Elton John

ABOUT ELTON JOHN

How Elton John Helped Take Watford from the Fourth Division to the Top of English Football

Elton John is one of the most successful musicians in history. But in Watford, he is something else too. He is part of the club’s identity. Long before he became one of the biggest stars in the world. Elton, then still Reginald Dwight supported Watford as a boy. He grew up in nearby Pinner and followed the club from childhood. Decades later, he would become its chairman and owner. And what followed became one of the most remarkable ownership stories in English football.

From childhood fan to chairman.

In 1976, Elton John became chairman and director of Watford. At the time, the club was a long way from the top of English football but Elton had ambitions far beyond simply owning the team he supported. One of his most important decisions came soon afterwards: he appointed Graham Taylor as manager. It would become one of the defining partnerships in Watford’s history. Taylor provided the football vision. Elton brought ambition, financial backing and belief. Together, they transformed the scale of what Watford could become.

Three promotions. Five years.

Under Taylor, Watford climbed rapidly through the English league system. The rise happened almost immediately:

• 1977/78 — Fourth Division → Third Division
• 1978/79 — Third Division → Second Division
• 1981/82 — Second Division → First Division

In just five years, Watford had gone from the fourth tier of English football to the top flight. That alone would have been an extraordinary achievement. But they were not finished. In their first season in the First Division, 1982/83, Watford finished second in England, behind Liverpool. A club that had been playing in the Fourth Division only a few years earlier was suddenly one of the strongest teams in the country. And that second-place finish also meant something else.

Watford in Europe.

In the 1983/84 UEFA Cup, Watford made their European debut. And they did not disappear quietly. In the first round, they faced 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Watford lost the first leg in Germany 3-1, but produced a superb comeback at Vicarage Road, winning the return match 3-0 and going through 4-3 on aggregate. UEFA’s records confirm Watford and Kaiserslautern split the two matches one win each, with Watford scoring four goals to Kaiserslautern’s three.

In the second round, Watford met Levski Sofia. The first leg at Vicarage Road finished 1-1. In Bulgaria, Watford won the return match 3-1 after extra time, completing a 4-2 aggregate victory. UEFA records Watford with one win and one draw against Levski in that campaign, with a 4–2 goal advantage overall.

Their run finally ended in the third round against Sparta Prague. Sparta won both matches, including a 3-2 victory at Vicarage Road and a 4-0 win in Prague.

Even so, for a club that had been in the Fourth Division only a few seasons earlier, simply reaching the third round of the UEFA Cup was an extraordinary step. The same season brought another landmark.

Watford reached the FA Cup final for the first time in the club’s history in 1984.

For Elton John, this was far more than a celebrity investment. It was the club he had supported as a child going from the Fourth Division to competing in Europe and reaching Wembley in little more than half a decade.

Elton John and Graham Taylor.

The story cannot really be told without Graham Taylor. Elton later described Taylor as being “like a brother to me” and their partnership became one of the most important relationships in Watford’s history. Taylor was the football architect. Elton provided ambition, resources and trust. Together, they changed what Watford believed was possible. By the early 1980s, the Hornets had gone from the lower reaches of the Football League to finishing second in England, playing European football and reaching an FA Cup final.

He sold the club but never really left.

Elton sold Watford to Jack Petchey in 1987, although he remained connected to the club as president. A decade later, in 1997, he bought the club back and became chairman again. And once again, Watford started climbing. During this second period, with Graham Taylor again central to the football side, Watford won promotion from the third tier in 1997/98. Just one season later, they beat Bolton Wanderers in the 1999 First Division play-off final at Wembley, earning promotion to the Premier League. So remarkably, both of Elton John’s major periods at the heart of Watford were connected with dramatic rises through the English football pyramid. He stepped down as chairman in 2002, when the club needed someone who could devote themselves to the role full-time, but he continued as president.

More than a celebrity owner.

Elton John’s connection with Watford did not end when he stopped running the club. In **2005 **and again in 2010, he performed concerts at Vicarage Road and donated the proceeds to Watford. Then, in 2014, one of the stands at Vicarage Road was renamed the Sir Elton John Stand. He described the occasion as one of the greatest days of his life. That detail probably explains the whole story better than anything else. This was never simply a famous musician buying a football club for prestige. Elton supported Watford first. Then he became chairman. He backed Graham Taylor. He secured the club climb from the Fourth Division to the First Division. He saw them finish second in England. He saw them play in Europe. He saw them reach an FA Cup final. And when he came back years later, Watford reached the Premier League again. That is why Elton John is not simply a celebrity associated with Watford. He is part of the club’s history. And perhaps the most remarkable part of the story is this: One of the world’s biggest music stars helped turn a Fourth Division football club into one of the best teams in England and later helped oversee its return to the Premier League.