Wednesday 29 May 2013

PODCAST: Last one of the Season


Our final podcast of the season is out now and tells our story of the Hornets play-off final defeat against Crystal Palace. We recorded it before, during and after the game.

It is the third anniversary of the podcast and while the landmark episode doesn’t feature the result Hornets fans everywhere craved, but Jason, Jon and I remained upbeat.

It was hugely disappointing to come away from Wembley defeated but it’s important that we keep an eye on the bigger picture. This time last year the club was in turmoil and there were real concerns about the future – at some stages we were worried if we’d still have a club to support. Well it turns out we do and what a club they are shaping up to be. You'll hear us chat with fellow Watford supporters from across the world, including our regular American contributor Curtis along with his fellow Denver Hornet Paul.

We've had so much fun producing From The Rookery End over the last 3 seasons and we'd like to thank everyone who has listened, tweeted us, emailed us or taken part. A massive thanks to the club for supporting us and giving us access to the players and key staff!

You might not want to go back to Wembley just yet, but when do, we hope the podcast reminds you of how far we've come.

NOTE: The above picture was not posed for, but @Sarahh_1994 happened to catch us in the bottom left of this perfect picture as we walked to Wembley. Yes, Jon is wearing Yellow trousers!

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Sunday 19 May 2013

SCARVES TO WEMBLEY

Send us photos of your favourite Watford scarf... can we get enough to reach all the way to Wembley?

Tweet your Hornet scarf photos with the hashtags #scarvestowembley and #watfordfc

If you're on Facebook, post a photo on the From the Rookery End page.

Why? Read on...

The second volume of the book Tales from the Vicarage will be out at the start of next season. Our very own Mike Parkin is one of the contributors to this collection of stories about the Hornets...

The cover of the book features a photograph of great sentimental value to editor Lionel Birnie.


Back in 1984, his mum knitted a Watford scarf for his friend. That friend is now a sports photographer, Simon Gill, who was at Vicarage Road to capture the incredible drama of the play-off game against Leicester and will be at Wembley next week.

After the striking original artwork of the first volume of Tales from the Vicarage, Lionel knew he wanted a very different look for the second book, as he explained.

'There's something about a football scarf that resonates with us all,' Lionel said. 'We've surely all owned one at some point – whether it was a silk scarf from the seventies, a hand-knitted one from the eighties or the more modern printed scarves with a slogan on.

'The scarves my mum knitted in the 1980s have lasted to this day. As Watford fans, we're blessed with a great colour-scheme. Yellow, red and black are so vibrant but when you add the texture of a good old-fashioned football scarf, as we have done for the cover of the book, there's only one thing it could be... A Watford football scarf.'

I agree. There's nothing more effective than a sea of scarves held high above the heads of fans. I was very picky about my scarf, and I spent a long time trying to find the right look. I was after a yellow, black and red-striped knitted scarf and I was so happy when I got the one below from the Hornets Shop a few years ago. It now comes to every game with me.

So, show us your scarves! We want to see all the different ones out there – old ones, new ones, the shop-bought and the home made.

Take a photo of yourself holding your scarf above your head or, if you'd prefer, lay it out horizontally.

Either way, let's see them...


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Sunday 5 May 2013

EXTENDED SEASON

The Play-Offs are a real reason to celebrate! This wonderful season has just been extended by 6.5% (to 1 decimal place).

BRING IT ON!!!!!

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Friday 3 May 2013

Whatever happens, this is just the start...

It's nerve-shredding, but isn't it nice? Instead of discussing the possibility of relegation, we've all got our eyes firmly fixed on the top of the table. As I write this, we've no idea what the immediate future holds, but it's a mark of a magnificent season that the very worst we will finish is third.

Third in what is widely recognised as one of the most competitive divisions in the world. I'll take that.

Especially when you take into account where we've come from. The recent revelations about our former owner (this is a happy time, I won't ruin everyone's day by mentioning his name) have left us in no doubt as to the state the club was in. So, no matter the outcome of the upcoming games, let's take time to take stock and evaluate.

With the help of this magnificent cartoon from Vince Pitt (you'll have seen plenty of his work in the match day programme) let's pause to remember that we've come a long way. And this is just the start...

Come on you Horns!


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Download the latest podcast via iTunesPlus, get FTRE blog posts sent straight to your inbox. Simply enter your email address in the "Subscribe by Email" box in the right hand column near the top of this page. Or if you're really technical you can use this RSS code.