Been At Both: Five Who Have Played For The Hornets And The Sky Blues

Watford travel to Coventry City this Saturday (September 2, 3pm KO), hoping to quickly bounce back to winning ways following a narrow 1-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers last time out.

In anticipation of the Sky Bet Championship clash at the Coventry Building Society Arena, we take a look back at five players who appeared for both sides during their storied careers...

Aidy Boothroyd’s first signing as Watford boss, left-back Jordan Stewart played an important role in the Golden Boys’ promotion to the Premier League in 2006, sharing duties with James Chambers throughout the campaign. Stewart, a solid defender with the skill to carry the ball up the field and contribute to attacking play, scored Watford’s first goal of the Premier League season against Everton, and made 117 appearances in yellow before departing in 2008 for Derby County.

Coventry were Stewart’s final English club, when he joined in 2013 from Notts County on a three-month contract. Then 31, he made six appearances in League One, and headed to the United States to finish his career that summer.

Current Wales boss Robert Page came through the Watford youth ranks and went on to make 252 appearances for the club over eight years, enjoying a double promotion under Graham Taylor in the late 1990s.

The central defender called time on his Watford career in 2001, joining Sheffield United. He signed for Coventry City four years later after a brief spell at Cardiff City, and overcame injury problems to become club captain a year into his Sky Blues career. Page played 70 times over three seasons for Coventry, leaving for Huddersfield Town in 2008.

Mostly operating at right-back during his five-year Watford career, former captain Vic O’Brien could play in any position required of him and did so throughout his playing days. O’Brien played 275 times in all competitions for the Hornets, then known as the Brewers, and once scored six goals in one game while in attack against Queens Park Rangers in a reserve fixture.

O’Brien had signed from Coventry City in 1934, and returned to the Midlands during the Second World War, where he appeared in goal, defence, midfield and attack as a guest player.

Former striker Paul Furlong’s first taste of the Football League was at Coventry City, when his fine performances for non-league side Enfield earned a move to the second-tier outfit. Furlong impressed in a Sky Blue shirt, but wasn’t able to score more than four goals in 37 league games before sealing a move to Watford in 1992.

His goalscoring exploits were far more successful at Vicarage Road, as he bagged 41 goals in 91 appearances as the Hornets came close to promotion to the top tier. Furlong’s good form meant a big move became inevitable, and Chelsea broke the bank to secure his services, paying a club record £2.3 million in 1994.

Born near Coventry in Solihull, the Midlands side were future Watford captain John Eustace’s first club as a player, starting off as a trainee before becoming an established name in the first-team following a prosperous loan at Dundee United.

Eustace played 98 times for Coventry, and wore the armband from 2001 until his departure in 2003. The committed midfielder spent five years at Stoke City in between his Coventry and Watford spells, and became a Hornet in 2008, taking over skipper duties from the departing Jay DeMerit in 2010.

The current Birmingham City boss was known for his leadership and midfield contributions, but he had a habit of scoring spectacular goals, finding the target with an overhead kick against the Sky Blues in 2010.