Alan Cozzi has been Watford FC's full-time photographer since 1997, capturing iconic and historic moments at the club through the lens of his camera.
In the latest instalment of a regular series taking a look at the stories behind classic photos from his archives, Cozzi talks us through his most memorable pictures from some of the biggest days out in Watford's history...
Craven Cottage, May 1998
Fulham 1-2 Watford
Watford win Division Two title
“It's always a privilege to get in the dressing room, particularly after a game like that. You always have to gauge it as to whether you should go in and it normally depends on the relationship with the manager and the players, which is key. The key is not to be too familiar but also to recognise you have a job to do and that often I'm in the front row of the cinema. My job is to record what goes on, but not be a part of it. Here I got the shot of Luther really letting his hair down and you don't often see that from a coach.”
“The rest of the team hadn't come in the dressing room yet and I just got Alon Hazan sitting on his own. I don't think he saw me – and that's the key. The minute someone poses, you've lost the moment. I like to be a fly on the wall.”
“This was such a big day out for the fans so it was important we represented the fans in one of these choices of photos. They still talk about that day and mainly because it was the first big day out in the sun they'd had for some time. And, at the end of the day, it's all about the fans.”
Wembley Stadium, May 1999
Bolton 0-2 Watford
Watford win Division One play-off final
“I like this as neither man really knew what Smart was about to go on and do and the significance of the substitution. You've got Smart chomping at the bit to get on and GT trying to get his final message over. Within two minutes he had scored the goal of his career and that was it, game over.”
“This picture only appeared in the Four Seasons book, I think. I like it because among all the wild celebrations, at the other end of the pitch where the Bolton fans had all gone, Steve Palmer took time to reflect and take it all in. He wasn't jumping around: he just sat there, with his socks down, and savoured the moment. He's a studious character who knew even at that time it was important to enjoy the moment as they don't come around too often.”
“Everyone has seen the picture where he connects with the overhead kick, but there is a sequence of five or six pictures and this is the last one. Wright's face suggests he knows he's caught it cleanly but in that split second, he still doesn't realised what he's done. You've got Bolton players having desperately failed to clear it off the line and Michel Ngonge being the first to realise that we've just seen one of the great Wembley goals.”
Millennium Stadium, May 2006
Leeds United 0-3 Watford
Watford win Championship play-off final
“Again, I was lucky to be allowed in the dressing room. Aidy was great like that. I actually wanted the picture of Ashley Young here, but I thought King will get the hump if I take a picture of Ashley and not him – and I didn't want to annoy him! So I took it of King but I was really looking at Young in the background.”
“This was taken with a fisheye lens and I wanted to get as many players in the shot as I could. It's a narrow dressing room and I wanted a wide angle. I think I got about 15 or 16 players in this pic. It shows nicely the dressing room in the immediate aftermath, with shin pads and kit on the floor and a few beers about. You expected everybody to be jumping around, but this was a quiet moment of reflection and, as they had been all season, they were hanging on Aidy's every word.”
“Matt Spring had been at Leeds and had an unhappy time there, so that's the story behind this picture. He's thinking, 'This is my time now, my moment has arrived, this is my revenge.' He had just been booked but he didn't care. The look on his face just says, 'We've done this'.”
Wembley Stadium, May 2013
Crystal Palace 1-0 Watford
Watford lose Championship play-off final
“This is a typical end of play-off game picture, where you have the victors and the defeated. Sometimes it's difficult to tell who is the victor and who is the defeated. It was a nice moment involving Aaron Wilbraham and Alex Geijo and showed you how much a play-off final defeat hurts. Doyley in the background looks absolutely crestfallen and shows you why defeat in a play-off final hurts more than any other.”
“There is so much going on here, so many expressions. You've got Fitz Hall, Forestieri and Battocchio who can't believe how this is panning out and what's going on. Then you have the contrast of Zola who looked like a statue, like he's carved out of stone. He's completely expressionless, which was unlike him.”
“This is a very young Chalobah here who doesn't know quite what to say to a more experienced pro in Joel Ekstrand. You can see how much that defeat hurt Ekstrand by the look on his face. You've also got Watford fans still in the background and the synchronized shot of Marco Cassetti and Abdi with hands on hips.”
Amex Stadium, April 2015
Brighton 0-2 Watford
Watford clinch promotion to the Premier League
“I'd forgotten about this picture of Vydra. It was taken with a remote camera which reacts to what the camera in my hand is doing. Every time I fire the one in my hand, the one behind the net fires. This goal was the icing on the cake and you wouldn't want a one-v-one chance to fall to anyone else but him. You'd bet your house on him.”
“I got back to the training ground by car – I wasn't on the bus. I thought I might have missed the moment they were promoted on the bus and was chasing my tail a bit, but as soon as the bus came in, I Iegged it up the steps and fired off a few frames.”
“There were a load of beers waiting for the players when they got back to the training ground and here was Daniel Tozser taking a quiet moment of reflection and going through his messages. He is a lovely bloke. He would always ask you for a picture but gave his time back in return. Again, he doesn't know I'm taking it. The second he looks at the camera, it ruins it.”
Wembley Stadium, May 2019
Manchester City 6-0 Watford
FA Cup Final
“This was the big thing to take away from an otherwise disappointing day. This display of unity from the fans summed the whole club up. What other side loses 6-0 at Wembley and their fans cheer and wave flags like that? It was also a good reminder for me that not everything occurs on the pitch. There is stuff sometimes occurring behind you. I just heard this noise, this different tone and I looked round and thought, 'I must get a picture of that'.”
“Troy was standing with the rest of the group and he just took a few steps forward and fronted it up as City climbed the steps to collect the trophy. There really is no place to hide after a defeat like that and he behaved like a true captain and led from the front.”
“As the players walked back down from the box, I caught Javi walking through the crowd. He has his head down and then lifted it for a brief second and that was my moment. He looks crestfallen, absolutely gutted and him walking against the tide, while everyone is looking the other way, summed the day up, really.”
