TC On GT: "Proud To Follow In His Footsteps"

We spoke to Watford Head Coach Tom Cleverley about taking charge of his first Graham Taylor Matchday against Sheffield United tomorrow (Saturday January 4, 3pm KO).

Tom, your first game in your second spell as a Watford player came in the first match following Graham Taylor’s passing, against Middlesbrough. What are your memories of that?

Returning to the club, it was a really emotional week.

My honest memory of it is a trickling shot hitting the post and the thought of what a special goal that would have been to score for the club, my first one back and obviously with a big sentimental value to it. It’s a game which stands out.

It’s a game which stands out in my mind; and it’s a game where we’ll try and celebate the legacy which we’re all trying to continue.

You did get a goal in the Graham Taylor Matchday in 2021, behind closed doors against Huddersfield. How special is it to be involved in these games?

It's quite ironic that I scored it with a heart-and-desire slide tackle that I think he’d have probably been proud of.

It’s a real special time to celebrate what he brought to this football club, and maybe a little bit more significant for me this time because I’m following in his footsteps. It’s something that I’m very proud to do.

How important is it for the club to continue paying tribute to Graham Taylor?

Yeah, absolutely. That starts with the foundation of Jimmy Gilligan and Richard Johnson in the Academy, people who knew him very well.

We try to follow the morals and the values that he set at this football club, and then we try to continue that in the first-team as well, hopefully playing with the heart and desire this season that he would be proud of.

When did you first become aware of the influence of Graham Taylor at Watford?

I was very naïve to it the first time in 2009, of the impact he had at this football club.

The little bit older you get, you read up and research about the job he actually did. From Division Four all the way to second in the First Division, it’s incredible.

If it happened in football today it would be an unbelievable story. 

How do you start to help the players understand the importance of the Graham Taylor Matchday?

You can use opportunities like this, and I certainly did it in the Academy with the young players who took on that information and absorbed it really well.

It’s something Sir Alex Ferguson did really well at Man Utd – “do you understand as a player what’s come before you at this club?”

We can take opportunities like this when we’re celebrating his life to educate a few players.