While Christmas Day may be done and dusted for another year the countdown to Watford's Premier League return is almost over, with West Ham United the visitors to Hertfordshire on Tuesday (December 28).
There are a vast number of esteemed professionals who have turned out in the claret and blue of West Ham as well as the yellow of Watford during their careers. Here are five who have featured in east London and at Vicarage Road over the years…
Valon Behrami
A tough-tackling, defensive-minded midfielder, Swiss international Valon Behrami spent two years with the Hornets and two-and-a-half with the Hammers, his only spells in the English game.
Behrami was brought in after Watford’s 2015 promotion, forming a midfield partnership with fellow newcomer Étienne Capoue under Quique Sánchez Flores. Behrami was at Upton Park seven years earlier, featuring in the top flight for West Ham between 2008 and 2011.
Alan Devonshire
Not necessarily known for his time at Watford, midfielder Alan Devonshire spent 14 years in east London with West Ham, playing over 400 games for the club and winning the FA Cup and promotion to the First Division, and featuring in European competition.
After a storied career on the Thames Devonshire signed for Watford in 1990, playing 27 times over a two-year spell.
Jeremy Ngakia
Currently part of Watford’s squad under Claudio Ranieri, 21-year-old right-back Jeremy Ngakia came through the youth ranks at West Ham before joining Watford in the summer of 2020.
Ngakia played against the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal for the Hammers, and went on to make 25 appearances in the Championship as promotion to the Premier League was sealed at Ngakia’s new club. The Englishman has 10 league games under his belt so far this term, playing on either side of the defence.
Billy Jennings
Watford’s record sale in 1974, striker Billy Jennings joined the Hammers directly from Vicarage Road, where he had spent the first four years of his career. Jennings scored 26 goals for Watford in the 1973/74 season and finished league top goalscorer, prompting a £110,000 move to Upton Park.
Jennings won the FA Cup in his first season at West Ham, making over 100 appearances in five years.
Craig Dawson
In contention to return to Vicarage Road on December 28, West Ham defender Craig Dawson signed for his current club from Watford last year.
Dawson, a centre-half known for his aerial ability and an occasional goal from the back, spent a season-and-a-half in Hertfordshire before joining the Hammers in 2020, initially on loan.
