It is a busy Easter weekend for Watford, who face league leaders Leeds United under the Vicarage Road lights on Good Friday (March 29, 8pm KO), before travelling to the Midlands to face play-off chasing West Bromwich Albion on Easter Monday (April 1, 3pm KO).
Ahead of two challenging fixtures in four days, we have taken a look at some of the best Easter weekends in the club's history, including key results in promotion pushes, useful points in moving away from the relegation zone and the start of 'egg-cellent' winning runs.
1978
Graham Taylor headed into his first Easter weekend as Watford boss top of Division Four, but a three-game winless run going into the home fixture with Torquay United on Good Friday meant Southend in second had closed the gap to five points.
The Gulls were in a battle for promotion themselves and would prove no pushovers, but an eighth goal of the season for Alan Garner, followed by a strong defensive showing, was enough to earn the Hornets the win.
Four days later, the Golden Boys made the trip to bottom-half Northampton Town, picking up a first away win in four victories thanks to goals from Ian Bolton and Alan Mayes. The Easter weekend proved to be productive for Taylor's men, extending their lead at the top to nine points which proved crucial on their way to the fourth-tier title.
1999
In the 1998/99 season, the Hornets faced the tricky task of playing twice in three days over the Easter weekend, and were looking to re-engage their promotion push after a five game winless streak when they welcomed Tranmere Rovers on Easter Saturday.
After a lacklustre performance in the first-half, it was the visitors who took the lead soon after the restart. A triple substitution inspired an equaliser, scored by Peter Kennedy, but Watford suffered another setback when Richard Johnson was shown a second yellow card.
Outraged by the Tranmere manager's influence over the referee in the lead up to the sending off, the home fans roared their side on. A melee in the box from a Watford corner saw the ref award a penalty, which Michel Ngonge scored on the follow-up. Another fight ensued, from which Allan Smart was also sent off for a scrap with David Kelly.
Despite the chaos and playing with nine men, Watford held on for an important three points, which was backed up with a 2-1 win away at Birmingham City on Easter Monday. These two wins started a run of seven wins and one draw from the final eight games, seeing Watford overturn a deficit of seven points to make the play-offs.
The rest was history, with Graham Taylor's side beating Bolton Wanderers 2-0 in the play-off final to secure promotion to the Premier League.
2004
The Easter weekend of 2004 saw Watford in action twice in the space of three days, playing either side of Easter Sunday in two matches of great importance given the side's position in the table.
The Hornets were just two points and three places above the Division One relegation zone, with just one win in their last six. They welcomed Crewe Alexandra on Easter Saturday, with the visitors four points and three places better off.
A nervy 2-1 win thanks to a Micah Hyde strike and a David Wright own goal relieved the pressure a little bit, with all attention then turned to the Easter Monday trip to Burnley. Watford were one place better off than the Clarets due to goal difference.
Despite not winning on the road since February, the Golden Boys made the most of a poor performance from the home side to pick up a 3-2 win courtesy of goals from Paul Devlin, Heiðar Helguson and Lee Cook, as a perfect Easter weekend helped allay fears of relegation.
2015
In 2015, the Easter weekend was to be make or break for the Hornets. Before their Good Friday clash away at Derby County, the team were in the automatic promotion places in the Championship on goal difference, with two games against fellow promotion contenders to come.
The Rams were five points adrift of Watford in fifth, and had only lost three times at home in the league all season. The Hornets took the lead midway through the first half thanks to Matěj Vydra, but faced a double set-back on the stroke of the break with Marco Motta sent off and Darren Bent converting the penalty.
Tom Ince then gave Derby the lead, but Watford earned a hard-fought point thanks to an effort from Odion Ighalo. The draw meant the Hornets dropped to fourth, but they knew a win would have seen them go top above Middlesbrough, their Easter Monday opponents.
A strong performance from the Golden Boys saw them pick up all three points, preventing a Boro win which would have put them five points clear of the Hornets with five games to go. Troy Deeney's opener saw him become the first Watford player to score 20 goals in three successive seasons, before Ighalo rounded out a key win on their way to the Premier League.
2021
Although the two Easter weekend results were not record-breaking, or full of goals, four points from two matches in 2021 went a long way to helping the Hornets earn promotion to the Premier League under Xisco Muňoz.
Watford sat in second ahead of their home clash with Sheffield Wednesday on Good Friday with a six-point cushion to their closest challengers, Swansea City. Although it wasn't glamorous, a 1-0 victory over the Owls thanks to an early Tom Lees own-goal made it six wins in a row.
What made this result all the more important was the fact Swansea lost away at Birmingham City, meaning the Hornets were now nine points clear in the Championship automatic promotion places.
The gap to third was maintained after a 1-1 draw away to Middlesbrough with Ismaïla Sarr on the scoresheet, although the Swans were now 10 points adrift as they had been replaced by Brentford following a second successive defeat.
Grinding out these results went a long way as the Hornets earned promotion, and they eventually ended four points clear of the Bees.
