News: Hornets Celebrate ESEA Heritage Month

East and South East Asian (ESEA) Heritage Month is an annual celebration held during September to highlight the histories, achievements and unique identities of East and South East Asian communities. It aims to foster awareness and understanding of their cultural heritage, promoting inclusivity and appreciation among all members of our community.

To mark ESEA Heritage Month this year, we’ve taken a look at Watford FC’s relationships with local ESEA communities, and the club’s interaction with ESEA countries over the years.

Cyril “Sammy” Chung

Often deployed at left-half, Sammy scored 24 goals in 245 appearances for Watford between 1957 and 1965, and was part of the promotion-winning team of 1959/60.

Chris Marshall, a lifelong Watford fan who remembers watching Sammy, recalls: “One of the well-rehearsed ploys that Sammy was involved in was to dink a free-kick to big Cliff [Holton] to nod into the goal.”

After hanging up his boots Sammy went on to have a successful managerial career, winning the English Second Division with Wolves in 1976/77.

Sonny Blu Lo-Everton

Joining the Watford Academy aged nine, Sonny featured prominently throughout the age-groups and played a handful of pre-season friendlies before departing the club in the summer of 2022.

After a short spell at Derby County, Sonny penned a deal with National League South side Yeovil Town in July 2023. He has featured for Scotland at youth level, and is also eligible to play for England, Hong Kong and China.

Faye Brough

Playing for the Golden Girls in the latter part of the 2022/23 season, Faye’s goals off the bench contributed to Watford being promoted to the Barclays Women’s Championship last season.

This summer, Faye was released and returned to Japan, where she plays for Chifure AS Elfen Saitama.

In 1985, Watford travelled to Thailand to play in the Bangkok International Cup, where they lost to Sheffield Wednesday 3-2 on penalties.

The Hornets toured China twice in the 1980s, with the first visit coming in the summer of 1983 and the second happening just four years later when they won the Great Wall Cup.

The 1983 tour - billed as ‘Friendship First, Competition Second’, saw Watford beat the Chinese national side twice in Beijing in front of an 80,000-capacity crowd (winning 3-1 and 5-1 respectively).

In 1987, Watford once again won the Great Wall Cup, this time without conceding any goals, beating North Korea (1-0), Hubei (2-0) and China National XI (2-0) in the group stages, Liaoning (1-0) in the semi-finals and then China National XI again (2-0) in the final after extra-time.

The Great Wall Cup was recreated this summer at Watford’s training ground with teams from local ESEA communities representing the original teams that took part in 1987.

There are Hornets everywhere, and East and South East Asia is no exception. Here is a list of some of the affiliated supporters’ groups:

• Hong Kong Hornets
  
• Indonesia Hornets
  
• Malaysia Hornets
  
• Bangkok Hornets
  

KC Hung, HK Hornets’ principal organiser, said: “People in Hong Kong generally support the bigger Premier League teams, so it’s very special for us to have our supporters’ group. Though there are not many of us, we are just as passionate about Watford FC here in HK and we want to create a mini Vicarage Road every time we meet up to watch games together.”

ESEA Hornets is the first British East and South East Asian supporters’ group in the UK. Affiliated with the Football Supporters’ Association and working with the Fans for Diversity campaign, ESEA Hornets is a safe place for supporters from ESEA backgrounds to support Watford FC and encourages people from these under-represented communities to take part in supporting the club, not only by attracting more ESEA people to attend matchdays and/or watching the matches, but also by working with Watford FC’s CSE Trust to get communities more engaged in grassroots football.

In collaboration with the Frank Soo Foundation and the FA, ESEA Hornets run a monthly youth football session at Watford FC’s training ground, which gives children and adults from these communities the opportunity to coach and play.

If you are interested in any of the mentioned topics, please contact alan.lau@thefranksoofoundation.org.uk for more information or search @ESEAHornets on X.