HERE is our next featured Hornet in our 'My Watford' series.

Thanks to Bill Rayner for volunteering to answer our teasers. All of these articles are located in the 'My Watford' area of the website which can be found by clicking here.  

If you would like to be featured please email themediateam@watfordfc.com with 'My Watford' in the subject line and we'll send you some questions to answer.

Name: Bill Rayner
From: Sleaford, Lincolnshire

Q: Why do you support Watford and how long have you followed them for?

A: I have followed Watford since 1969, arriving in Watford on the day Watford beat Aston Villa 3-0 with my younger brother. 

We were moving to Watford that day and had traveled ahead of the family. We did not even know where our house was but we soon found the stadium. 

I have found Watford irresistible since then, attending games even when we lived in Bishops Stortford, Ashford in Kent and now Lincolnshire.

Q: Take us through a normal home match day for you, from where you have to travel from right up to taking your seat in the stadium?

A: It is usually an early start for me leaving home by 10am to travel down to Watford. I meet up with my sons Tom and John in the Escort Tavern to discuss the forthcoming game, predicting scores and who is likely to play.

We then walk to the ground mingling with the home fans and friends before Tom and John take their seats as season ticket holders and I find mine. 

Half time is an opportunity to guide Aidy as to what he should be doing before returning to our seats, watching the second half and meeting up again to get to our cars. 

I usually arrive home by 8pm either very satisfied or merely looking forward to the next game I am attending.

Q: As a supporter how hardcore are you?

A: I have been a season ticket holder, and as I said Tom and John still are but due to previous jobs I found I was missing as many games as I saw. 

As for away games I probably see almost as many away as I see at home having travelled to Leicester, Scunthorpe, Barnsley,  Sheffield - twice, Charlton, Plymouth and Hull last season.

Q: What is your most memorable moment following the Hornets?

A: There are so many, whether it was being the "Voice of Watford" in our first Premiership season, beating Southampton 7-1 in the league cup, my daughter Katy and John being mascots when we beat West Brom 5 -1. 

Probably my favourite game was when John at the age of eight acted as a police officer in full uniform and even escorted the ref off the pitch on the same day as Katy commentating the game for local radio.

Q: What are the most extraordinary lengths you've gone to to get to a Watford game?

A: I joined the police as a cadet in 1972 and was stationed at Rickmansworth. Cadets were not involved in football duty but I managed to convince my sergeant that it would be good for my development and attended on a regular basis, watching more than working.

Q: Who is your all time favourite Watford player?

A: Stewart Scullion, he played on the wing in the first game I saw and he appeared to beat two or three players and then felt he had to go back to beat them again. Unfortunately he did not always achieve the feat but he made me smile.

Q: Who is the last truly exciting player you saw play?

A: Ronaldo, when he is on the ball the opposition fear what he can do. Not just his tricks but his sheer ability to get round players, cross or shoot. Wow.

Q: Do you have any football related superstitions?

A: My superstitions change as season's progress and as soon as I realise that it is my fault that Watford do not win I have to do something different.

Tom earlier this season always went to the same place for pre-match meals and always had the same thing.

One day he forgot to have barbeque sauce and we lost. Currently I have lucky underwear - yellow!

Q: How do you fill your weekends during the summer break?

A: Very difficult but I love cricket and am a member at Trent Bridge so if there is a game on then I like to go. 

My son Ben is also a member so it is a chance for family bonding. We always have a family cricket day on the third day of the test at Trent Bridge and this year there are twelve attending

Q: Club or country? Or is there no contest?

A: I am an England member but make me choose and it would have to be club. I am so happy that we have players representing their nations but always fear that they will come back injured.

Q: Are you a singer when you attend games and if so do you have a favourite song?

A: I'm not really a singer away from games let alone at them, but do join in if the game really needs me such as against Leicester last season. 

Q: What do you think of the atmosphere at football grounds today? Has it got better or worse and why?

A: The atmosphere is much better. When I first came in 1969 Watford supporters were not overly vocal, especially at the Vicarage Road end, but since the introduction of all seated stadia the noise seems to reverberate better.

Q: If you could meet one ex-Watford player, who would it be and what would you ask them?

A: I once wrote to Ken Furphy to ask if I could meet Mickey Walker, father of Ian and our goalkeeper because I wanted to talk about the skills needed to be a footballer.

I never did meet him but a more recent player to meet would be Marlon King.  I was so disappointed when he went that I would love to ask him why he promoted himself as a lover of the club this year when all he really wanted to do was leave.

Q: If you had the talent to have been a professional footballer, what position would you play and how would you describe yourself as a player?

A: I would like to be a goalkeeper as I am not the best tackler as my children would agree with.  I once played for a St Albans City side against a commentators eleven on the wing.

The boys thought it was hilarious when I back healed on a regular, possibly too regular basis, to my team. Now they would say that I was showboating.

Q: Do you have a favourite away ground, if so why?

A: Scunthorpe is a nice cosy ground where as a supporter you are very close to the action and for me it is almost a home game.

Bill is a fan of Glanford Park

Q: What is the best away support that you've ever seen at Vicarage Road?

A: Newcastle always bring a large crowd, it does not seem to matter what day of the week or what time of the day. I put that down to my feeling that an awful lot of the toon army seem to work in the area.

Q: Do you have a soft spot for another team or do you look out for anyone else when the results come in?

A: I always look out for Exeter City. I was born there and Ben and I went to their last game in the football league. An amazing crowd with people watching from walls and rooftops. Maybe one day they will be back

Q: How active a supporter are you away from match days?

A: I visit the Watford website at least five times a day if I have access to the internet, I convert friends to the yellow army and even a colleague from North Wales knows that she needs to know scores, attendance and where we are in the league on a Monday morning - and she does not even like football.

Q: How do you think opposition supporters view the club?

A: I think most see the club as difficult to beat, even the team to beat. Some have a preconceived idea as to our style of play and when they lose they dislike it. 

Me? If the ball goes into the opposition net I am excited and do not care too much how it got there.

Q: Do you think the club is still staying strong to its community values and how important is that for a supporter?

A: Watford was the first club that I had ever heard of that had any sort of community involvement.  During the Vialli era it lost some of that with players not necessarily being encouraged to participate.  We are back, stronger than ever and the recent award for our community efforts was well deserved.

Q: If you could change one thing about football, what would it be and why?

A: Respect for the referee, I dislike intensely the crowding and intimidating. Referees are not going to change their mind so leave them alone.

I believe that players should be cautioned if they have nothing to do with the event but still participate in the discussions. Steve Coppell was right when he said that football is a baseline for the behaviour of others in society.

Q: Homegrown players. Just how important are they for the club and what does it mean for supporters to see a youngster coming through the ranks?

A: We have been really lucky at Watford seeing many great players coming through the youth team to first team.

Supporters do associate better with players who came through. When they kiss the Watford badge they mean it as opposed to those who come, develop and move quickly for higher wages.

Nigel Gibbs is probably the best example at Watford almost refusing to leave when an incoming manager felt he was surplus to requirement and got himself back in the team.

Gibbs

Q: What are your feelings on the Premiership? Has it been good or bad for the game or is the answer somewhere in between?

A: Good and bad.  Good in that money has become available to develop training grounds and stadia. 

Bad for many reasons including obscene wages for players involved in a game where boys and girls pay to play week in and week out. 

I do not agree that the Premiership has meant that we see better players from abroad. What about the better players from the United Kingdom who now never get a chance to play beyond League 2.

Q: How do you feel about the large amount of British clubs being brought by businessmen from abroad? What would be your reaction if it happened to your club?

A: This is a worry. They do not seem to buy into a club where they have a love; they buy into a club with a famous name and the opportunity to make money. What will happen when that bubble bursts?

Q: Do you prefer new stadiums or old grounds?

A: I used to like terracing but now I look back I realise that if I was not in 'my' place by 2.05pm on a Saturday it would not be my place. Now I have an allocated seat, I am next to family and friends and am not overly crushed - new wins for me.

Q: Where do you see the club in 10 years time?

A:  I love questions like this because my heart says that I see the club as a Premiership side.  Reality though hits me and I believe we will be a club that drifts between the Premiership and Championship on a regular basis.

The views in this article are not necessarily the views of Watford Football Club.

LET WATFORD BE THE PERFECT HOST