Home Ground Heroes: Nigel Gibbs

In light of the Vicarage Road centenary celebrations earlier this season, writers from The Watford Treasury magazine look back at players who performed great feats on home soil.

First featured in last season’s matchday programme, Neil Dunham writes about the local boy who grew up to start more games than anyone else in Watford’s history.

‘Living the dream’ is a term often overused in life – few of us can claim to have the job we dreamed of as children. One who legitimately can is Watford legend Nigel Gibbs. ‘Making it’ as a top professional footballer has been the fantasy of many a youngster ever since the association game emerged. To play for your hometown club, a special privilege almost indescribable. To be idolised, respected and regarded as a role model by generations of kids would be amazing. Nigel Gibbs achieved all these things and more.

So this is ‘Home Ground Heroes’, highlighting a past player by describing a famous game in which they excelled. There’s a problem here though: picking a single game to represent the career of this Hornet hero is a quandary.

The very nature of his style was to keep the opposition quiet, something he did successfully far more often than not. Which to choose? The choice of internet blog BSaD is hard to argue with: a now obscure 1998 FA Cup game against Premier League Sheffield Wednesday. If the opposition now sounds run-of-the-mill, Gibbs’ assigned player that day was anything but; Paolo Di Canio was a media darling – a technical genius and an archetypal maverick.

With their precocious Latin star in scintillating form, Wednesday were tipped to win comfortably. Gibbs, having not read the script, super cool and unaffected by reputation, kept the fiery Italian star in his pocket for the entire game. Di Canio tried everything, even switching positions to avoid his tormentor, but to no avail.

It was a defensive masterclass, Gibbs so on top that he even turned the tables on his famous foe, showing Di Canio his heels with some tremendous footwork and almost winning the tie for Watford with a late firecracker of a shot. The game ended in a draw, and when hostilities resumed at Hillsborough 11 days later the rivalry continued in a similar vein.

Di Canio, having moved to centre-forward, became so frustrated with his shackles that his temper boiled over, a tantrum ensued and a red card was shown for his ‘colourful’ ranting at the officials. In truth, any number of Gibbs’ performances could have been described in the same way. The bottling up of Di Canio came an impressive 14 years into Nigel’s professional career at Watford.

He’d come up through the ranks, under the tutelage of his father Dennis, who himself had worked with the juniors since the late 1970s. Nigel had followed the Hornets home and away as a fan before joining the youth team, and impressed enough to earn a professional contract in November 1983. His debut came just two days later, thrown straight in at the deep end against Sparta Prague in the UEFA Cup.

Ever reliable, Gibbs became the cornerstone of the Watford defence, his workmanlike, deceptively fast gait and exceptional eye for the game nullifying football’s top wingers week after week. Although never perceived as a potent attacking option, Gibbs would make marauding breaks down the wing, putting in superb crosses and the occasional spectacular strike on goal.

In his long career Nigel scored just seven goals, but quality was worth waiting for as every one of them was a scorcher from outside of the box. Gibbs went on to represent Watford in the old First Division (from 1983 to 88) and the Premiership (1999/2000), the only player to have done so.

Although missing the first rise through the divisions under Graham Taylor, he won a Division Two (League One) championship medal in 1997/98 and played his part in the play-off winning campaign that saw Watford promoted to the top division in 1999. He was Player of the Season in 1991/92 and appointed club captain for 1992/93. His achievements were topped off more recently when he was voted into the All-Time Watford XI.

By the time ‘Sir Nigel’ ended his playing career he could look back on 491 first-team appearances (second only to Luther Blissett’s 503) and more starts than anyone else in the club’s history. A (now rare) one-club man, his appearance tally would surely have been much higher but for two major injuries that cost him the equivalent of three seasons’ worth of games. Having retired from playing in 2002, Gibbs continued as a coach for three further years, successfully leading Watford’s second XI to the Reserve League (South) title before serving as assistant manager under Ray Lewington.

When all is said and done, most football legends are rated for being prominent, possibly showy and mostly conspicuous. Our Nigel came in almost under the radar, a man who worked hard, focused on the job and always led by example. A true gentleman, a leader and an all-round good guy, he’s a more than worthy member of the ‘Home Ground Hero’ club.