News: Peter Wastall Celebrates 25 Years As Company Secretary

Peter Wastall is raising his bat to a quarter-century working at Watford Football Club in his role as Company Secretary.

Peter was appointed as the club's Company Secretary on March 25, 2000, when the club was under the leadership of Tim Shaw as a club Director and Haig Oundjian as Vice-Chairman – a pair for whom Peter had the greatest admiration.

Subsequently, he became the Secretary of the Watford FC Community Sports & Education Trust upon its incorporation in 2003.

“A great deal has happened since then!” he admitted.

However, you will have to go further back to find the start of his association with Watford.

“That originally started for me in the late 1980s when my son, Andrew, and I attended games as fans of the club,” Peter explained.

Peter’s time at Watford did overlap with that of Graham Taylor, with the Company Secretary recalling the club’s greatest-ever manager fondly.

“It was a particular joy and pleasure to serve under Graham Taylor during his tenure as Interim Chairman of the club,” he added.

“He always had great stories to tell, especially during discussion breaks, and there were many occasions when he demonstrated his total commitment and loyalty to the club.

“I remember, too, there were occasions when he would generously reach for his personal chequebook when he became aware of someone in need.”

There is one story in particular which Peter recounts of GT, saying: “I remember one particular occasion when a message reached him during half-time at a home game that a fan wished to say hello to him.

“Apparently he had previously met Graham, but not within Graham's recollection.

“Graham immediately left the Chairman's Suite and found the fan in the stands and chatted to him at length before returning to see the end of the game.

“I believe that similar situations such as this arose a number of other times.”

Given the length of service Peter has given to the club, he has worked with a great number of people for whom he wants to place on record a message of thanks.

“It was also a great pleasure to work closely with Graham Simpson and Jimmy Russo when they respectively were Chairman of the club, both of whom generously supported the club in many different ways,” he said.

“I would wish to express and record my grateful thanks to the Directors, Scott Duxbury, as Chairman and CEO, Stuart Timperley and David Fransen, for all their help, generosity, courtesy and guidance to me over many years.

“Also to all the staff of the club and the Trust, together with my deepest thanks to Richard Fenhalls, who was Chairman of the company who were the club's financial advisers in the late 1990s, and who generously put my name forward when the vacancy for the position of company secretary occurred 25 years ago.

“Since the acquisition of the club by Gino Pozzo’s family in summer 2012, and then latterly by Gino himself, there have been many superb improvements in the ground, stands and general facilities on match days for the very significant benefit of fans and supporters.”

Scott Duxbury has honoured Peter’s years of service in his programme notes for the Plymouth Argyle game, saying: “I’d like to pay tribute to the service of our company secretary Peter Wastall, who this month reached his 25th anniversary in the role.

“He’s certainly borne witness to many ups and downs while serving both club and Trust.

“Peter and his family are our special guests today [the Plymouth game] and I wish them all a very pleasant afternoon with us.”

Finally, how does Peter reflect on his 25 years with the Hornets?

“It has been a wonderful journey for me, full of memories, generosity and pleasure, but not without its challenges from time to time,” he said.

“I look forward with much anticipation to many great things for the club in the future.

“It has been a great and most enjoyable privilege to be associated with the club over so many years.”