MANAGER on the day of the final, and now Honorary Life President and Non-Executive director, Graham Taylor spoke to the gathered crowd at the reunion.

"If you go back to 1977-87 I have to say both on the pitch and off the pitch those were the best days of my life.

"To have a 10 year spell like that at the club and to achieve what was achieved on and off the pitch was incredible.

"All I've ever wanted for the players that I've worked with is to meet them later on in life, have a good laugh and think about the good times. Tonight is one of those nights."

As the night was all about the 1984 final and celebrating its 25th anniversary, the former Hornets manager shared some of his thoughts (some unheard before) from that day.

"My heart still bleeds for Wilf Rostron who got sent off and missed leading the team out at Wembley which I do feel a degree of responsibility for.

"I said to the referee Roger Milford before the match, 'Oh you won't have any problems with our fellows because look where we're headed in a fortnight' [i.e. the cup].

"And I regret, 'til my dying day, saying that to the referee because when the tackle came with Paul Elliot and Wilf, he sent both players off.

Taylor: "My heart still bleeds for Wilf Rostron"

"You can all talk about happy memories but we're all selective in our memories.

"From a personal aspect an evening like this, in a way I didn't want it to come, because it means we're all 25 years older!"

"I will not watch that game" revealed Taylor, "I know we lost 2-0, I have never seen it and I never want to. Almost every kick is in my mind already. Many psychologists would say, you need to see it and watch it to get it out of your system but that's not the case for me!

"Getting into the final was such a big occasion. I made a number of mistakes in the lead up to that game and the players will understand what I mean when I say this.

"I've been told by the late, great, Bill Shankly, never pick your team on the bus going home after the game, whether you've won, lost or drawn.

"And we had the youngest back four that ever played in the Cup final, but they were the same back four that had played so well against Plymouth.

"They handled that situation so well and then won our last game of the season against Arsenal.

"When the team came into the dressing room after that win, which was a week before the final, I told the players the team for Wembley.

"I went against everything that one of the greatest managers ever told me and I regret that, that's probably why I won't look at the game, because I blame myself for it. I regret it because I gave them too long to know that they were in the team.

"I should have left it a little bit longer, I should have left it probably until 24 hours before. They would have had a good idea what the team was anyway, through the way we prepared for the match in training, and I just feel on reflection, I should have held onto the information for a bit longer."

Every footballer highlights how important routine is in the game and something changed in Watford's routine that week, which Taylor also believes affected the final result at Wembley.

"We were training at Stanmore, but on the last day of the season, our training finished there because the ground was needed.

"So in that week leading up to the final, we were actually training in a different environment to normal at another training ground.

Taylor: "Bill Shankly told me never to ever pick the team on the bus home"

"It was not home to us, having been used to training at Stanmore, so the week's preparation was not how I would have liked it to be.

"This is the first time these players have heard me say this" confessed Taylor, "probably the first time they've heard me admit losing that game was my fault.

"There is a saying in football that players win games, but managers lose them, perhaps on this occasion, that has some truth in it.

"I wanted to tell you, the fans, this as well" concluded Taylor "we're from the same human race as you."

As well as revealing these thoughts, Graham Taylor indulged the audience in some stories from the good old days about characters that will always be remembered by Watford staff and players.

"I like the players to play the same so if it was long sleeves for one, it was long sleeves for everyone and visa versa.

"One night of an away leg in the European cup, Neil Price was close to making his debut and it was short sleeves for that away game and it was about 50 degrees below freezing!

"Neil, as you know, has a mind of his own, so he asked quite nicely for a long sleeved shirt, and Roy, the kit man wasn't too pleased about it to say the least!

"I remember going along beside him and saying 'you know Roy, just this once, that's fine, it could be his first game'. That was our wonderful kitman Roy Clare."

The Watford legend ended his speech by bringing everyone back to the present with his views on Watford's future.

"This club was about community and family, let's hope it is again now.

"What we need and what I think we do have is the trust between us on the club side and you on the spectator side.

"So I hope that will continue and there are some very good people working at Watford Football Club to ensure that, you can take my word for that. What we have to do is keep working on this because we owe it to the town.

"We want to be ambitious, we want to do well, we want to get to the top, but we also have to be sensible with trying to do that."

Taylor is very realistic about where he sees the club going in the next few years and he harked back to his days as a manger at the club.

"In 1977, when yours truly first came here, the natural level of our club-your club, I would say was top half of the 4th division, bottom half of the 3rd division and that's where the club was operating.

"It's taken us the best part of 32 years to get to now, where the natural level of our club is roundabout where we finished this season.

"Now that doesn't stop us being ambitious and stop us from getting into the Cup final again, but we have to have a reality about things.

"And there is a reality now that's creeping into football that simply at the end of the day there's only one team who can finish at the top of the top division.

"We want to get back into the Premier League, but what we have to do is to be ambitious and to give ourselves a base."

LET WATFORD BE THE PERFECT HOST