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Watford Football Club can trace its origins to Watford Rovers founded in 1881 by Henry Grover.

In 1890 Rovers merged with West Herfordshire Rangers to form Watford St Mary's and after the club had turned professional and joined the Southern League in 1896, a second merger resulted in a name change to the current form, Watford FC.

In 1900 the club won the Southern League Second Division title and in 1915 they won the Southern League championship.

Founder Members of Division Three

They became founder members of the new Football League Third Division in 1920. In the seasons preceding the Second World War they finished in fourth place in four consecutive seasons, but after the war their form dipped and they had to apply for re-election in 1951.

Promotion to Division Two

In 1960 they won promotion to the Third Division where they stayed for nine seasons before winning promotion to Division Two in 1969.

A year later they reached the FA Cup semi-final where they lost to Chelsea.

Elton John becomes Chairman

Relegations in 1972 and 1975 saw them fall to Division Four, and it was not until the arrival of pop star Elton John as chairman in 1977 that they began their climb up the leagues.

Climbing through the Divisions

In 1978, with Graham Taylor at the helm, The Hornets stormed to the Fourth Division title. The following season they reached the League Cup semi-finals and won promotion to Division Two, and in 1982 they achieved promotion to Division One.

League and FA Cup Runners-Up

In 1982/83, with everyone predicting a quick return to the Second Division, Watford amazingly finished second, behind Liverpool, to secure a UEFA Cup place.

The following season they reached the FA Cup final but were beaten by Everton.

In 1987 Taylor resigned and in 1988 the club were relegated and, after struggling in the second tier for several years, they were relegated again in 1996.

In 1998 they won promotion and a year later were back in the Premiership via a play-off defeat of Bolton Wanderers.

The following season they finished bottom, for a swift return to Division One.

FA Cup and League Cup Semi-Finals

While a second tier side they managed to reach the semi-finals of both the FA Cup (2003) and the League Cup (2005), before they unexpectedly beat Leeds United in the play-off final to return to the Premiership in 2006.

Again this proved a false dawn and, despite another FA Cup semi-final, they were relegated at the end of the 2006/07 season.

2007-08 saw them make the early running in the Championship, but their form fell away and they were eventually beaten in the play-offs by Hull City.

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