Gordon Watson On Choosing Football Over Cricket And His Career In The Game | OneFootball

At 54 years of age, Gordon ‘Flash’ Watson has done just about everything there is to do in English football. He’s scored for England’s U21s, played in the Premier League with Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday, and plied his trade in the Football League with Charlton Athletic, Bradford City, AFC Bournemouth, and Hartlepool United. He’s worked as a scout for Leicester City and as a commentator of Southampton matches for BBC Radio Solent. Today, however, he’s enjoying a new chapter in Costa Rica thanks to his work with BetUS.

Born in Sidcup, England, Watson grew up in children’s homes in London and was placed in a care order by a judge. He knew that football was his only escape route out of a life of poverty and hunger, and it’s why he grabbed the sport by the scruff of its neck, scoring nearly 50 goals for Charlton’s reserves before making the step up to the senior team, where he scored 7 goals in 31 matches. However, before he started his professional journey with Charlton, he found himself torn between continuing his cricket adventures and pursuing a football career.

“When I was 15 years old, I had to make a decision where cricket became a hobby, and football became my route out of my upbringing,” stated Watson in an exclusive WFi interview. “I come from South London, where it was honour amongst thieves because they had to survive, so I chose football because of the riches; I knew that world-class English cricketers weren’t earning the same as a player in England’s third division. There are very few good cricket clubs, so the net is not as wide or as big as the 92 Football League clubs in England, and I was probably better at football than I was at cricket.”

Watson impressed as an attacking midfielder for Charlton, timing his runs to perfection and getting on the end of through balls, before eventually attracting the interest of Sheffield Wednesday, who signed him in 1991. Whilst Watson would play against some of the biggest stars in English football, he didn’t come across his footballing idol.

“We used to get one game broadcast on television per week growing up, and I loved watching the players like Kenny Dalglish or Brian Robson, but I didn’t idolize anyone. I think that if you don’t idolize somebody and make it the norm in your mentality of playing, then you’ve got a much better chance of making it. You can’t go into a situation of playing first-team football, and looking at your heroes around your bedroom, and then you’ve got to play against them. The respect is gonna be too much, so I threw that out the window very early. When you’re playing at a school level, district level, county level, which would be the same as your state level, your mind’s better than anybody else. So, if you’re a striker, you can play in center midfield, you can get away with different things, and then obviously you’ve got to hone a position.”

He made the move to Southampton in 1995 for £1,200,000, racking up 13 goals and 5 assists in 66 matches for Saints before eventually making the move to Bradford City for a club-record transfer of £500,000. Watson made his Bradford debut on January 18, 1997, in a 1-1 draw at Swindon Town before grabbing an assist the following week in a 1-0 win against Port Vale. His third appearance, however, would come to an abrupt end in the fourth minute after Huddersfield defender Kevin Gray committed a heinous tackle and caused him to suffer a double fracture to the right leg. Watson took both Huddersfield Town and Gray to court for negligence, winning a British record fee of £959,143, eventually returning 18 months later in a 2-0 win against West Brom. Six days later, Watson scored twice in a six-minute spell off the bench to lead Bradford to a 2-1 win vs. Barnsley. He helped Bradford return to the top-flight for the first time in 77 years, but rather than accept a new deal with the Bantams, he rejected the offer, stating that he was not  “fit enough or good enough” to represent Bradford City in the top flight.

Watson joined Bournemouth in 1999 and played with the Cherries for free in an effort to rebuild his career, failing to score in 11 appearances before departing for Portsmouth’s reserves. He then made the move to Hartlepool United, continuing to live on the south coast and training during the week with Southampton’s squad before flying up to Hartlepool on the weekend. He finished as the club’s top scorer in his debut season with 18 goals across all competitions, prompting him to sign a one-year extension in May 2002, citing his desire to lead them to promotion. Whilst he failed to continue his stellar scoring form after breaking his left leg in September 2002, he resumed first-team training five months later and eventually made good on his promise, leading the Monkey Hangers to England’s third division for the first time in a decade.

“There are loads of things I would have done differently, like if the ball goes far post and I went near post, but again, you have to make decisions. I think I would have shown the game more respect. But then again, with my upbringing, I was like a kid in a candy store where life was just one big temptation for me. I was proud to be voted the North East Player of the Year for Hartlepool when a lot of people didn’t think I’d ever play again, and I helped them win promotion. I scored in the Sheffield Derby in a 3-1 win in front of all the Sheffield United fans. I scored when I played for England on the 21s against CIS. … there are always more things that you could have achieved, but I’m proud of what I’ve done in football.”