So Sunday we were at home to Keynsham Town, 3 pm kick-off. I live in Leighton Buzzard, so at 12.15, the kids and I, Nathan and Lindsay jumped in the car for the journey to Kings Langley. A nice smooth drive with no traffic for a change and plenty of Watford songs sung on the way!
We arrived at 12.50 pm and was immediately greeted by the fantastic Charlie, with a man hug and fist bumps! Charlie’s a great character, he suffers from Autism, now a man, he’s one of the kindest, loveliest of lads and all the team love him. Then a hello to Grace, the GM of Watford Ladies and Sam, Charlie’s Mum and a volunteer. A brief catch up, involving showing my scars, due to surgery which meant I had missed the last 3 home game. I noticed there was no Paul, Charlie’s Dad and volunteer (the voice of Watford Ladies), turns out he had shown up with no cash, so had gone to the nearest cashpoint, always something with him, he turned up late for MK Dons away last year as he had forgotten to put the clocks forward! He’s also known as Steps, as he’s always falling down them!
The kids went off to play some football in the adjacent pitch. Another good thing as they can go play and keep themselves occupied whilst doing duties or watching the game.
Helen Rolandsen showed up with trays of cakes, I helped her get them from the car along with Luke, another volunteer and we helped set up a free help yourself cake stall.
The game was the closest matchday to Remembrance Sunday so at 1.30 pm Mr Sweets Suren and Richard showed up to help collect some money with the buckets and sold some Watford Poppy badges.
One of the jobs us volunteers do is help sort out the car park and welcome the opposition players and the officials. Keynsham turned up very late, almost quarter past 2, apparently the M4 had been closed off, meaning taking a different route. So I quickly escorted them to the changing rooms so I could do my next job.
Harry The Hornet was in town today, Sam jumped in the suit so I took over from her on the turnstile. I quite enjoy it in there, you get an opportunity to talk to a lot of fans, old and new. Lindsay joined me in the hut, she loves handing out the programmes and pushing the pedal to let fans through.
As mentioned earlier it was our day to show remembrance, so there was a minutes silence, with the last post played, teams were led out by British Legion flag bearers and there was a poppy reef. Big shout out to Steps for sorting that out.
The Golden Girls were lead out by the mascots, mainly some Kings Langley Girls players and a couple of young girls from the crowd.
About 15 mins into the 1st half I gave up on the turnstile, I could see the game from the position, but it looked like no one else was coming in, so time to watch some action, 5 minutes later we decided to walk around and hand out some cake, to me, the kids, Luke and Mark AKA Moobsie, also a volunteer walked around handing the fantastic cakes out, which brought a lot of smiles out of a lot of fans.
The 1st half itself was a tough half, Watford looked the better side and took the lead through Adekite Fatuga-Dada after some good work from the skipper, Helen Ward, on the right, squaring it for an easy finish. There was a second goal shortly after, a 1st Watford goal for Ryah Vyse, a similar goal to the 1st but this time Ade was the provider. The Golden Girls went into the break with a well deserved 2-0 lead.
Onto half time, one of my favourite parts of a match day. Me and Harry The Hornet get the mascots on the pitch for some penalties. Harry had been told not to get his boots dirty so I had to go between the sticks this week. Loads of fun and loads of happy faces.
Onto the 2nd half, the new Watford Ladies Ultras were a little quiet today, so I popped down to get some noise going. It was a good laugh down there with some good banter, the chant of the day was “There’s only one Jack Whitehall” aimed at lookalike Danny Hyman.
Watford were rampant in the 2nd half with 5 goals. Andrea Carid made it 3-0, with a nice finish.
It was soon 4 after Andrea carried it through the centre of the park, laying Katie O’Leary through, who put it straight in the net. Skipper Helen Ward then rounded the keeper from a superb through ball to make it 5. The 6th goal was lovely, a dummy from Katie O’Leary (Leggy), a lovely pass from Emma Beckett and a lovely finish from Andrea Carid for her 2nd of the game. The 7th and final goal was a scrappy one, Leggy crossed the ball, Helen Ward met it with a header, which hit the post, the rebound came to her again, a mis-hit shot was saved by the goalkeeper and Ocean Rolandsen smashed it in, for her 1st Watford Ladies goal! A well-deserved win for the Golden Girls.
Local sweet shop owner, Suren, makes up a sweet jar for the Player of the Match, on this occasion won by Ryah Vyse. He also gave a box of sweets to the Keynsham Keeper, Charlotte Haynes. She deserves a special mention, without her, it could have been double figures!
After the game I get the mascots rounded up and a few other young kids, I line them up along the touchline and the players come over for autographs and selfies. 1 parent had asked me if his daughter could meet Wardie and get a photo, the smile on her face when I introduced them was amazing. Helen had gone to her school and really inspired her, so they came to the game, loved it and the Dad has said they’re gonna be coming down whenever they can.
Moobsie was doing some interviews, with Paul, Illy the goalie coach and Ryah Vyse, filmed by Luke, all of which can be found on the Watford Ladies Fan Group. I had to do some messing around in the background.
Then the handshakes and hugs (always one with Charlie) as we bid farewell until the next game. Only 1 week to wait this time. Oxford United in the FA Women’s National League Plate Competition on Sunday. If you fancy it, come up Kings Langley FC, 3 pm Kick Off. £6 adults, £3 concessions and £1 under 18s. Half price for Watford Season Ticket holders.
We always have a good time, give us a try.
