2014–15 Watford F.C. season
# 2014–15 Watford F.C. season

Watford Football Club is an English football club from Watford, Hertfordshire. They played the 2014–15 season in the Football League Championship, for the eighth consecutive season since relegation from the Premier League in 2006–07, securing promotion following a 2–0 win against Brighton & Hove Albion on 25 April 2015, after spending eight consecutive seasons in the Championship. The team's manager was Slaviša Jokanović.

## Competitions

### Championship

**League table**

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Bournemouth (C, P) | 46 | 26 | 12 | 8 | 98 | 45 | +53 | 90 | Promotion to the Premier League |
| 2 | Watford (P) | 46 | 27 | 8 | 11 | 91 | 50 | +41 | 89 | Promotion to the Premier League |
| 3 | Norwich City (O, P) | 46 | 25 | 11 | 10 | 88 | 48 | +40 | 86 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 4 | Middlesbrough | 46 | 25 | 10 | 11 | 68 | 37 | +31 | 85 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 5 | Brentford | 46 | 23 | 9 | 14 | 78 | 59 | +19 | 78 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |

* ↑ Four teams play for one spot and promotion to the Premier League.

### League results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |

Last updated: 6 April 2015. Source: Football League

| 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 | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | L | W | W | W | L | W | D | D | W | D | W | D | D | W | L | L | L | L | W | W | W | L | W | L | W | W | L | W | W | W | L | W | W | W | D | W | W | L | D | W | W | W | W | W | D |
| Position | 2 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |

### Matches

The fixtures for the 2014–15 season were announced on 18 June 2014 at 9am.

### League Cup

The draw for the first round was made on 17 June 2014 at 10am. Watford were drawn away to Stevenage.

## Squad statistics

Statistics correct as of 2 May 2015.

2014–15 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 | Heurelho Gomes | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 2014 | No | — |
| 2 | MF | Luke O'Nien | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 2013 | Yes | — |
| 3 | MF | Gianni Munari | 21+7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 31 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 2014 | No | † |
| 4 | DF | Gabriele Angella | 32+3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 2013 | No | — |
| 5 | MF | Keith Andrews | 4+5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 2014 | No | † |
| 5 | MF | Adlène Guedioura | 13+4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 2014 | No | — |
| 6 | DF | Joel Ekstrand | 23+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 2012 | No | — |
| 7 | MF | Cristian Battocchio | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 2012 | No | — |
| 7 | MF | Miguel Layún | 14+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 2015 | No | — |
| 8 | MF | Dániel Tőzsér | 34+11 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 2014 | No | † |
| 9 | FW | Troy Deeney | 37+5 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 2010 | No | — |
| 10 | MF | Lewis McGugan | 5+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 2013 | No | — |
| 11 | FW | Fernando Forestieri | 10+14 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 2012 | No | — |
| 12 | DF | Lloyd Doyley | 5+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 2001 | Yes | — |
| 13 | FW | Mathias Ranégie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 2014 | No | — |
| 14 | DF | Juan Carlos Paredes | 32+7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 2014 | No | — |
| 15 | DF | Craig Cathcart | 28+1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 2014 | No | — |
| 16 | MF | Sean Murray | 2+4 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 2010 | Yes | — |
| 17 | DF | Vujadin Savić | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2015 | No | — |
| 17 | DF | Gabriel Tamaș | 6+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 2014 | No | — |
| 18 | DF | Daniel Pudil | 19+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 2012 | No | — |
| 19 | FW | Diego Fabbrini | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2013 | No | — |
| 20 | FW | Matěj Vydra | 31+11 | 16 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 45 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 2014 | No | † |
| 21 | MF | Ikechi Anya | 27+8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 2012 | No | — |
| 22 | MF | Almen Abdi | 28+4 | 9 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 2012 | No | — |
| 23 | MF | Lloyd Dyer | 4+10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 2014 | No | — |
| 23 | MF | Ben Watson | 19+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 2015 | No | — |
| 24 | FW | Odion Ighalo | 22+13 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 2014 | No | — |
| 25 | FW | Uche Ikpeazu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 2013 | No | — |
| 26 | FW | Bernard Mensah | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 2011 | Yes | — |
| 27 | DF | Josh Doherty | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2014 | Yes | — |
| 28 | MF | Connor Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 2011 | Yes | — |
| 29 | FW | Alex Jakubiak | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 2014 | Yes | — |
| 30 | GK | Jonathan Bond | 2+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 2010 | Yes | — |
| 31 | DF | Tommie Hoban | 20+7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 2011 | Yes | — |
| 32 | MF | George Byers | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 2014 | Yes | — |
| 33 | DF | Jorell Johnson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 2014 | Yes | — |
| 34 | GK | Rene Gilmartin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 2014 | No | — |
| 39 | DF | Sébastien Bassong | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 2014 | No | † |
| 39 | DF | Matthew Connolly | 4+2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 2015 | No | † |
| 47 | MF | Marco Motta | 7+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 2014 | Yes | — |

* ↑ For players who came through the club's youth system the date used refers to when they signed a professional contract, unless they appeared in a first-team match-day squad prior to that, in which case that date is used.
* ↑ A dagger is only displayed if the player was exclusively a loan player during the 2014–15 season. If they signed permanently over the course of the season then it is not displayed.
* ↑ All players who have been signed to the club since the opening day of the 2014–15 season are listed

## Staff

### Non-playing staff

* Head-coach: Slaviša Jokanović (from 7 October)
* Assistant coach: Dean Austin (from 15 January)
* Assistant coach: Ruben Martinez (from 11 September; joint caretaker head coach 15–29 September)
* Assistant coach: Javier Pereira (from 11 September; joint caretaker head coach 15–29 September)
* Goalkeeping coach: Alec Chamberlain
* Goalkeeping coach: Paolo De Toffol
* Technical director: Luke Dowling (from 3 September)
* Academy manager: Chris McGuane
* Lead professional development coach: David Horseman (from 1 December)
* Academy Head of Coaching: Barry Quin (acting youth-team coach between Hughes' departure and appointment of Horseman)
* Chief scout: Filippo Giraldi
* Head of medical: Richard Collinge (from 9 February)
* Head of sports science: Gianni Brignardello
* Sport Scientist: Ben Dixon
* Kit manager: Will Jones
* Assistant kit manager: Craig Charles

Information correct as of 13 May 2015.

**Former non-playing staff**

* Head coach: Beppe Sannino (until 31 August)
* Head coach: Óscar García (2–29 September)
* Head-coach: Billy McKinlay (29 September–7 October; assistant coach: 26–29 September)
* Assistant coach: Giovanni Cusatis (until 11 September)
* Assistant coach: Francesco Troise (until 11 September)
* Technical director: Gianluca Nani (until 2 September)
* Youth team coach: David Hughes (until 6 August)
* Head of medical: Marco Cesarini (until late December)
* First-team analyst: Adam Carter

## Transfers

### In

| Date | Player | From | Fee |
| - | - | - | - |
| 23 May 2014 | Heurelho Gomes | Tottenham Hotspur | Free |
| 27 May 2014 | Gabriel Tamaș | Doncaster Rovers | Free |
| 12 June 2014 | Lloyd Dyer | Leicester City | Free |
| 24 June 2014 | Craig Cathcart | Blackpool | Free |
| 16 July 2014 | Juan Carlos Paredes | Granada | Undisclosed |
| 25 August 2014 | Rene Gilmartin | St Patrick's Athletic | Free |
| 24 October 2014 | Odion Ighalo | Udinese | Undisclosed |
| 9 January 2015 | Miguel Layún | Granada | Undisclosed |
| 23 January 2015 | Ben Watson | Wigan Athletic | Undisclosed |
| 23 January 2015 | Vujadin Savić | Bordeaux | Free |
| 26 February 2015 | Marco Motta | Juventus | Free |

### Out

| Date | Player | To | Fee |
| - | - | - | - |
| 4 June 2014 | Manuel Almunia | Retired | Released |
| 4 June 2014 | Marco Cassetti | Retired | Released |
| 4 June 2014 | Fitz Hall | Free Agent | Released |
| 4 June 2014 | Ross Jenkins | Free agent | Released |
| 4 June 2014 | Lucas Neill | Free Agent | Released |
| 4 June 2014 | Nyron Nosworthy | Blackpool | Released |
| 4 June 2014 | Albert Riera | Udinese | Released |
| 2 July 2014 | Marco Faraoni | Udinese | Undisclosed |
| 17 July 2014 | Gary Woods | Leyton Orient | Free |
| 31 July 2014 | Reece Brown | Barnsley | Undisclosed |
| 1 August 2014 | Javier Acuña | Club Olimpia | Undisclosed |
| 14 January 2015 | Gabriel Tamaș | Steaua București | Free |

* ↑ Where a player has been released, the date given is when their release was announced by Watford, not when their contract expired or when the joined their next club.
* ↑ Where a player has been released, the club they subsequently joined is listed, provided it is professional and occurred during the 2014–15 season.

### Loans in

| Start | Player | Parent club | End |
| - | - | - | - |
| 26 June 2014 | Matěj Vydra | Udinese | 30 June 2015 |
| 7 July 2014 | Dániel Tőzsér | Parma | 30 June 2015 |
| 24 July 2014 | Keith Andrews | Bolton Wanderers | 2 February 2015 |
| 30 July 2014 | Odion Ighalo | Udinese | 24 October 2014 |
| 4 August 2014 | Gianni Munari | Parma | 30 June 2015 |
| 8 October 2014 | Sébastien Bassong | Norwich City | 9 January 2015 |
| 26 November 2014 | Adlène Guedioura | Crystal Palace | 1 January 2015 |
| 27 February 2015 | Adlène Guedioura | Crystal Palace | 25 April 2015 |
| 19 March 2015 | Matthew Connolly | Cardiff City | 30 June 2015 |

### Loans outs

| Start | Player | To | Level | End |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 5 August 2014 | Essaïd Belkalem | Trabzonspor | Turkish Süper Lig | 30 June 2015 |
| 13 August 2014 | Alex Jakubiak | Oxford United | League Two | 4 November 2014 |
| 14 August 2014 | Jorell Johnson | Hemel Hempstead Town | Conference South | 30 June 2015 |
| 22 August 2014 | Luke O'Nien | Wealdstone | Conference South | 30 June 2015 |
| 26 August 2014 | Cristian Battocchio | Virtus Entella | Italian Serie B | 30 June 2015 |
| 28 August 2014 | Mathias Ranégie | Millwall | Championship | 15 January 2015 |
| 19 November 2014 | Lewis McGugan | Sheffield Wednesday | Championship | 1 January 2015 |
| 26 November 2014 | Uche Ikpeazu | Crewe Alexandra | League One | 25 January 2015 |
| 27 November 2014 | Alex Jakubiak | Dagenham & Redbridge | League Two | 30 June 2015 |
| 16 January 2015 | Diego Fabbrini | Millwall | Championship | 16 March 2015 |
| 19 January 2015 | Lloyd Dyer | Birmingham City | Championship | 30 June 2015 |
| 28 January 2015 | Uche Ikpeazu | Doncaster Rovers | League One | 10 March 2015 |
| 2 February 2015 | Lewis McGugan | Sheffield Wednesday | Championship | 30 June 2015 |
| 5 February 2015 | Mathias Ranégie | Dalian Aerbin | China League One | 31 December 2015 |
| 11 February 2015 | Bernard Mensah | Braintree Town | Conference | 30 June 2015 |
| 13 March 2015 | Uche Ikpeazu | Crewe Alexandra | League One | 30 June 2015 |
| 26 March 2015 | Diego Fabbrini | Birmingham City | Championship | 30 June 2015 |

## Reserves and academy

In 2014–15, Watford's under-21 side competed in the Under-21 Premier League Cup, progressing through four rounds before losing 3–2 away at Southampton in the quarter-finals. They also played in the Herts Senior Cup, progressing through one round before losing to Hemel Hempstead in the quarter-finals. The under-18s finished 5th in the South-East Conference of the Football League Youth Alliance, subsequently qualifying for Merit League One. In the FA Youth Cup they entered in the third round, losing 3–1 away at Swansea.

Watford's academy in 2014–15 consisted of 17 scholars:

* In the second year: Arie Ammann, Matthew Hall, Harry Kyprianou, Dennon Lewis, Mahlondo Martin, Il Myeong Choi, Kunle Otudeko, Carl Stewart and Alfie Young.
* In the first year: Jacob Cook, Andrew Eleftheriou, Michael Folivi, Max Makaka, Brandon Mason, Ogo Obi, Charlie Rowan and Connor Stevens.

Panos Armenakas was announced as joining the first-year in April 2014, but in June he signed for Italian club Udinese, who are also owned by the Pozzo family. On 1 September the club announced second-year midfielder Tom Rosenthal had left to join Belgian side S.V. Zulte Waregem in order for him to be closer to an ill family member. On 15 September striker Ogo Obi signed a two-year scholarship deal with the club, with a one-year professional deal from its expiration in 2016. Obi had been with the club since the under-11 age-group, but had spent time on trial with Manchester United over the pre-season. Goalkeeper Shaun Rowley, a scholar with Shrewsbury Town, joined the academy on a youth loan for the early part of the reason, returning to his parent club in October. Stewart transferred to Udinese in January. In February Folivi signed a deal that would see him become professional at the end of his scholarship in 2016, with the club holding the option of adding a further year.

On 1 May, Watford announced that Lewis, Martin and Young would be offered professional contracts of an unspecified length, while Hall would have his scholarship extended after he suffered from an injury in 2014–15. Ammann, Choi, Otudeko and Kyprianou, who was an unused substitute for the first-team's FA Cup game away at Bristol City on 4 January 2014, were released.

