 David Watson in 1978 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | David Vernon Watson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1946-10-05)5 October 1946 (age 78)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, England[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Central defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Stapleford O.B | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1966–1967 | Notts County | 25 | (1) |
| 1967–1970 | Rotherham United | 121 | (19) |
| 1970–1975 | Sunderland | 177 | (27) |
| 1975–1979 | Manchester City | 146 | (4) |
| 1979 | Werder Bremen | 2 | (0) |
| 1979–1982 | Southampton | 73 | (7) |
| 1982–1983 | Stoke City | 59 | (5) |
| 1983 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 26 | (3) |
| 1983–1984 | Derby County | 34 | (1) |
| 1984 | Fort Lauderdale Sun | ||
| 1984–1985 | Notts County | 25 | (1) |
| 1985–1986 | Kettering Town | 10 | (3) |
| Total | 698 | (71) | |
| International career | |||
| 1974–1982 | England | 65 | (4) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
David Vernon Watson (born 5 October 1946) is an English former professionalfootballer who played as adefender. During his club career, he played forNotts County,Rotherham United,Sunderland,Manchester City,Werder Bremen,Southampton,Stoke City,Vancouver Whitecaps andDerby County. Watson is regarded as one of Sunderland's greatest defenders of all time.[3][4][5]
He won 65 caps with theEngland national team and wascaptain on three occasions.[1]
Watson was born inStapleford, Nottinghamshire, and started his career in 1966 as a striker with hometown clubNotts County making 26 appearances in two seasons, before moving to Second DivisionRotherham United in 1968.[6] Watson was signed byTommy Docherty in a player exchange deal which involvedKeith Pring going to Notts County and the Millers paying £1,000.[7] He was thrust into a relegation battle with Rotherham in1967–68 which was unsuccessful and led to Docherty's departure.[8][9] After four seasons atMillmoor where he made 141 appearances and scored 21 goals, he caught the attention ofSunderland managerAlan Brown who paid £100,000 for his services in December 1970.[7]
AtRoker Park, Watson began at centre forward, which many believed hindered their chances of gaining promotion.[7] It was not untilBob Stokoe took over in November 1972 that Watson began to play at centre back.[10] Sunderland reached the1973 FA Cup final where they beat First DivisionLeeds United 1–0; he was able to keep Leeds's strike pairing ofAllan Clarke andMick Jones quiet and was praised by Stokoe.[11][12] Following Sunderland's cup success the expectation was now for the club to gain promotion but they missed out by two points in both1973–74 and1974–75.[7]
In the summer of 1975, Watson joined First DivisionManchester City for a fee of £175,000 in a deal which sawJeff Clarke move the other way.[12] Watson spent four seasons atMaine Road which saw Man City miss out on the title in1976–77 by one point.[12] They did win theLeague Cup in1976 beatingNewcastle United 2–1.[7] He left Manchester City in the summer of 1979 for GermanBundesliga sideWerder Bremen.[12] His time at Bremen was short as after making his debut in a 1–0 win overBayer Uerdingen he was sent off in his second match against1860 Munich for "pushing"Hermann Bitz and banned by theGerman FA for eight weeks.[7] He was fined by his club and refused to travel to an away match againstFC Schalke 04 because of an injury before turning up to play for England.[7]
He returned to England by October withSouthampton.[10] Watson played 31 games in1979–80 and 44 games in1980–81 as the Saints finished 8th and 6th respectively.[7] However, he was dropped byLawrie McMenemy during the next season and he joinedStoke City in January 1982.[1][10] He played 24 times for Stoke in1981–82 helping them to avoid relegation.[1] He then played 40 times in1982–83 as Stoke finished in a mid-table position of 13th.[citation needed] Watson spent the summer of 1983 with theVancouver Whitecaps.[13] He spent a season on loan at Derby County where he made 34 appearances.[14] Watson ended his league career at his first club Notts County, but continued playing into his 40s at non-league clubKettering Town.[10]
Less than a year after the FA Cup victory and despite playing in the Second Division, he was given his debut forEngland in a friendly game againstPortugal in Lisbon.[15] Watson – quite advanced in years for a debutant at 27 – was one of six first-timers on show (among the others wereTrevor Brooking) in what would prove to be1966 World Cup-winning managerAlf Ramsey's last game in charge.[15][16] Later in 1974, Watson won his second cap in a 2–0 defeat byScotland atHampden Park, Glasgow, coming on as a substitute forNorman Hunter.[15] His first competitive game at international level was his seventh appearance in all as England defeatedCzechoslovakia 3–0 at Wembley in a qualifier for the1976 European Championships. Despite this scoreline, England would not ultimately qualify for the finals while the Czechoslovak team would go on to win it.[17][18] Watson did not miss another England game until 1980.[7]
During the same year, Watson's establishment as England's first choice central defender was galvanised by a 4–3 victory overDenmark in Copenhagen which set the seal on a qualification forUEFA Euro 1980 – England's first major tournament qualification for a decade.[19][20] Watson continued his England career, earning his 50th cap againstArgentina in a warm-up game prior to the European Championships in Italy.[21] Watson duly played in all three of England's group games – againstBelgium, Italy andSpain – but a draw, defeat and victory respectively was not enough for England to progress.[22] His final appearance for England came against Iceland in June 1982 having gained 65 caps.[7] He was excluded from the squad for the1982 FIFA World Cup, with managerRon Greenwood selecting only three central defenders,Phil Thompson,Terry Butcher andSteve Foster.[12] He did however, appear in the video for "This Time We'll Get It Right", England's 1982 World Cup song.[23] Watson remains the most-capped England player never to play in a World Cup finals match.[12]
Born inStapleford, just west ofNottingham, he played youth football for Stapleford Old Boys and left school to work as a farm labourer and then as an electrician.[12] His elder brother,Peter, was also a professional footballer.[24]
Married to Penelope Watson MBE since June 1969.[2]
In February 2020, it was reported that Watson, aged 73, was suffering from aneurodegenerative disease with his wife, Penny, suspecting that "head injuries and repeated heading of the ball" were the cause.[25]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other[a] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Notts County | 1966–67 | Fourth Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 1967–68 | Fourth Division | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | |
| Total | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 1 | ||
| Rotherham United | 1967–68 | Second Division | 18 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| 1968–69 | Third Division | 44 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 8 | |
| 1969–70 | Third Division | 41 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 2 | |
| 1970–71 | Third Division | 18 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 12 | |
| Total | 121 | 19 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 141 | 22 | ||
| Sunderland | 1970–71 | Second Division | 17 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 4 |
| 1971–72 | Second Division | 42 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 47 | 15 | |
| 1972–73 | Second Division | 37 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 4 | |
| 1973–74 | Second Division | 41 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 51 | 3 | |
| 1974–75 | Second Division | 40 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 46 | 4 | |
| Total | 177 | 27 | 17 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 212 | 33 | ||
| Manchester City | 1975–76 | First Division | 31 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 42 | 2 |
| 1976–77 | First Division | 41 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 2 | |
| 1977–78 | First Division | 41 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 2 | |
| 1978–79 | First Division | 33 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 47 | 2 | |
| Total | 146 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 188 | 6 | ||
| Werder Bremen | 1979–80 | Bundesliga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Southampton | 1979–80 | First Division | 30 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 4 |
| 1980–81 | First Division | 38 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 2 | |
| 1981–82 | First Division | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | |
| Total | 73 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 83 | 7 | ||
| Stoke City | 1981–82 | First Division | 24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 3 |
| 1982–83 | First Division | 35 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 3 | |
| Total | 59 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 6 | ||
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 1983 | NASL | 26 | 3 | – | – | – | 26 | 3 | |||
| Derby County | 1983–84 | Second Division | 34 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 1 |
| Notts County | 1984–85 | Second Division | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 1 |
| Career total | 688 | 68 | 53 | 8 | 41 | 2 | 28 | 2 | 810 | 80 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 1974 | 7 | 0 |
| 1975 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1977 | 11 | 0 | |
| 1978 | 9 | 0 | |
| 1979 | 10 | 4 | |
| 1980 | 10 | 0 | |
| 1981 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1982 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 61 | 4 | |
Sunderland
Manchester City
England
Individual
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