Division 1 Playoff Final, 31/5/99
Watford 2(1)
Team: Chamberlain, Bazeley, Kennedy, Page, Palmer, Robinson, Ngonge, Hyde, Mooney, Johnson, Wright
Subs: Hazan (for Wright), Day, Smart (for Ngonge)
Scorers: Wright (38), Smart (89)
Bolton Wanderers 0(0)
 
Here's to the next time
Report by Tim Tweddell

I was lucky to be at Wembley for the 1984 Cup Final. I think I'll stop there.

Naturally I always wanted the club to return and for us to have a second chance, but when GT left, that dream evaporated, and in 1989 I came to live in the USA.

As I got older, I decided that one of my realisable ambitions would be to see Watford at the Twin Towers again, unlikely though that seemed to be at the time.

Well, this year was my chance. I had arranged to get a ticket and booked my flight from Washington D.C. to Heathrow to leave on the Wednesday before and fly back a week later. All the necessary arrangements had been made in England, and I was on my way......or so I thought.

The fickle finger of fate intervened, and a week before the game I began to feel a bit ropy. After a visit to the doctor and a lot of umming and aahing, I decided the day before I was due to fly that the risk just wasn't worth it, and cancelled the flight (there was no trouble finding a user for the cherished ticket).

There followed an agonising five days when I knew I was going to recover and could have gone; fortunately I was wrong. The time came for me to meet up with my international mates on the mIRC. The regulars all turned up and a few new "faces", about twenty in all, and we had our usual good time, with the brilliance of live LBC commentary. My 1984 shirt was up on the wall for good luck, and my vintage Watford FC beer mug was waiting to be filled.

The excitement, the anticipation, the anxiety could almost be seen oozing out of the monitor. Wrighty scores..."YES" is emblazoned on the screen from several corners of the planet, then the killer goal - you can see the faces light up, there are your mates running round their rooms, you are aglow, you get the beer ready. What a magical, wonderful moment when the final whistle goes....and then it's a bit quiet as these invisible friends are typing "Can we get a video?", "Listen to the fans singing, isn't it great?"..........."I wish I could have been there."

And then you realise you've missed it - it's over and you weren't there. I know exactly how they all feel - experiencing joy, sadness, and regret all at the same time. Some of us have tears in our eyes, some are pouring beer, some have to get ready to go to work. For a couple of hours we have been linked by technology and the most marvellous football club on this earth.

I don't think I've missed a game on the mIRC this season, and there are others who could claim the same. Fantastic camaraderie. I have never met any of my fellow mIRCers, but I know them all so well. Thanks guys.

Where was I? Oh, yes, when's the next time - I have to have something to live for....