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At the age of 33, Dave Watson may not have been in his prime when he
signed for Southampton in October 1979, but that didn't stop the centre
back from being anything other than a huge success during a spell with
the Saints that lasted just over two years.
Having endured an unhappy six months playing in Germany for Werder
Bremen - Watson was sent off in only his second match for pushing an
opponent and subsequently banned for eight weeks - the former Sunderland
and Manchester City man was offered an escape route by Lawrie McMenemy,
who signed the tough tackling defender for a fee of 200, 000 pounds.
Watson joined a Saints team packed with other ageing and experienced
stars, including Alan Ball, Kevin Keegan and Mick Channon, and despite
getting off to the worst possible start - a 4-0 drubbing away at West
Bromwich Albion - it didn't take long for 'Big' Dave to find his feet.
While 'Big' Dave may have been an ironic nickname - he weighed less
than 12 stone and was under 6 feet tall - what he lacked in size he more
than made up for in heart. An uncompromising defender with a
never-say-die attitude, Dave almost instantly became a fan's favourite,
forming a water-tight defensive partnership with another Saints' legend,
Chris Nicholl. During Watson's two seasons with the club, Southampton
finished in a highly respectable eighth and sixth place in Division One.
Yet it was not just as a defensive rock that Watson excelled. He also
found the net on a handy seven occasions for the Saints, with perhaps
the sweetest of this septet of strikes coming in a 4-1 thrashing of
Manchester City - the club that had unceremoniously dumped him after 146
games at the end of the 1978-79 season.
In spite of his advancing years, Watson also remained part of the
international set-up during his time with the Saints, winning a further
18 caps for England. He was a mainstay of the side during the 1980
European Championships, but England came home early after drawing with
Belgium, losing to Italy and beating Spain.
After two impressive seasons at the Dell, Watson's form slowly
started to suffer and, after a poor start to the 1981-82 season, he
found himself dropped by Southampton - and also England. Having made
just five appearances for the Saints by January 1982, it appeared as
though age had finally caught up with the centre back. Watson, though,
had other ideas and in January 1982 the defender joined relegation
threatened Stoke, where a string of typically robust performances helped
the Potters to beat the drop. He was also recalled to the England
set-up, although he was unluckily omitted from the 1982 World Cup squad
having been cited for making high-profile errors in matches against
Romania and Switzerland. In fact, Watson holds the unwanted distinction
of being the player to have won the most international caps (65) for
England and not appeared at a World Cup.
There was even life for Watson after Stoke, with further spells at
Derby County and Notts County following his time in Staffordshire,
before he eventually retired at the age of 39.
He may have only spent two and a bit years of a very long career at
the Dell, but speak to any number of Southampton fans from that era and
they'll happily tell you just how good 'Big' Dave was. (David Fuller)
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