DAVE WATSON
Central Defender & Team Coach
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FACTS | |||
Born | Liverpool, 20 November 1961 | |||
Height | 6' - 0" (183 cm) | |||
Joined Everton | from Norwich City in August 1986 (£900,000) | |||
Signed by | Howard Kendall | |||
Debut | v Nottingham Forest (h) 2-0, 23 August 1986 | |||
Left Everton | to manage Tranmere Rovers in May 2001 | |||
Finalé | v Tottenham Hotspur (h), 15 January 2000 | |||
Nicknames | Waggy; Captain Marvel | |||
Honours | 12 England Caps, 7 U-21 Caps, League Cup Winner ('85), Second Division Champion ('86) First Division Champion ('87), FA Cup Finalist ('89) FA Cup Winner ('95) | |||
PREVIOUS CAREER | ||||
Seasons | Club | Apps (Lg + Cup) | Gls | |
1978-1980 |
Liverpool (reserves) | - | - | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1980-1986 | Norwich City | 212 + 44 | 11 + 4 |
Link to ToffeeWeb
Hall of Fame Dave Watson
Bought as a replacement for injured local hero Derek Mountfield, Dave appeared
indecisive and clumsy, and was caught out of position too often for
comfort. His fellow Scousers on the Gwladys Street terraces were not
slow to express their scorn, and the tough six-footer was subjected to a
withering examination of his character. At one stage that autumn he
was dropped again in favour of the fit-again Mountfield, but after coming
to terms with the Blues' zonal marking system Norwich had favoured
the more straightforward man-to-man method the Watson confidence returned
and he played a full part in lifting the title as well as extending his
international career. Indeed, so dramatic was his continued improvement
that those fickle fans voted him 1987-88 Player of the Year.
Since then Dave has grown into a true Blues stalwart. Even his most
passionate advocate would not claim he was the quickest member of the team,
but there is ample compensation in his formidable aerial power, tank-like
tackling and determination to do the simple thing well. These days he
is more positive in attack, too, and vital goals have included an FA Cup
5th round, 2nd replay winner against Liverpool in February 1991 and a subsequent
6th Round strike against West Ham. The following summer, Peter Reid offered
£1 million to take his former team-mate to Maine Road. But Dave
signed a new contract with Everton and was handed the job of First Team captain
in January 1992, succeeding Kevin Ratcliffe.
The initial years of Watson's captaincy did not bring much reward. The
change to Premiership Football saw Everton pretty much rooted near the relegation
zone, with potential match-winners like Tony Cottee unable to make a lasting
impression. But Watson survived a sequence of managerial changes that
eventually saw Joe Royle take command. The new manager had new ideas
about how to defend, and it was this that stopped the rot of the depressing
early nineties years.
Watson's proudest moment as team captain must be without doubt the lifting
of the FA Cup in 1995. This victory was above all a tremendous defensive
achievement, for which Watson takes a lot of credit. He was the
inspirational leader of the complete underdogs the so-called Dogs
of War and to come out victorious over the imperious Manchester
United was a sweet pleasure. Watson, grinning like a Cheshire cat, kept
that precious Cup in his grasp all the way back to Merseyside.
Dave Watson's testimonial match against
Glasgow Rangers in July 1997
proved to be a spirited pre-season opener, with Everton running out 3-2
winners. But soon after that Watson relinquished the captain's armband
he had worn with such pride through a difficult and tumultuous period in
Everton's history. His successor, in a puzzling move by Howard Kendall,
was Gary Speed perhaps explained
as an attempt to keep his unhappy midfielder at the club.
At 36, everyone assumed he could not go on much longer, although
he would be sorely missed when he hangs up that the Number 5 shirt in which
he has made every single one of his senior starts for Everton. With
Speed's eventual departure, and Duncan Ferguson's
reluctance for dealing with the press, Dave Watson assumed the role of Club
Captain in January 1998 and consolidated his position as Viv Busby's assistant
with the reserve team.
In Walter Smith's management team, Waggy's immense talents were recognized from the start as was appointed Player/Coach, replacing Viv Busby
who left the club soon after Howard Kendall. But Dave didn't stop there.
He went on to prove
to Walter Smith that, at age 37, he was still indispensable in the back
line. And he did a great job as mentor to
Marco Materazzi, until the defender
returned to Italy. Waggy finally acknowledged that the 1999-2000 season
would probably be his last, as his knees really had started to hurt one needing a
cartilage operation in November of 1999. Appearances have therefore been
rare... but he was still be on
the playing books for the 2000-01 season.
He finally lost his famous Number 5 shirt when Walter Smith needlessly
changed almost everyone's shirt numbers in August 2000, but he retained the Club Captaincy,
with Richard Gough taking the mantle of Team Captain. However, he did
not play for Everton again, and eventually took up the managerial post at
Tranmere Rovers after it was vacated by John Aldridge.
This is what Jimmy Gabriel had to say about Dave Watson (in Talking Blue, by
Becky Tallentire):
Dave Watson was brilliant and what he put out, game after game, was
beyond the call of duty. He would go out and play with injuries and he
never let anyone know about it. We knew because we were on the staff,
but he just got on with it because he was a fine man. So if you want
to talk about somebody as hard as nails then Dave Watson was that man and
what a great servant to Everton.
STRENGTHS
WEAKNESSES
BIOSKETCH
Dave Watson is made of stern stuff: he's had to be. After not reaching
the first team as a teenager at Anfield, the resolute stopper joined Norwich,
with whom his career gathered momentum to such effect that he won England
caps. Thus, when Everton paid a club record £900,000 to bring him
back to his native city in August 1986, the move had all the hallmarks of
a triumphant homecoming. Initially, however, nothing could have been
further than the truth.
EVERTON CAREER STATISTICS | |||||||
Season |
Squad Number |
League Apps(sub) |
League Goals |
Cup Apps(sub) |
Cup Goals |
TOTAL Apps(sub) |
TOTAL Goals |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1986-87 | 5 | 35 (0) | 3 | 7 (0) | 0 | 42 (-) | 3 |
1987-88 | 5 | 37 (0) | 4 | 16 (0) | 2 | 53 (-) | 6 |
1988-89 | 5 | 32 (0) | 3 | 15 (0) | 1 | 47 (-) | 4 |
1989-90 | 5 | 28 (1) | 1 | 7 (0) | 0 | 35 (1) | 1 |
1990-91 | 5 | 32 (0) | 2 | 14 (0) | 4 | 46 (-) | 6 |
1991-92 | 5 | 35 (0) | 3 | 8 (0) | 1 | 43 (-) | 4 |
1992-93 | 5 | 40 (0) | 1 | 8 (0) | 1 | 48 (-) | 2 |
1993-94 | 5 | 27 (1) | 1 | 3 (0) | 3 | 30 (1) | 4 |
1994-95 | 5 | 38 (0) | 2 | 8 (0) | 2 | 46 (-) | 4 |
1995-96 | 5 | 34 (0) | 1 | 7 (1) | 0 | 41 (1) | 1 |
1996-97 | 5 | 29 (0) | 1 | 2 (0) | 0 | 31 (-) | 1 |
1997-98 | 5 | 25 (1) | 1 | 3 (0) | 0 | 28 (1) | 1 |
1998-99 | 5 | 22 (0) | 0 | 4 (0) | 1 | 26 (-) | 1 |
1999-2k | 5 | 5 (1) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 5 (2) | 0 |
2000-01 | 22 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
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Totals: | 419(4) | 23 | 104(2) | 15 | 523(6) | 38 | |
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