Red or Black Shorts? You Decide…

The debate has raged on for years and years. Families have divided over this issue. Friends have fought, arguments have persisted since time immemorial. It’s the question that we all seek the answer to. It is a deceptively simple question, and this year our voices will be listened to. We have our chance. No longer shall our cries go unheard. It’s the question on everyone’s lips: WHAT COLOUR SHORTS SHOULD WATFORD PLAY IN?

Yes, it has been announced that the colour of the shorts that Watford will play home games in will be voted on by the supporters. The choice is simple: red or black?

I am sure we have all pondered this question.

In moments of quiet reflection we’ve all asked ourselves whether reverting to the red shorts for our Play-Off campaign under Boothroyd in 2006 meant a proud, unstoppable march towards the Premiership, rather than the nervy limp into the top tier that black shorts would have ensured.

And was it less about the skill of Barnes, the tenacity of Blissett, that got us to second in the old First Division? The red shorts were as present on the day we beat Liverpool at Vicarage Road in ’83 to secure our highest ever league position as they were on our first and only appearance in an FA Cup final the following year.

They saw us win the Second Division in ’98, the Play-Off final in ’99 – Nicky Wright’s overhead kick at Wembley wouldn’t have been the same without that flash of red around his waist.

But Lloyd Doyley scored his first ever goal in black shorts…

And what of the start of the Taylor-John era, with black shorts seeing us rise through the old lower leagues?

Gianfranco Zola’s free-flowing football and lighting-fast counterattacks were played in black shorts.

The joyful returns of Heidar Helguson and Tommy Smith were both in black shorts, and we played in black shorts when a Tommy Mooney’ goal beat Liverpool at Anfield in 1999.

But Almen Abdi’s debut away at Crystal Palace was in red shorts…

The debate could go on forever. The relative pros and cons are there for all to see. For every nice kit with black shorts there’s a top season in red shorts, and for every memorable victory in red shorts there’s a legendary player who only ever played in black shorts.

Having said all that, Vital Watford is putting itself firmly in the RED SHORTS camp.

Yes, the 2014-15 home shirt has black trim, and maybe it lends itself better in theory to black shorts. But I’ve got a chance to get the red back, and the lack of any red whatsoever (aside from the sponsor’s logo) on last season’s kit has left me distraught and yearning for change.

Surely it’s clear for all to see that this is where we went wrong last year. The roads through the town centre would have only just reopened following our Championship Winners Parade should we have started this season with some red in the kit.

Let’s not make that mistake again. Make the right choice. Vote red.

You can vote on the colour of Watford’s home shorts by writing ‘Red or Black – RED’ or ‘Red or Black – BLACK’ in the subject line of an email sent to themediateam@watfordfc.com.

For more details on the vote, click here.