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DAVE WATSON
In December 1970 Dave journeyed to the north-east to join Sunderland and in the 1971-1972 season was their leading scorer with 15 goals.
The following season new Sunderland boss Bob Stokoe successfully moved him to the centre-back position.
Sunderland were in Division Two at the time, but in 1973 made a run to the FA Cup final at Wembley to face hot favourites Leeds United – yet on a dramatic afternoon, Dave and his team-mates pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the competition’s long history by winning 1-0.
Less than a year later Dave made his debut for England, at the age of 27, in a friendly against Portugal in Lisbon, going on to become a regular in the side for a number of years.
His command at the back was such that Manchester City took him to Maine Road for £275,000 – a career move which saw him again victorious at Wembley, as he helped City clinch the League Cup courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Newcastle United.
After a lengthy absence through injury, Dave - now 30 years old and back to full health – returned to the England side.
He played every minute of England's fixtures that year, including World Cup qualifying victories over Luxembourg (twice) and Italy - although after the Italians had earlier defeated England in the campaign and had a better goals record against Luxembourg, it meant England missed out on the finals for a second successive tournament. Dave did not miss another England game until 1980.
The following season, he was made club captain and Manchester City finished fourth in the league with Dave missing just one match. During the same year, his establishment as England's first choice central defender was galvanised by a 4–3 victory over Denmark in Copenhagen which set the seal on qualification for the 1980 European Championships – England's first major tournament qualification for a decade.
He was surprisingly sold to Werder Bremen in 1979, but didn’t settle in Germany and returned to England six months later to join Southampton.
Dave continued his England career, earning his 50th cap against Argentina in a warm-up game prior to the European Championships in Italy, where he played in all three of England's group games, but a draw, defeat and victory was not enough for England to progress.
Although by now 33 years of age, Dave continued his playing career with Southampton and continued to be selected for England - appearing in the first six of eight qualifying games for the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
Though in the squads for the last two qualifiers, England coach Ron Greenwood looked a little to the future by selecting Russell Osman and then Alvin Martin to replace Dave at the back.
England booked their place at the finals thanks to a 1–0 win over Hungary at Wembley in the final qualifier - but in the preparatory friendly matches over the next six months, Dave featured just twice, in a 4–0 win over Northern Ireland in February 1982, and then in a 1–1 draw in Reykjavik against Iceland in June, just a fortnight before England's first match in a World Cup finals tournament for twelve years.
By now, he had left Southampton for Stoke City and had thus become the first player to be capped by England while with five different clubs.
To his dismay, however, Greenwood chose not to select him in the World Cup squad of 22 and England went out of the tournament in the second phase. At 36 years of age when winning his final cap, Dave is one of the oldest outfield players ever to play for England.
He scaled down his career by playing for Derby County and making a brief return to Notts as player coach under Larry Lloyd. He also spent some time with Vancouver Whitecaps in the NASL in 1983, before joining Fort Lauderdale Sun in the USL.
Upon retirement Dave has concentrated on his business interests – including Dave Watson International Ltd – and supports many charities.
When his England career ended, he was seventh in the list of most capped players.
A talented footballer and – more importantly – a true gentleman, who we are proud to have been associated with at Notts County.
Pictured right, Dave Watson with former Notts player-coach Mike Whitlow at a Notts FA presentation night.