John Wilfred Rostron

In an inspirational move by Graham Taylor he was converted into a plucky and resourceful left-back after being signed as a winger. Wilf Rostron was high on the public’s list of favourite players during Watford’s golden era. He never lost the winger’s urge to get forward down the touchline, nor the knack of scoring goals, an attribute well to the fore in a remarkable sequence of six games in which he found the net no fewer than five times – and there weren’t any penalty kicks. He is one of a very small number who have clocked up over four hundred appearances for the club, and in a run of 40 consecutive FA Cup ties the only one he missed (through suspension) was the 1983/84 final, for which he would have led the team out at Wembley. After returning to his roots in the north-east of England and holding managerial posts at non-League level, he eventually set up his own business importing furniture and selling it to the retail trade.

West Herts / Watford Career