "UK Player wins dangerous tackle case". BBC. 26 October 1998. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  16. ^ "Court action over tackle". BBC News. 19 October 1998. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  17. ^ "Player wins dangerous tackle case". BBC News. 26 October 1998. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  18. ^ "Watson award in dangerous tackle case". BBC News. 29 October 1998. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  19. ^ "The tackle that cost £959,143". Telegraph & Argus. 8 May 1999. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  20. ^ a b Simon Parker (4 October 2014). "Watson recalls a Barn-stormer of a Yorkshire derby ahead of Bantams' TV date". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  21. ^ "Watson: I'm Not Gordon-Ough". www.4thegame.com. Retrieved 14 June 2007.[permanent dead link]
  22. ^ John May (19 September 2002). "Watson's elementary approach". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  23. ^ "Watson puts pen to paper". BBC Sport. 9 May 2002. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  24. ^ "Watson aiming for the top". BBC Sport. 14 August 2002. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  25. ^ "Watson jinx strikes again". BBC Sport. 16 September 2002. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  26. ^ "Newell waits for Watson". BBC Sport. 30 January 2003. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  27. ^ "Watson targets return". BBC Sport. 13 February 2003. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  28. ^ "Watson visits Lilleshall". BBC Sport. 13 December 2002. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  29. ^ "Turner eyes Watson". BBC Sport. 4 July 2003. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  30. ^ "Owls poised to sign Watson". BBC Sport. 16 July 2003. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  31. ^ "Staying up would be a Flash in the pan, says Bantams old boy Watson". Bradford Telegraph and Argus.

Bibliography

  • Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003). In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. Hagiology Publishing. ISBN 0-9534474-3-X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
  • Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC. Hagiology Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9926864-0-6.
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