Yesterday, 18/04, I went to the Premier League match between 19th placed Watford and 13th placed Brentford. This was a special match for me because my family was in town visiting and they were able to experience their first Premier League football match. I was also excited to attend this match for a few other reasons. First of all, I had not yet been to Vicarage Road Stadium, and it allowed me to cross another London venue off my list. Second, both teams had been promoted this season and I enjoy watching newly promoted teams and supporting them in their quest to stay in the Premier League. While Brentford has been doing well, Watford is in the relegation zone and is struggling to avoid returning to the Championship. Lastly, Christian Eriksen plays for Brentford and started in only his 5th Premier League match since his cardiac arrest during an international match in June 2021.
My family and I sat in the Sir John Elton stand near the corner of the pitch in the hot, blazing sun- I did not mind, as the sun has rarely shone bright since my arrival in London. The fan atmosphere was relatively quiet during the first half, likely due to an early Brentford lead on a tap-in goal from a throw-in. We were surrounded by complaints of Watford playing negatively and failing to be aggressive, so their audible pleasure was clear when Watford pressed fiercely in the second half and scored an equalizer. However, their cheers grew silent as they watched Eriksen assist Pontus Jansson in the 95th minute to win the game for Brentford. This is surely bad enough, but it hurt ten times what it normally would have because 30 seconds earlier, Watford missed two open goal chances to win the game themselves.
Despite the upsetting finish for home fans, the match was great to attend and my family really enjoyed the experience. Vicarage Road Stadium was also a pretty cool venue, even though it is much smaller than some other Premier League stadiums. In terms of advertising and technology, Watford seems to be a bit advanced in comparison to other teams of their stature. They have two large scoreboards which were used efficiently throughout the game. Their kit sponsor, Stake.com, can be seen throughout the stadium, especially on the second deck advert space, placed directly next to Watford’s values of equality, together, diversity, family, empowerment, respect and inclusion. There were various other sponsorships displayed around the electronic board pitch-side. However, what I found to be even more impressive was the electronic ad space on the outside of the pitch, facing the fans. I had never seen this before and I thought it was valuable because the distance between the seats and the pitch allows for fans to notice the brands being shown. Lastly, one sponsor stood out to me: Kelme. Although I had never heard of them, their logo is of a paw print and their pinnie that the ball boys wore stated: “Please throw the ball back to me,” which I implied to be a reference to their paw print logo and a game of fetch. This was pretty clever and I got a good laugh out of it.
The last thing I found interesting about the match was the reference to Watford’s logo on their big screen. There was a picture of their current crest, the stag, on the top half stating “creating history,” accompanied by a picture of a hornet on the bottom stating “respecting our past.” I had wondered why Watford was called the hornets while a deer is their logo, but this explained that it changed at some point. Still known as the hornets because of their color combination, it was funny to see the hornets (Watford) go up against the bees (Brentford). I guess hornets don’t always overpower bees, though, as seen by the result.
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