On this date in Watford FC history
Saturday, October 16, 1897
West Herts faced a trip to Dartford in the second division of the Southern League.
This was the first competitive game in which the club fielded professionals, the decision to do so having been reached the previous month after lengthy debate.
Ike Marsh and John Wakefield were the two pros in the line-up but they could do little as the home side won 8-0, abetted in part by the visitors going down to ten men with Micky Wood having gone off injured in the first half.
Reproduced by kind permission of Matt Rowson from his book,Watford FC On This Day
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