A lot has changed since August 22, 2009.
Ryan Andrews was gearing up for his fifth birthday party. Oasis were a week away from splitting up. Barack Obama had been President for less than a year. The Black Eyed Peas were at number one with their hit I Gotta Feeling.
And Tom Cleverley was set to make his home debut for the Hornets.
Now, just under 15 years later, he is set to do the same, albeit as Interim Head Coach of the first team.
There was quite a bit of hype surrounding Cleverley’s loan signing, with the midfielder impressing with his performances in both the Manchester United and England youth set-up.
Excitement continued to build after he made a scoring start to his loan spell with the Hornets, grabbing a goal in stoppage time as Watford picked up their first Championship win of the season with a 4-2 victory away to Nottingham Forest.
Therefore, many would have headed to Vicarage Road on that Saturday afternoon to see Cleverley for the first time, and to see what he was all about.
The midfielder made his Vicarage Road debut that day, starting for the second time in a week.
He duly announced himself to the home faithful with a second-half strike for his first goal at The Vic in a Watford shirt.
Out of the first two matches, it is the clash with Forest that sticks out in Cleverley’s mind, given it was more of a family affair.
“In all honesty, my first game for the club is a little bit more vivid,” he told watfordfc.com.
“My dad was a Forest fan, and the City Ground was a ground that I went to as a kid a lot.”
Cleverley has fond memories of the whole week, adding: “It was a real nice memory scoring on my debut, then to back that up with a 2-2 draw at home to Blackpool in my home debut, and another goal.
“I remember it being a really hot day!”
The loanee would continue this positive start throughout the campaign, ending with 11 goals to earn the Hornets’ Player Of The Season award.
A lot would change between the end of that season and the next time he would pull on a Watford shirt, with Cleverley representing both England and Team GB, as well as picking up a Premier League winner's medal with Manchester United while he was away.
Spells at Wigan Athletic, Aston Villa and Everton, as well as United, separated his stints at Watford, before he made a return to Vicarage Road in January 2017, again initially on loan.
His second home debut on January 14 also ended in a draw, this time a 0-0 in the Premier League against Middlesbrough.
He came off the bench on an emotional afternoon at Vicarage Road, as all inside the stadium paid tribute to the club’s greatest ever manager, Graham Taylor, who had passed away just two days earlier.
Cleverley almost made the perfect return, but could only direct his late effort onto the post as the game ended goalless.
After the match, he admitted it was an easy decision to come back.
“I always have a positive feeling when I come back here, that’s why I jumped at the chance to come back,” he said.
Cleverley ended up signing permanently at the end of that season, and he spent the rest of his career with the Hornets before being forced into retirement through injury last year.
He stayed at the club, taking up a role within the Academy as Under-18s Lead Coach. This saw him make his debut in the dugout at Vicarage Road for the FA Youth Cup third-round tie against Manchester City, on December 19 last year.
Ahead of his coaching debut at the stadium, the 34-year-old said: “I’m thoroughly looking forward to it. It’ll be a nice reunion for me back at the stadium.”
His side fell to 2-0 defeat, but there was still a moment to reflect on his first time at Vicarage Road as a coach.
“I’m very proud,” he said. “It was very strange actually, going into the manager’s room, and sitting on the front row of the dug-out. I thoroughly enjoyed it. A great learning curve for me.”
The game against Leeds United today (Friday March 29, 8pm KO) marks another stage in Cleverley’s Watford journey, which has taken him to four separate debuts at Vicarage Road.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to enjoy it until at full-time when that whistle goes,” he said.
