Graham Taylor led Watford from the
Fourth Division to the First Division in only five years.
[14] In his first season Watford won the
1977–78 Fourth Division title, losing only five of 46 games and winning the division by 11 points.
[15] In the
Third Division Taylor led Watford to another promotion, finishing second, and losing out on the title by one point in the
1978–79 season.
[16]
Taylor's third season, in the
Second Division, was less successful. Indicating the tougher competition, Watford managed only an 18th finish, out of 22 teams, avoiding relegation by eight points and winning only 12 of their 42 games in the
1979–80 season.
[17] In the next season, the
1980–81 season, Taylor improved Watford's performance, ending it with 16 wins and a 9th-place finish.
[18] In the
1981–82 season Watford achieved promotion, ending the season in 2nd place, and gaining 23 wins and 11 draws in 42 games.
[19]
In the First Division with Taylor as manager, Watford gained its highest-ever victory (8–0 against
Sunderland)
[7] as well as the "double" over
Arsenal, an away win at
Tottenham Hotspur, and home victories over
Everton and
Liverpool; this resulted in Watford finishing runners-up in the entire Football League.
[20] He then took the side to the third round of the
UEFA Cup, having finished second in
1982–83 (the club's first season as a top division club). Taylor also led Watford to the
1984 FA Cup Final, which Watford lost to
Everton 2–0.
[21] In his final season,
1986–87, Watford finished ninth in the league and reached the FA Cup semi-finals, missing out on another
Wembley appearance when they lost to
Tottenham Hotspur,
In May 1987, Taylor left Watford for a new challenge at
Aston Villa, who had just been relegated from the First Division.
[23] Second-tier football was a terrible setback for the Midlanders, who had won the
European Cup just five years earlier and had been league champions six years earlier.
[24]
Taylor managed to take Aston Villa back to the top flight with his first attempt, securing their top flight safety in
1988–89 with a draw on the final day of the league season.
[25] During his third season at the club Villa finished runners-up in the First Division, having led the league table at several stages of the season before being overhauled in the final weeks by
Liverpool.
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