Numerous players came and went in the 10 years after the Pozzos took over ownership of Watford FC.
First featured in last season’s matchday programme, James Garrett picks out some of those individuals who made their mark at The Vic…
Ikechi Anya’s footballing story is a remarkable one, of a player who never stopped chasing his dream.
He ended up in non-league at the age of 18, despite having made his professional debut for Wycombe Wanderers as their youngest-ever player, aged 16 in 2004. He then spent some time in Spain at the Glenn Hoddle Academy, which aimed to try and get players back into professional football.
In 2011 he signed for Granada, and then spent a year on loan at Cádiz in the Spanish second-tier before securing a loan move to Watford in the summer of 2012.
It took a while for the team to gel in the first Pozzo season, with a large number of new players having joined the Hornets. Head Coach Gianfranco Zola needed time to work out his best formation, which turned out to be a 3-5-2 relying heavily on the use of wingbacks on either side of the pitch.
Initially this wasn’t such good news for winger Anya, but by the second half of the season he had proved his value to the side with some impressive contributions from the deeper position.
He seemed so happy playing for us during this time, and any defensive weaknesses he had were simply made up for by his impressive shifts up and down the pitch in every match. He received a call-up for the Scotland national squad as a result of his displays, which came as a shock only to some pundits who clearly hadn’t seen him play.
Anya was also heavily involved in perhaps the greatest Watford moment of all time. Troy Deeney in fact credits him the most for that goal, as he effortlessly took Marco Cassetti’s clearance from the sky to control the ball dead and start sprinting up the touchline, before passing to Fernando Forestieri. I’m sure you remember the rest…
In the summer of 2013 a host of our loan players were signed permanently, including Anya, and he played nearly every match in what was a difficult season for the team. He did score one of the best individual Watford goals ever, away to Barnsley, as he showed his remarkable speed to run nearly the whole length of the pitch before firing home.
During his third season he played an important role in that difficult wingback slot, as the Hornets were promoted to the Premier League. He also scored a fantastic goal for Scotland away to Germany in a European Championship qualifier, in September 2014.
Despite the odds being stacked against Watford staying up in the 2015/16 season Anya coped well with the quicker and more skilful Premier League, but he began to spend more time on the bench than in previous campaigns. This was much to do with a more pragmatic 4-4-2 approach employed by Quique Sánchez Flores.
With his role in the Scotland squad lying in jeopardy if he wasn’t playing much first-team football he made the decision to leave the Hornets and join Championship side Derby in the summer of 2016. Sadly, injuries began to impact his opportunities after his first season there.
Perhaps most importantly, Watford supporters will remember Anya as a player who always had a smile on his face, and who gave everything for the Golden Boys. He seemed to really love being a Watford player, and we remember his commitment, skill, speed and his constant efforts to get his team playing on the front foot.
Perhaps we’ve had some bigger names at The Vic during the Pozzo era, but Anya’s contributions to some amazing successes shouldn’t be underestimated.
