Tales from the Vicarage 6: Rocket Men

by Mike Walters, Oliver Phillips, John Barnes (Foreword)

In the summer of 1977, Graham Taylor took over as manager of Watford, a Fourth Division club unremarkable except for their rock-star owner, Elton John. Within six years, Taylor had taken them into the top flight to finish as runners-up in the League, the second-best team in the land. Four heroes – goalkeeper Steve Sherwood, defender Ian Bolton, and strikers Ross Jenkins and Luther Blissett – played in all four divisions during that extraordinary journey. They were Taylor’s Rocket Men, the legends behind one of English football’s greatest feel-good adventures. This sixth volume of Tales From The Vicarage contains exclusive interviews with all four and charts the Hornets’ stratospheric rise through the divisions. With a foreword from John Barnes, who played his own part in the journey, Rocket Men is another fascinating collection for Watford supporters’ bookshelves. To honour the memory of Graham Taylor, £1 from every sale of the book will go to Kit Aid, a charity that Taylor was patron, in agreement with the family of Watford’s greatest manager.

Genres: Football

222 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 2017

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

More fascinating insights into the golden years of Watford FC. Each of the four sections can be treated as four extended interviews with different writers, which can lead to some repetition at times, but this is a minor quibble. Recommended.