Luton Town F.C.–Watford F.C. rivalry

 

 

Luton

 

Watford

 

London

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Luton and Watford are about 16 miles (26 km) apart, just north-west of London in southern England. They are both primary locations on the M1 motorway, which opened in 1959.

The first match between the two clubs can be dated to 5 December 1885, as Watford Rovers hosted Luton Town in a friendly. Watford beat Luton 1–0 at Vicarage Meadow in the inaugural match. The first match at Luton's Dallow Lane was played on 20 March 1886, where Watford won 3–0. Luton's first success in the fixture came at Vicarage Meadow on 16 October of the same year, where they emerged with a 4–1 victory.^[8] Two friendlies between Luton Town and West Herts, as Watford Rovers were now more commonly known, took place during the 1891–92 season; West Herts won 4–3 at Luton and the match at West Herts was a draw. Five more friendly matches were played over the next three seasons, all Luton victories.

In the 1930s, a Vauxhall plant was speculated to be built in Watford, however due to the popularity of the Luton Body van at the time it was subsequently decided that the plant would be built in Luton.

Luton Town did not join a league until the 1894–95 season, where they joined the Southern League. West Herts also joined the Southern League two years later. However, as Luton had left the league the same year, a league meeting did not occur. The first competitive meeting of the two clubs came on 29 October 1898, as Luton drew against Watford in the 1898–99 FA Cup third qualifying round. The second meeting came soon after, as the 2–2 draw at Luton meant that a replay was needed. Luton won the replay 1–0 at Watford. The next season saw Luton draw against Watford again, this time Luton needed only one attempt to beat Watford 3–2.

Luton rejoined the Southern League in 1900,^[9] and the fixture then became a regular one in the Southern League calendar except for the 1903–04, 1912–13 and 1913–14 seasons that the clubs spent in different divisions. Luton held the superior record, winning 13 Southern League meetings to Watford's eight. The 1920–21 season saw both clubs made members of the Football League when the Southern League First Division was incorporated as the Football League Third Division.^[10]

Matches occurred regularly in this division until 1937, when Luton Town were promoted to the Second Division.^[11] A Southern Professional Floodlit Cup meeting during the 1956–57 season was won 4–3 by Luton at Kenilworth Road, and was the only meeting until Luton dropped back to the Third Division for the 1963–64 season.^[12] Luton were nearly relegated again, but in the last home game of the season, against Watford, Luton won 2–1 to both ensure survival and deny Watford promotion.^[13] Luton were relegated to the Fourth Division a year later, with Watford winning both matches held over a two-day period at Christmas. The game at Kenilworth Road finished 4–2 to Watford, and two days later Watford won 2–0 at Vicarage Road. Luton were not promoted to the Third Division again until the 1967–68 season, thus placing the derby on hold.^[14]

The 1968–69 season saw Watford promoted as champions of the Third Division, having led the division for almost the entire season. This led to the crowd violence associated with the fixture growing in prominence, and Watford won the first league clash with Luton that season 1–0 at Vicarage Road. The return match at Kenilworth Road was originally intended to take place on Boxing Day, but was abandoned due to fog with the game tied at 1–1. The game was eventually played after several postponements on 30 April 1969, by which time Watford had already been promoted as champions. The match resulted in Luton winning 2–1, and saw three players sent off, two from Luton, one from Watford. After the game, incidents occurred between fans in St Albans, a town between Luton and Watford, home to fans of both sides.^[7] Luton were promoted to the Second Division a year later to keep the fixture going. However, Watford's relegation at the end of the 1971–72 season ended it once more.

 

The sides didn't meet again until the 1979–80 season, when Watford were promoted back to the second tier. At the end of the 1981–82 season, Luton won the Second Division, with Watford coming second and both teams were promoted to the First Division. In their first season in the top flight, Watford finished Runners-Up to Champions Liverpool (and so qualified for European football in the UEFA Cup for the following season), beating Luton 5–2 at Vicarage Road along the way. Luton avoided relegation in the last minute of the last match of the season. The match at Kenilworth Road on 28 April 1984 intensified the rivalry even further, as despite Watford's 2–1 victory, captain Wilf Rostron was sent off after a series of goading tackles from Luton players; meaning that he would miss the 1984 FA Cup Final. Despite being favourites on the day, Watford lost 2–0 to Everton. To this day many Watford supporters blame their loss on the absence of Rostron, and therefore on Luton.^[7]

The fixture continued until the 1987–88 season when Watford were relegated to the second tier. Luton were further relegated at the end of the 1991–92 season. Both teams were relegated to the third tier at the end of the 1995–96 season. During the 1997–98 season, Watford finished as Champions of the third-tier Second Division and won 4–0 at Kenilworth Road along the way, with all four goals coming within the first 32 minutes of play. The match was marred by yet more crowd trouble as Luton fans tried to prevent Watford fans leaving the ground and small pockets of running battles occurred towards the railway station. As a result, the police took no chances for the return fixture at Vicarage Road: a large police presence ensured no return of the October violence. The game ended in a 1–1 draw. With Watford's promotion to the second tier at the end of that season, the fixture was over once more.

 

A League Cup meeting at Vicarage Road on 10 September 2002 was marred by hooliganism and saw fighting in Watford town centre, railway station and approaches to the football ground before the match. Before the game, Luton fans invaded the pitch several times leading to the kick-off being delayed by 15 minutes. A minute's silence, intended to mark the first anniversary of the 11 September attacks, was also abandoned. When the match finally got under way, Luton went on to win 2–1.^[15] After the game, prosecutions were brought against 29 supporters; 25 from Luton, some of whom were banned from all football grounds for life, and four from Watford.

The two clubs were briefly in the same division when Luton were promoted to the Championship and played each other during the 2005–06 season. Watford won 2–1 at Kenilworth Road on 2 January 2006, and the return fixture was a 1–1 draw at Vicarage Road on 9 April. Watford ended the season with promotion to the Premier League, while Luton finished 10th. Although Watford were relegated back to the Championship at the end of the 2006–07 season, Luton were concurrently relegated back to League One. Luton were further relegated at the end of the 2007–08 season to League Two; and another relegation end of the 2008–09 season saw Luton in the National League, known at the time as the Conference Premier. This was largely due to docked points throughout these seasons as a result of financial mismanagement.^[16]

The league rivalry between the two clubs reignited during the 2020–21 season for the first time in 16 seasons as Luton battled to remain in the Championship, and Watford had been relegated from the Premier League. However, fans were not able to attend the matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Watford won the first fixture 1–0 at Vicarage Road on 26 September 2020 with a goal from João Pedro (35').^[17] In the reverse fixture at Kenilworth Road on 17 April 2021, Luton won the game 1–0 with a penalty from James Collins (78').^[18] Watford were promoted back to the Premier League at the end of the season, temporarily placing the rivalry on hold.^[19]

Watford were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2021–22 season, resuming the rivalry for the duration of the 2022–23 Championship season. The first fixture was played at Vicarage Road on 23 October 2022 in front of a crowd of 19,282. It marked the first time supporters of either club had been able to attend the derby in 16 years. Watford won the fixture 4–0 which saw goals from Keinan Davis (3'), William Troost-Ekong (45'), João Pedro (57') and Ismaïla Sarr (79'). Luton's Gabriel Osho performed a late challenge on Ken Sema which saw him get a straight red card (83'). A police presence kept the rival supporters apart, and no arrests were made. The reverse fixture took place at Kenilworth Road on 1 April 2023 and saw a 2–0 Luton win, with goals from Gabe Osho (28') and Allan Campbell (90+1').^[20] Luton were promoted to the Premier League through the Championship play-offs at the end of the 2022–23 season, placing the rivalry on hold.^[21]

Following Luton Town's relegation from the Premier League, the derby was resumed for the 2024–25 Championship season. On 19 October 2024, Luton and Watford met again at Kenilworth Road. Luton secured a decisive 3–0 victory over their rivals, with goals from Jordan Clark (11'), Carlton Morris (47'), and a stoppage-time strike by Jacob Brown (90+1').^[22] This result further bolstered Luton Town’s dominance over Watford at home in recent seasons.^[23]

 

Up to and including 19 October 2024, when Luton won 3–0 in a league match. There have been 123 competitive first-class meetings between the two teams since the first non-friendly meeting in 1898.^[24][25]

Competitive matches only.^{[24][25][28][29][30][31][32]}

Watford result given first.

The Rigby-Taylor Cup was a competition played between 1953 and 1962 in order to give "the friendly rivalry between Luton Town and Watford an organised and competitive basis".^[33] The annual contest came about when floodlights were installed at Watford's Vicarage Road ground in 1953;^[33] to mark the occasion, the decision was made to play a match under the new lights against Luton Town, against whom the club had not contested a competitive match since 1937.^[34] A home-and-away system was agreed upon, and the first match, billed as the first leg of the "Watford F.C. Invitation Cup", took place on 13 October 1953: a 1–1 draw at Vicarage Road. The competition had been renamed "The Rigby-Taylor Cup" after Watford's chairman, T. Rigby-Taylor, by the time of the second leg on 24 March 1954, at Kenilworth Road; Luton beat Watford 4–1 to win 5–2 on aggregate and thus claim the inaugural title.^[33]

After the first season, the two-legged basis was abandoned in favour of a single match at Vicarage Road. The competition was then suspended from 1958 to 1961 due to FA Cup and League engagements. After returning for two seasons, the 1962–63 fixture was abandoned due to harsh weather – the annual match never returned.^[33]

There were seven matches played over the course of six editions of the competition: the first (1953–54) was a two-legged competition, while the remaining five consisted of a single match. Of the seven matches, four were Luton victories, two were wins for Watford and one was a draw. Luton Town won the competition four times to Watford's two; the trophy, a silver, 12 inches (30 cm) tall, two-handled cup, was last won by Watford, who have since retained it.^[33]

The competition saw 23 goals scored, 14 for Luton and 9 for Watford; the individual player who scored the most goals was Luton Town's Gordon Turner, who appeared in all seven matches and scored five goals.^[33]

• Luton Town F.C.
• Watford F.C.

Bibliography

• Bailey, Steve (December 1997). The Definitive Luton Town F.C. Nottingham: Soccerdata. ISBN 1-899468-10-2.
• Collings, Timothy (1985). The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. Luton: Luton Town F.C. ISBN 0-9510679-0-7.
• Hayes, Dean P. (November 2002). Completely Top Hatters!. Dunstable: The Book Castle. ISBN 1-903747-27-9.
• Jones, Trefor (1998). Watford Season by Season. Twickenham: T.G. Jones. ISBN 0-9527458-1-X.
• Phillips, Oliver (1991). The Official Centenary History of Watford Football Club 1881–1991. Watford: Watford F.C. ISBN 0-9509601-6-0.
• Rundle, Richard. "Football Club History Database – Luton Town". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 29 May 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
• Rundle, Richard. "Football Club History Database – Watford". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
• "Soccerbase". Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 May 2009.

Source notes