Watford Football Club are an English football club, from Watford

Watford

Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...

, Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...

. Founded in 1881 as Watford Rovers, the club has competed in the Football League since 1920, with the exceptions of 1999–2000 and 2006–07, when it competed in the Premier League. First introduced by the Watford Observer in the 1972–73 season, the Watford F.C. Player of the Season award is voted for annually by supporters of the club. It recognises the best overall performance by an individual player through the season. Each year the winner is presented with the Watford Observer Trophy at the club's end-of-season awards dinner.

Goalkeeper Andy Rankin

Andy Rankin

Andrew George "Andy" Rankin is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League as a goalkeeper for Everton, Watford and Huddersfield Town. In 1973 Rankin became the inaugural Watford Player of the Season, an accolade he would reclaim in the 1974–75 season.-References:...

 won the initial award in the 1972–73 season, ahead of Colin Franks and Duncan Welbourne

Duncan Welbourne

Duncan Welbourne is an English former professional football player, coach and manager. Born in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, Welbourne started his professional career at Grimsby, as a wing half. In November 1963 he transferred to Watford, for a fee of £1,300. At Watford he converted to a full back,...

. In 1973–74 Rankin won the award for the second time, becoming the first of eight players to do so as of 2010. Another goalkeeper, Tony Coton

Tony Coton

Anthony Philip "Tony" Coton is an English former footballer who made 500 appearances in the Football League and Premier League playing as a goalkeeper for Birmingham City, Watford, Manchester City and Sunderland...

, is the only player to have received the title for a third time. Coton is one of three players to have won the award in consecutive seasons, the others being Wilf Rostron

Wilf Rostron

John Wilfred Rostron, often known as Wilf Rostron , is an English former footballer who spent ten years at Watford as well playing for Arsenal, Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United and Brentford...

 in 1982–83 and 1983–84, and most recently Tommy Smith in 2007–08

2007–08 Watford F.C. season

The 2007–08 football season was Watford Football Club's 62rd consecutive season of competitive football since the Second World War. It began on 1 July 2007, and concluded on 30 June 2008, although competitive games were only played between August and May....

 and 2008–09

2008–09 Watford F.C. season

-External links:**...

. Eight winners of the award have represented their country at international level, of whom only John McClelland went on to become Watford's Player of the Season for a second time.

Towards the end of each season, fans vote directly for the Player of the Season. Historically this has been conducted by post, but in recent years it has taken place on the Watford Observer's website. This system was earmarked for change in 2009. After every match, the Watford Observer encouraged fans to rate each individual player's performance on a five-point scale. At the end of the season the votes were to be collated, with the winner being the player who had the highest average rating over the course of the season. However, this system did not prove popular, and in March 2010 the Observer decided to revert to the traditional method of voting.

Winners

Correct .

Season	Level	Name	Position	Watford appearances	Watford goals	Country	International caps Cap (sport) In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...	Notes
1972–73	3		Goalkeeper	329	0		0
1973–74	3		Forward	100	37		0
1974–75	3		Goalkeeper	329	0		0
1975–76	4		Forward	398	142		0
1976–77	4		Forward	154	53		0
1977–78 1977–78 Watford F.C. season Watford Football Club is an English football team, based in Watford, Hertfordshire. 1977–78 was the club's first season under the management of Graham Taylor, and , its most recent in the fourth tier of English football...	4		Defender Defender (association football) Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....	232	16		0
1978–79	3		Forward	398	142		0
1979–80	2		Defender Defender (association football) Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....	287	36		0
1980–81	2		Defender Defender (association football) Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....	219	8		0
1981–82	2		Midfielder Midfielder A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...	211	20		0
1982–83	1		Defender Defender (association football) Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....	404	30		0
1983–84	1		Defender Defender (association football) Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....	404	30		0
1984–85	1		Defender Defender (association football) Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....	234	3		53
1985–86	1		Goalkeeper	291	0		0
1986–87	1		Goalkeeper	291	0		0
1987–88	1		Defender Defender (association football) Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....	234	3		53
1988–89	2		Midfielder Midfielder A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...	102	19		18
1989–90	2		Goalkeeper	291	0		0
1990–91	2		Goalkeeper	98	0		53
1991–92	2		Defender Defender (association football) Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....	491	7		0
1992–93	2		Forward	91	41		0
1993–94	2		Midfielder Midfielder A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...	472	57		0
1994–95	2		Goalkeeper	151	0		0
1995–96	2		Forward	287	64		0
1996–97	3		Goalkeeper	151	0		0
1997–98	3		Goalkeeper	288	0		0
1998–99	2		Defender Defender (association football) Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....	272	9		0
1999–2000 1999–2000 Watford F.C. season During the 1999–2000 English football season, Watford F.C. competed in the FA Premier League, after being promoted from the First Division last season.-Season summary:...	1		Defender Defender (association football) Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....	252	3		41
2000–01	2		Forward	287	64		0
2001–02	2		Goalkeeper	288	0		0
2002–03 2002–03 Watford F.C. season The 2002–03 season marked Watford Football Club's third consecutive season in the Football League First Division, following relegation from the Premier League in the 1999–2000 season. The club was managed by its former reserve team manager Ray Lewington, following the dismissal of Gianluca Vialli...	2		Defender Defender (association football) Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....	115	9		14
2003–04	2		Midfielder Midfielder A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...	215	7		0
2004–05	2		Forward	228	75		53
2005–06	2		Forward	87	37		18
2006–07 2006–07 Watford F.C. season During the 2006–07 English football season, Watford F.C. competed in the FA Premier League, after being promoted from the Football League Championship last season...	1		Goalkeeper	81	0		5
2007–08 2007–08 Watford F.C. season The 2007–08 football season was Watford Football Club's 62rd consecutive season of competitive football since the Second World War. It began on 1 July 2007, and concluded on 30 June 2008, although competitive games were only played between August and May....	2		Forward	306	64		0
2008–09 2008–09 Watford F.C. season -External links:**...	2		Forward	306	64		0
2009–10	2		Midfielder Midfielder A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...	35	11		0
2010–11 2010–11 Watford F.C. season -Football League Championship:A total of 24 teams competed in the Football League Championship in the 2010–11 season. Each team played 46 matches; two against every other team, with one match played at each club's stadium. Three points were awarded for each win, one for a draw, and none for defeats...	2		Forward	98	41		0

Statistics

Wins by playing position

Position	Number of winners
Goalkeeper	11
Defender Defender (association football) Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....	10
Midfielder Midfielder A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...	5
Forward	13

Wins by country

Country	Number of winners
	32
	1
	2
	2
	2

Footnotes