There was something of a myth during Elton John’s years with the club. It was said that the football had to pay for itself, cup runs paid for the recruitment of new players and Elton would only part with his money to fund the ground improvements.

Watford did well with their cup runs, travelling to West Bromwich and then West Ham in cup competitions that first year and then they enjoyed a run to the League Cup two-leg semi-final as a third division club, so the coffers were boosted. However, Watford paid £50,000 for Ray Train, £175,000 for Steve Sims and a further £25,000 for Steve Harrison, and while the receipts were good, they were not that good. Clearly Elton funded the extras, although that aspect was never alluded to, for the prices would be raised if it were known that Elton had funded transfers.

Graham Taylor recalls: “My memory is that Eddie Plumley was the contact with Elton re any money that was required. I would do the negotiations with the other clubs’ managers and then let Eddie know the outcome. If we needed to go to Elton – as we did on a number of occasions – then Eddie would do that. We had a very good relationship with the manager of Barclays Bank on Clarendon Road, obtaining very good loans from them. With Elton as chairman I think they were confident that the loans would be repaid.

“Yes, Steve Sims was £175,000 from Leicester and in my opinion he was one of the most under-rated players I bought. Bearing in mind we primed the players to attack, Steve’s positional play was excellent. At Villa he was the making of a young Martin Keown.”

It may be remembered that Elton had estimated it would cost him £1m to get the club into the top flight, but apart from his contribution towards the ground improvements, including the strengthening of crush barriers, his other contributions went unheralded. I recall interviewing him in 1986 in Miami and he admitted the journey to the top flight had cost him £2m and he would happily pay that again to establish the club in the first division.

By then, Watford were setting out on their fourth season in the top flight and Elton had contributed well into seven figures for the building of what is now the Graham Taylor Stand. The loans were listed on the accounts as interest free, non-secured and with no fixed repayment dates. Elton could not be seen to be gifting the money to the club but that was in effect what he was doing and intended to do. Sadly his accepting of a few pounds for the repayment of his loans would not have that effect, as the purchaser, Jack Petchey, kept the loans on the books, payable to him.

There is no doubt Elton paid for the ground improvements en route to the second tier, and he also funded the outlay of cash which saw the likes of Malcolm Poskett, Martin Patching, Wilf Rostron, Mike Henderson and Les Taylor arrive, as well as Gerry Armstrong and Pat Rice. Here again, cup ties against the likes of Arsenal (1980) and the League Cup run that saw them eclipse Newcastle, Southampton and Nottingham Forest plus an FA Cup run which saw them triumph over top-flight Wolves the same season, did bring in significant revenue.

Happily people like Dave Butler and then the impressive Tom Walley, had helped bring young players through so the club found first teamers in Nigel Callaghan, Kenny Jackett and Steve Terry and drafted in John Barnes.

There was however something of a hiatus, when Watford struggled that first year in the second tier. Elton did not take a bad sequence of results very well. Until the side began picking up points and looking as if the Hornets were going to survive, Elton was not so easily contactable. Ironically, very soon into Dave Bassett’s reign, at least three of the directors thought surgical action needed to be taken quickly as Watford struggled that autumn, but again it was said: “Elton has gone to ground”.

In the Division Two crisis, Elton backed Graham’s purchases of Patching, Rostron, Henderson and Poskett, Watford pulled out of trouble and then pushed on the following season.

The relationship with Graham was pivotal. Elton let the staff manage the club, via Graham, Eddie Plumley and Bertie Mee, but he kept in regular contact. When someone was ill or had suffered a bereavement, instructions would come down the phone line from Elton to send flowers etc. He also played host for the pre-season garden party at his Old Windsor home and would treat the players to a Christmas dinner as a night out. The staff received hampers from Harrods and he would book stars of the quality of Billy Connolly, Roy Castle and Bob Monkhouse for the after-dinner entertainment.

He was certainly generous by nature and while people might claim dismissively he could afford it, he enjoyed it.

Graham Taylor, who was planning to buy his wife Rita a VW Beatle, awoke on Christmas Day morning to see a new car parked on his front lawn, complete with a bow.

I also recall when his promoters paid for me to fly out to Miami to complete an interview to mark his tenth year as chairman, he went out of his way to make sure I got everything I wanted. He asked me what I wanted to do for relaxation in the day and arranged for me to be transported by chauffer-driven limousine down to a Mall. I told the chauffer, whom I had known from our trips to away games on the train, that I would sit next to him in the front of the limo. The idea of pretending to be someone important never did sit well with me.

When I got back, Elton enquired if I had got everything and we talked about what I had been looking for. He promptly phoned the wife of one of my guitar heroes and ordered 20 albums to be sent to my home address. I was only there 36 hours but he was generosity personified.

This article was first published in Friday's Watford Observer