Watford – Historical Cult Hero: Alec Chamberlain
In three different spells in the Premier League, Watford have had a number of players who could certainly be seen as cult heroes.
Whether it’s Lloyd Doyley – who made his Watford debut replacing Pierre Issa when he was dropped off a stretcher – to Gifton Noel-Williams, the man who took them to the Premier League before injury blighted his season in the top flight, Watford have had some unlikely heroes.
But in Alec Chamberlain, they had a goalkeeper who only arrived at Vicarage Road at the age of 32, and somehow went on to make 241 league appearances for them.
BACKING UP GREATS
Prior to joining Watford, Chamberlain had moved around, finding himself stuck between plenty of top quality keepers.
Having started out at Ipswich, he went on to establish himself with Colchester, before moving to Everton to serve as Neville Southall’s back-up.
From there he moved to Luton, displacing Les Sealey with the Hatters, but he also spent time as the understudy to both Dave Beasant, at Chelsea, and then David James at Liverpool.
BECOMING A HORNET
So it was in 1996 that Chamberlain moved to Watford, where he quickly established himself as first choice.
With the late, great Graham Taylor in charge, Watford enjoyed a resurgence including back-to-back promotions to reach the Premier League for the first time.
Chamberlain was one of the key figures in their play-off success to get to the top flight, saving Chris Holland’s penalty in the semi-final shootout win over Birmingham City.
That followed a brilliant game in normal time, and he went on to keep a clean sheet in the final against Bolton to lead Watford to the top flight.
THE AGELESS WONDER
Although injury kept him out of the start of Watford’s Premier League campaign, he quickly returned, albeit in a single season stay in the top flight.
Both Espen Baardsen and Lenny Pidgeley battled him for the starting role at Watford, but he saw both off in the end.
By 2004 he had also taken on goalkeeper coaching duties, at the age of 40, and was still on the books when they returned to the Premier League in 2006.
He signed a one-year deal, was the oldest player in the league, and he even came on for Ben Foster in a draw with Newcastle to become the second-oldest player in Premier League history.
That would prove to be Chamberlain’s last appearance for Watford, but he has continued as a coach at the club through to 2017 and has been one of the enduring figures over the last two decades at Vicarage Road.
