Dave Watson: Yeah, I was totally aware that they were gutted that we won the FA cup. It was well publicised that they were going to be at the game and that the boys were Man Utd supporters along with Charles. I could see the disappointment in their faces as he handed me the cup, I said “cheers Charlie”! I just turned round to the crowd and said “yes”.

It was no surprise when we won the cup. Once you get to Wembley, anything can happen. Big Joe really wound all our lads up and everyone was up for it. Joe told us that the Man Utd fans were in for a shock.

Blue Kipper: What is the best Everton back 4? (which you have played with or would like to be a part of)

Dave Watson: Stevens with Pat Van den Hauwe at left back. Kevin Ratcliffe beside me but I would also mention Snods because he was a great right back when he slotted into that position.

Blue Kipper: Did you prepare for derby games any differently than the other games?

Dave Watson: No, my preparation was always the same. The only difference is that you think of the supporters more on Derby Day and want to get straight out and stuck into them. You can’t wind people up any more than most of them already are on Derby Day. You have to be half level headed but know that when you go out there, you’re going to smash them one in the first few minutes. That’s just the way it is.
From 1.45 to 2.30 I’m alright, I’m nice and quiet. Then it’s getting my mind on the game, talking to the lads, wishing them all the best, making sure they’re getting their minds on the game as well. Some players you’ll need to go and have a chat to, and tell them how important the day is. Come 2.45 to 2.50, everyone’s up for it. Walking round the dressing room with all your mad shouts, then you’re ready to go then. On Derby Day, it was Peter Reid, Kevin Ratcliffe and Gary Stevens any of the local lads all really wound up for it. It was a good buzz on everyone else. When you walked out on that pitch, you always felt you were going to win.

Blue Kipper: If Moyesy got on the phone and offered you a position at Everton would you take it?

Dave Watson: I certainly would at the moment cos I’m doing nothing else! Yes of course I would. They’ve always been great to me when I’ve been involved in the club in whatever capacity. And now that I’m sitting on the outside, I would love to be back involved. Make no mistake about it, David Moyes has done a great job. And as long as that continues, that’s fine for Everton.

Blue Kipper: Were you not gutted when you didn’t get offered the opportunity to go for the job that Alan Harper just got recently?

Dave Watson: No, not at all. Alan’s worked his way up and totally deserves the job.

Blue Kipper: What happened at Tranmere? Why were you forced out? Politics?

Dave Watson: Politics! Ha ha ha! My experience at Tranmere was good. It was good from a footballing point of view. A good learning curve for me. I learnt an awful lot in 10 months which will stand me in good stead if I get a chance again. The only chance to get to find out about management is to be thrown in. And that’s what I wanted. That’s the way it happened.
My Tranmere highlights were getting to the 5th round of the FA cup. Had a 16 game unbeaten run, which got us into the play off positions and we had lots of good kids coming through. So there were a lot of good points during my time there. In management there are a lot of things that can affect results, injuries, suspensions, and when you haven’t got a big squad, that’s what happens. But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Blue Kipper: Gary Speed......shit house or what?

Dave Watson: I never had a problem with Gary Speed and lots of people ask this – it was just circumstances at the time and a story that I honestly don’t know the answer too. You’ll have to dig a little deeper and if you find out, can you give me a ring and let me know what went on!!

Blue Kipper: What was your proudest moment in an Everton shirt?

Dave Watson: Obviously the cup final springs to mind against Utd. Lifting the cup was unbelievable, I was 34 at the time and was wondering if this would be my last chance to pick up something as captain of the club. But also wearing the Everton shirt while I was actually managing the club, it was hard enough being a player but when you’re managing the club, there’s so much going on in your head. That was an extremely proud moment for me. Also scoring against the shite was something to be proud of and I scored a few times against them.

Blue Kipper: Do you regret leaving your coaching job at Everton to manage Tranmere reflecting on the way things went ?

Dave Watson: No I don’t because I wanted more of a hands on approach task and I only got that when Archie Knox went with the Scottish National Squad, so when the Tranmere job came up it was a great opportunity for me to get stuck into the hands on job, which was exactly what a wanted. So I don’t regret it, no not at all.

Blue Kipper: Dave, you played for Everton through two decades, do you think you could name your top 11 Everton players plus manager of that era?

Dave Watson: That’s impossible to answer, but straight away, certain players stand out, people like Neville; you’d have Reidy in the midfield; Sharpy up front; Trevor Steven has got to come into it; I wished I’d have played with Rooney, cos he’d have definitely got into it. Left sided players have never jumped out at me with the exception of Kevin Sheedy. We know an awful lot about his left foot. Paul Bracewell, really we’re going back to that successful team. I know that when I played against them at Norwich they give you the works! Other players that came were not great players but did a great job, people like Joe Parkinson and Barry Horne. I’d also throw John Ebbrell in there as well. These were the workers that really gave their all. We haven’t really had players of this type for a long time and the team is screaming out for them. I know when Duncan came, it really gave everyone a lift and he became a hero, but that’s sort of drifted away a little bit now. That’s why it’s back again now with Wayne Rooney, we’ve got what could be a legend, and everyone appears to be hanging on to that just now. There’s no doubt about the Manager, that would be Howard.

Blue Kipper: What did you feel when you lifted the FA Cup as Everton captain, following in the foot steps of greats such as Kevin Ratcliffe and Brian Labone?

Dave Watson: There is a history of Everton and the FA cup and it’s great when the clips of the FA cup comes up – it’s great to see yourself picking up the cup as it’s such a great feeling. To be put in the same bracket as Labby and Kevin is an honour. It’s great when the clips of the FA cup comes up – it’s great to see yourself picking up the cup as it’s such a great feeling.

Blue Kipper: Dave, what was it like becoming caretaker manager of the blues, and have you got your sites on a more permanent role back at Goodison in the future?

Dave Watson: It was something that just happened, I was down at Norwich at the time. I got a phone call on the Sunday saying they wanted to speak to me. Big Joe had left then and they told me you’re the man to take over. Without even sitting down and thinking about it, I said you’re bloody right there la!! Then after I put the phone down I sat back and thought ‘friggin ell’ what if we get relegated! I never even give that a second thought beforehand, then when I sat down and thought about it a little deeper, I thought yes, you don’t often get a chance like that. I loved it, I loved the involvement, and everything about it. It was a great experience.

Blue Kipper: Dave who was the player you looked up to when you started out as a player?

Dave Watson: When I started off, I was at Liverpool. Being honest it would be players like Tommy Smith and Phil Thompson. I might have looked up to them, but I’m glad I didn’t end up looking like them!

Blue Kipper: How did the move from Liverpool come about, was it like the Steve McMahon situation were you had to move to another club before you could move to the team across the Park?

Dave Watson: I suppose you could say that. I only played a few games for Liverpool in all the years I was there. It wasn’t really working out, so when I’d only played a handful of games, I moved to Norwich. I had 5 years at Norwich then one day, Howard got on the phone and tapped me to come back to Everton, and I never had any second thoughts about it, and the rest is history.

Blue Kipper: There's a story about "something" being found in the FA Cup at the celebration party in 95. Allegedly, it had your initials on it. True?

Dave Watson: I don’t know what was found in the FA cup, there’s been quite a few things in it! What was it supposed to be? I don’t know what he’s getting at there.

Blue Kipper: What where the feelings in the dressing room on the last day of the season in 94 & 98. Which players really stood out for you?

Dave Watson: We were in the Grosvenor Hotel across the water and Mike Walker got everyone together in a room and told us how we were lucky lads. We started looking at one another thinking we’re the lucky buggers? What if it all goes wrong! There was talk of the lads not even bringing their cars to the game because we couldn’t walk out to the car park if we got relegated. You wouldn’t know what would happen after the game. These were the type of things that were going through our heads, the fear of failing. It was a nerve wracking experience and then we heard that the Wimbledon coach had been set alight at their hotel. It was at that point you knew the passion and that we had to win the game. There were no thoughts of losing. Regarding the game itself, the atmosphere could have been better because there was just a board at the park end, it was a strange atmosphere. Then we went a goal down through Anders hand ball and we thought oh what’s going on here? We started to get the strange feeling that we were going to get relegated. The silence when we went two nil down was scary. We pulled one back and Neville was geeing everyone up at half time. Then there was the Barry Horne goal. When has Barry Horne ever scored a goal like that? To come back and win the game was amazing. I say it now that the FA cup final in 95 and the Wimbledon game were the two games which I will remember forever. The players who stood out for me in that game was Snods, he was a rock at the back and Barry in the mid field. But that’s all really, Barry and Snods would have died for the cause.

The Coventry one was a little bit different because a draw was enough so it was a bit more relaxed. We had the luxury of the penalty miss as well. It seemed like year after year, there was never a season were you could relax. The players were still a bag of nerves though, you could almost feel the nerves coming from the stands. You’re playing for all the Evertonians in the world, so you’re bound to be nervous aren’t you? They’re all relying on you so you’ve got to control your nerves and do something about it.

Blue Kipper: Which player do you hate the most?

Dave Watson: The foreign lads when they first come over, trying to be big. They thought they were better than everyone else. People like Madar never had a good word to say about anyone. Wherever you go, you need a good work ethic and they didn’t seem to understand that, but with working with them day in and day out, I can’t say I hated or disliked them. I wasn’t keen on them, but you’ve got to work with them. With regard to opponents, there was Billy Whitehurst, he was crazy, he wanted to fight you. There was one occasion at Oxford, he clashed with Neville and Neville was hurt on the floor. I waded in and Billy was pushed to the floor, he turned round and thought it was Kevin Rat, this was just before half time – as we were walking off the pitch, Billy walked up behind Kevin, put his arms under Kevin’s and lifted him off the pitch! He’d be looking for you in the players’ lounge and would want to see you outside! He was a bit of a lunatic unlike Mick Harford who was just a really hard player who could look after himself. You would feel the wind from Mick Harford’s elbow as it whizzed past your ear! He caught me a few times as well! Then there was John Fashanu from the crazy gang! They’d come up to you and tell you they were looking for a fight.

Blue Kipper: Dave, it has come to the attention of a few hardened Evertonians, that you have a secret passion for cheese. Could you confirm or deny this? and secondly what is your favourite, a Gorganzola, Dutch Edam or as is mine a good traditional English Cheddar. Thanks for some wonderful times Waggy!

Dave Watson: I don’t know where this lad has got the cheese rumour from! I do like a bit of cheese, but I wouldn’t say I’ve got a passion for it. I think it’s the lad who’s got a passion for it, I think I smelt it on him that night at the Adelphi!!

Blue Kipper: What was the atmosphere in the Everton dressing room like just before a Mersey Derby and who were the nutters trying to wind everyone up and the quiet ones?"

Dave Watson: Kevin Rat and Sharpy, Peter Reid, Andy Gray and Barry Horne all spring to mind. The quiet ones were the likes of John Ebbrell, Tony Cottee, Pat Nevin, the ones who you’d probably know were quiet just by looking at them. The pranksters were Wardy, Bails and Gazza of course! Tying the sleeves of your shirt in knots so you couldn’t get it on after the game! He was always driving you mad.

Blue Kipper: What the hell is going on with our masters team (the worst in masters history!) they've even started to move us around the regions to try and give us a better chance and who said Brett Angel was a master?

Dave Watson: I’ve got to hold my hands up and say we had a difficult time in Newcastle. It’s something that any ex players can apply to join and I certainly never said that Brett was a master! It’s just if you fancy a game, put your name down and we obviously never had many takers because look at the team that we put out! We had big Brett up front and he’s never been a great 5 a side player, he’s got a great scoring record with everyone apart from Everton! It just didn’t work out. We had Barry Horne, Snods (who’d just got in from the night before!), Wardy and myself and Nev. We weren’t well prepared and had one hell of a trip up to Newcastle and came up against a good Newcastle side which included Peter Beardsley.

Brett was as blind as a bat, in the dressing room once, he walked into the door! The lads used to think he was winding them up, having a laugh! But it wasn’t, he had a problem with his eyes and once his contact lens were out, he was knackered!

Blue Kipper: I've never seen a captain of any club, never mind Everton, as delighted as you were when you lifted the FA Cup - was this your happiest moment in The Royal Blue ?

Dave Watson: It most probably was. As you’ve probably seen from over the years, I’m not probably one to go around laughing a lot, I’ve got one of those stone faces. I do have a good laugh but I don’t really show it on the outside, however, on that day, that had to be the biggest smile I’ve ever done and I’ve never done one as big since!

Blue Kipper: Have you ever had to work with a player or a manager at Everton that you couldn't stand?

Dave Watson: Players who don’t work hard for their team bug me as I’ve said before and also the Mike Walker spell. I don’t think Mike got off to the best of starts with the players. He’d keep them waiting on the bus for 45 minutes after the game and that used to bug the players. I couldn’t say I enjoyed my time with Mike.

Blue Kipper: That great team of the 80s had some "handy" players; who would you rate as the hardest...Psycho Pat ? The Rat ? Reidy ? Or your "bad ass" self ?!!?

Dave Watson: There’s no doubt that Ratters was the hardest and he was clever with it and more often than not, got away with it. He’d belt people from behind, pick them up and shake their hand and he would get away with bookings. On the other hand, Pat would whack someone and then stand over them looking for a fight! So he’d be the one getting booked and sent off! Reidy was a tough player, a whole hearted player, but Kevin was the man, he was the assassin! As for myself, I knew in my day that you would always get one warning from the referee so the first tackle from behind was just a warning and it was the second one that got you booked. I also learnt to pick people up from an early age but Kevin was the master.

Blue Kipper: Eternal thanks for playing a major role in preserving our status during the nervous nineties!! Did it frustrate you that certain colleagues commitment to the cause during that period was of a lesser degree than your own?

Dave Watson: Yes it did. For me some players hearts weren’t in it. They’d earned their money and weren’t concerned whether we got beat, they wouldn’t give two monkeys. You couldn’t let it bother your own performance though, otherwise it would have gone downhill completely. Going way back, I remember Howard saying to us after one game, I think it was to me, Sharpy and the Rat, keep doing what you’re doing, I am trying to change things. Howard was aware of that situation even then, he knew and he said he’d sort it, and he did.

Blue Kipper: Some players often tell of their love for a club going back to their childhood and how they always look for that club's results first on a Saturday etc. - all the old clichés. When did he stop looking for the red shite results on a Saturday?

Dave Watson: It always comes up this! I looked up Liverpool’s results when I was at Norwich, but then I went to Everton and I don’t think anyone can ever doubt the commitment that I put into Everton. I give my all for Everton, there’s no getting away that I started at Liverpool but their results don’t bother me. At the end of the day, we all look at the Sunday papers and you are aware of everyone’s results.

Blue Kipper: When you signed for us did you have some teeny weeny itsy bitsy little niggle in the back of your mind wishing that the red shite had signed you instead of the present day champions? Did you, just like Franny Jeffers, sign for a club offering the most money even though you loved your boyhood club dearly?

Dave Watson: I don’t really have to answer that do I? I think I’ve just said the answer in the previous question.

Blue Kipper: Sorry if these questions sound as though I'm having a dig at Dave, I'm not. I wish that all players who wear our shirt played with as much passion for us as Dave. To serve us through the bad times with such a blue heart is the true test. I'm just trying to find the side of a player's mentality, any player, that we never hear about. ie when does his love for the club he's playing for replace his childhood dreams of playing for the rival club? Dave is one of the prime examples of switching allegiances.

Dave Watson: I know what he means, and again I’ve answered this before. The commitment was always there, I’d die for the cause. In football, you’ve just got to get on with your job and my job at Everton was to make sure that Everton done well. Personally, to make sure that I did my best, and was well prepared for Everton, and I done that. Even now, we go the games with my two lads and my daughter. I can’t change anything with my Liverpool connections with the past, but what I can tell you is that we are all Evertonians.

Blue Kipper: After Tranmere wrongly and ungratefully sacked you, will you go back into coaching and managing in the near future? you did a great job as caretaker for us, don’t let tranmere put you off.

Dave Watson: Yes, I’m still hopeful that I can get back into the game either in management or coaching. I’ve just got to wait and be patient and see what crops up. I’m a better person after my experiences at Tranmere. It’s broadened my outlook on management and I am looking to get back in.

Blue Kipper: Waggy brought an under elevens side over to Jersey recently, which his son played in, his close school friend Joe Morley organised a friendly against a local cub side. I would like to ask waggy how his boy has progressed.

Dave Watson: I’ve got 3 lads, one’s playing for mid Cheshire, the school team and the local Grappenhall side, he’s doing well. They all enjoy the football, but I don’t put any pressure on them to do this and that, it’s all about enjoyment.

Blue Kipper: Who is the best goalkeeper you have played with at Everton?

Dave Watson: Stupid question! There was only one and that was big Nev.

Blue Kipper: Who’s the best manager you played under?

Dave Watson: Another stupid question – there was only one Howard Kendall, although Joe was great to play for.

Blue Kipper: Was Paul Rideout fucked when you got him to play in that last game?

Dave Watson: No, I played him in mid field and thought he had a good game. He had just flown back from China, his wife was not happy with the situation and he flew straight back after the game so he couldn’t have been fucked!

Blue Kipper: How did you get on with Derek Mountfield, after you took his place?

Dave Watson: No problem. In all the best teams, you have to compete for places. We had to compete and win our place. Don’t get me wrong, we were not best mates, but we certainly didn’t hate each other.

Blue Kipper: Who was the best / worst / hardest forward you played
against?

Dave Watson: The best was Ian Wright closely followed by Les Ferdinand. There were too many to remember the worst! The hardest was undoubtly Mick Harford, many a time I felt the breeze from his elbow wizzing past my ear. There was also Billy Whitehurst.

Blue Kipper: Who was the best / worst / hardest defender you played with?

Dave Watson: Best – the Rat. Worst – the Rat. Hardest – the Rat!

Blue Kipper: Short shorts or long shorts?

Dave Watson: Long shorts.

Blue Kipper: What does the future hold for Dave Watson?

Dave Watson: I’m just trying my best to get back into the game through various contacts.

Blue Kipper: If Chris Woods is such a good coach, how come we have shit goalies?

Dave Watson: Good question. I don’t really know the answer, however, a solution might be to look at Man Utd. Who have just sent Tony Colton out on a mission to find the number one goalkeeper in the country and then he has to be judged on his choice.

Blue Kipper: What is your biggest regret in your football career?

Dave Watson: Well I certainly don’t have many having played til I was 39. Won all 3 major trophies and didn’t quit til I was 45. My biggest regret was probably losing twice to the shite at Wembley in those cup finals.

Blue Kipper: Do you think there is anyway to get into the Champions League without some sugar Daddy with loads of dosh?

Dave Watson: Well it obviously helps – just look at Chelsea at the moment. But Moyesy will have been aware of the situation when he took the job in the first place.

Do Yer Think So?

Waggy watches Psycho Pat Score @ Norwich

Just Starting

With Bails & Sharpy @ The Blue Kipper Night