The 2021–22 season was the 123rd season in existence of Watford Football Club and their first season back in the Premier League following their immediate return with promotion from the Championship in the previous season. Watford also competed in the FA Cup and EFL Cup.
This season was the first, since 2009–10 without the club's record Premier League goalscorer Troy Deeney who joined Birmingham City after his contract expired.
Managerial changes On 3 October, the Hornets sacked head coach Xisco. A day later, Claudio Ranieri was appointed the club's new Head Coach, on a two-year contract.
Ranieri was sacked on 24 January and was replaced the following day by Roy Hodgson. Watford would go on to record 2 wins and remain winless in Hodgson's tenure and be relegated in May 2022 following a 1–0 defeat to Crystal Palace.
Players Current squad As of 22 May 2022. Squad No. Name Nationality Position Age Since Ends Signed from Apps Goals Goalkeepers 1 Ben Foster GK 39 2018 2022 West Brom 207 0 26 Daniel Bachmann GK 28 2017 2024 Stoke 41 0 35 Rob Elliot GK 36 2021 2023 Newcastle 1 0 Defenders 2 Jeremy Ngakia RB 21 2020 2024 West Ham 45 0 3 Danny Rose LB 32 2021 2023 Tottenham 16 0 5 William Troost-Ekong CB 28 2020 2025 Udinese 51 1 11 Adam Masina LB 28 2018 2023 Bologna 90 3 13 Nicolas Nkoulou CB 32 2021 2022 Torino 3 0 14 Hassane Kamara LB 28 2022 2025 Nice 19 1 15 Craig Cathcart CB 33 2014 2023 Blackpool 221 8 21 Kiko Femenía RB 31 2017 2024 Alavés 151 2 22 Samir CB 27 2022 2025 Udinese 19 0 27 Christian Kabasele CB 31 2016 2024 Genk 139 6 31 Francisco Sierralta CB 25 2020 2027 Udinese 37 1 42 James Morris LB 20 2021 2024 Southampton 1 0 Midfielders 4 Oghenekaro Etebo CM 26 2021 2022 Stoke (loan) 9 0 6 Imrân Louza CM 23 2021 2026 Nantes 22 0 8 Tom Cleverley CM 33 2017 2023 Everton 177 18 16 Dan Gosling CM 32 2021 2023 Bournemouth 19 3 19 Moussa Sissoko CDM 33 2021 2023 Tottenham 38 2 33 Juraj Kucka CM 35 2021 2023 Parma 27 1 39 Edo Kayembe CDM 24 2022 2026 Eupen 13 0 45 Kamil Conteh CM 19 2018 2022 Academy 1 0 Forwards 7 Joshua King ST 30 2021 2023 Everton 33 5 10 João Pedro ST 20 2020 2027 Fluminense 74 13 12 Ken Sema LW 28 2018 2026 Östersunds 85 7 23 Ismaïla Sarr RW 24 2019 2024 Rennes 92 24 25 Emmanuel Dennis ST 24 2021 2026 Club Brugge 35 10 28 Samuel Kalu RW 24 2022 2025 Bordeaux 4 0 29 Cucho Hernández LW 23 2017 2024 Granada 28 5 34 Kwadwo Baah LW 19 2021 2026 Rochdale 0 0 47 Shaq Forde ST 18 2012 2022 Academy 1 0
Transfers Transfers in Date Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. 17 May 2021 LW Kwadwo Baah Rochdale Undisclosed 27 May 2021 CB Mattie Pollock Grimsby Town Undisclosed 2 June 2021 CM Imran Louza Nantes Undisclosed 21 June 2021 CF Emmanuel Dennis Club Brugge Undisclosed 1 July 2021 CF Ashley Fletcher Middlesbrough Free transfer 1 July 2021 LB Danny Rose Tottenham Hotspur Free transfer 9 July 2021 SS Joshua King Everton Free transfer 9 July 2021 CF Dapo Mebude Rangers Undisclosed 14 July 2021 GK Vincent Angelini Celtic Free transfer 5 August 2021 LB James Morris Southampton Free transfer 6 August 2021 CM Juraj Kucka Parma Undisclosed 27 August 2021 CM Moussa Sissoko Tottenham Hotspur £3,000,000 23 September 2021 CF Jimiel Chikukwa Leeds United Free transfer 7 October 2021 CB Nicolas Nkoulou Torino Free transfer 1 January 2022 GK Maduka Okoye Sparta Rotterdam Undisclosed 4 January 2022 LB Hassane Kamara Nice £4,000,000 6 January 2022 CB Samir Udinese Undisclosed 7 January 2022DMEdo Kayembe KAS EupenUndisclosed 26 January 2022 RW Samuel Kalu Bordeaux Undisclosed
Transfers out Date Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. 9 June 2021 CB Craig Dawson West Ham United £2,000,000 24 June 2021CBBen Wilmot Stoke CityUndisclosed 30 June 2021 CB Mason Barrett Unattached Released 30 June 2021 AM Mitchel Bergkamp Unattached Released 30 June 2021 GK Mac Chisholm West Bromwich Albion Released (scholar) 30 June 2021 CF Sam Dalby Southend United Released 30 June 2021 RM Harry Forster Bromley Released 30 June 2021 CF Thomas Horsewood Hertford Town Released (scholar) 30 June 2021 LB Achraf Lazaar Portimonense Released 30 June 2021 CM Henry Ochieng Billericay Town Released 30 June 2021 AM Phoenix Patterson Waterford Released 30 June 2021 CB Teddy Perkins Welling United Released 30 June 2021 DM Carlos Sánchez Santa Fe Released 30 June 2021 CF Jerome Sinclair Unattached Released 30 June 2021 CB Bayli Spencer-Adams Leicester City Released 30 June 2021 CB Maxwell Statham Welling United Released 30 June 2021 LB Toby Stevenson Bromley Released 30 June 2021 FW Max Thompson Unattached Released (scholar) 14 July 2021 DF James Debayo Leeds United Undisclosed 16 July 2021 LB Tomas Galvez Manchester City Undisclosed 16 July 2021 MF Bosun Lawal Celtic Undisclosed 9 August 2021 CF Filip Stuparević Metalac Gornji Milanovac Free transfer 14 August 2021 CF Stipe Perica Maccabi Tel Aviv Undisclosed 26 August 2021 CF Isaac Success Udinese Undisclosed 28 August 2021 CM Will Hughes Crystal Palace Undisclosed 30 August 2021 CF Troy Deeney Birmingham City Free transfer 31 August 2021 DM Nathaniel Chalobah Fulham Undisclosed 31 August 2021 RB Marc Navarro Unattached Released
Loans in Date from Position Nationality Name From Date until Ref. 9 July 2021 CM Peter Etebo Stoke City End of season 19 August 2021 CM Ozan Tufan Fenerbahçe 2 February 2022
Loans out Date from Position Nationality Name To Date until Ref. 1 July 2021 RW Ignacio Pussetto Udinese End of season 1 July 2021 CB Jorge Segura América de Cali End of season 9 July 2021 AM Juergen Elitim Deportivo La Coruña End of season 12 July 2021 CF Adalberto Peñaranda Las Palmas End of season 19 July 2021 CF Tiago Çukur Doncaster Rovers 11 January 2022 20 July 2021 GK Myles Roberts Concord Rangers End of season 23 July 2021 GK Adam Parkes Dover Athletic End of season 23 July 2021 CM Daniel Phillips Gillingham End of season 30 July 2021 GK Alfie Marriott Kings Langley January 2022 4 August 2021 GK Dante Baptiste Farnborough End of season 4 August 2021 CF Dapo Mebude AFC Wimbledon End of season 6 August 2021 GK Pontus Dahlberg Doncaster Rovers 14 January 2022 7 August 2021 RW Philip Zinckernagel Nottingham Forest End of season 12 August 2021 CM Tom Dele-Bashiru Reading End of season 12 August 2021 MF Dominic Hutchinson Eastbourne Borough End of season 13 August 2021 RW Sonny Blu Lo-Everton Yeovil Town End of season 17 August 2021 LW Joseph Hungbo Ross County End of season 30 August 2021 CB Mattie Pollock Cheltenham Town End of season 31 August 2021 CM Jaime Alvarado Racing de Ferrol End of season 31 August 2021 CF Andre Gray Queens Park Rangers End of season 31 August 2021 CM Domingos Quina Fulham 1 February 2022 2 October 2021 CB Will Hall Kings Langley Undisclosed 18 December 2021 CM Adian Manning Kings Langley Undisclosed 1 January 2022 GK Maduka Okoye Sparta Rotterdam End of season 14 January 2022 GK Pontus Dahlberg Gillingham End of season 22 January 2022 MF JJ McKiernan Bohemians 13 November 2022 23 January 2022 CF Ryan Cassidy Bohemians End of season 1 February 2022 CM Domingos Quina Barnsley End of season 5 February 2022 CM Kamil Conteh Braintree Town End of season 28 February 2022 CF Ashley Fletcher New York Red Bulls End of season 1 March 2022 MF Adian Manning Biggleswade Town 26 March 2022
Pre-season and friendlies Watford announced they would play friendlies against West Bromwich Albion, Stevenage Nantes, and Udinese as part of their pre-season schedule.
Competitions Premier League
League table
Results summary
Results by matchday
Matches The league fixtures were announced on 16 June 2021.
FA Cup
Watford were drawn away to Leicester City in the third round.
EFL Cup
Watford entered the competition in the second round and were drawn at home to Crystal Palace and Stoke City in the third round.
Statistics Appearances
No. Pos. Player Premier League FA Cup EFL Cup Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps GoalsGoalkeepers 1 GK Ben Foster 26 0 0 0 1 0 27 0 26 GK Daniel Bachmann 12 0 1 0 0 0 13 0 35 GK Rob Elliot 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0Defenders 2 DF Jeremy Ngakia 9+7 0 1 0 2 0 12+7 0 3 DF Danny Rose 7+1 0 0 0 1 0 8+1 0 5 DF William Troost-Ekong 15+2 0 0 0 1 0 16+2 0 11 DF Adam Masina 13+2 0 0 0 1 0 14+2 0 13 DF Nicolas Nkoulou 2+1 0 0 0 0 0 2+1 0 14 DF Hassane Kamara 18+1 1 0 0 0 0 18+1 1 15 DF Craig Cathcart 27+4 0 1 0 0 0 28+4 0 21 DF Kiko Femenía 26+1 0 0 0 0+1 0 26+2 0 22 DF Samir 19 0 0 0 0 0 19 0 27 DF Christian Kabasele 12+4 0 0 0 1 0 13+4 0 31 DF Francisco Sierralta 5 0 1 0 2 0 8 0 42 DF James Morris 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0Midfielders 4 MF Peter Etebo 4+5 0 0 0 1 0 5+5 0 6 MF Imran Louza 17+3 0 0 0 2 0 19+3 0 8 MF Tom Cleverley 20+8 0 1 0 0+1 0 21+9 0 12 MF Ken Sema 7+11 0 0+1 0 2 0 9+12 0 16 MF Dan Gosling 2+2 1 0+1 0 1 0 3+3 1 18 MF Ozan Tufan 4+3 0 1 0 1 0 6+3 0 19 MF Moussa Sissoko 36 2 1 0 0+1 0 37+1 2 33 MF Juraj Kucka 22+4 1 0+1 0 0 0 22+5 1 39 MF Edo Kayembe 9+4 0 0 0 0 0 9+4 0 45 MF Kamil Conteh 0 0 0+1 0 0 0 0+1 0Forwards 7 FW Joshua King 27+5 5 0 0 1 0 28+5 5 10 FW João Pedro 15+13 3 1 1 0 0 16+13 4 17 FW Ashley Fletcher 0+3 0 1 0 2 2 3+3 2 23 FW Ismaïla Sarr 21+1 5 0 0 0 0 21+1 5 25 FW Emmanuel Dennis 30+3 10 0 0 0+2 0 30+5 10 28 FW Samuel Kalu 2+2 0 0 0 0 0 2+2 0 29 FW Cucho Hernández 12+13 5 1 0 2 0 15+13 5 47 FW Shaq Forde 0 0 0+1 0 0 0 0+1 0
Goalscorers
The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal. Player Premier League FA Cup EFL Cup Total 1 FW 25 Emmanuel Dennis 10 0 0 10 2 FW 7 Joshua King 5 0 0 5 FW 23 Ismaïla Sarr 5 0 0 5 FW 29 Cucho Hernández 5 0 0 5 5 FW 10 João Pedro 3 1 0 4 6 FW 17 Ashley Fletcher 0 0 2 2 MF 19 Moussa Sissoko 2 0 0 2 8 DF 14 Hassane Kamara 1 0 0 1 MF 16 Dan Gosling 1 0 0 1 MF 33 Juraj Kucka 1 0 0 1 Own goals 1001TOTALS341237
Clean sheets The list is sorted by shirt number when total clean sheets are equal. Player Premier League FA Cup EFL Cup Total1 1 Ben Foster 4 0 1 5TOTALS4015
See also 2021–22 in English football List of Watford F.C. seasons
References
External links