The 2023–24 season was the 125th season in the history of Watford and their second consecutive season in the Championship. The club participated in the Championship, the FA Cup, and the EFL Cup.

First-team squad

No. Player Position Nationality Date of birth (age) Signed from Since Fee Ends Apps Goals Goalkeepers 1 Daniel Bachmann GK 9 July 1994 (age 29) Stoke City 2017 Free Transfer 2028 116 0 26 Ben Hamer GK 20 November 1987 (age 36) Swansea City 2022 Free Transfer 2024 22 0 Defenders 2 Jeremy Ngakia RB 7 September 2000 (age 23) West Ham United 2020 Free Transfer 2025 74 0 3 Francisco Sierralta CB 6 May 1997 (age 27) Udinese 2020 Undisclosed 2027 88 2 4 Wesley Hoedt CB 6 March 1994 (age 30) Anderlecht 2023 £2,000,000 2025 63 4 5 Ryan Porteous CB 25 March 1999 (age 25) Hibernian 2023 £500,000 2027 57 5 6 Jamal Lewis LB 25 January 1998 (age 26) Newcastle United 2023 Loan 2024 38 0 15 Mattie Pollock CB 28 September 2001 (age 22) Grimsby Town 2021 £300,000 2026 24 0 42 James Morris LB 23 November 2001 (age 22) Southampton 2021 Free Transfer 2026 31 0 45 Ryan Andrews RB 26 August 2004 (age 19) Academy 2012 — 2028 51 3 55 Albert Eames RB 20 September 2005 (age 18) Academy 2014 — 2027 1 0 Midfielders 8 Jake Livermore DM 14 November 1989 (age 34) West Bromwich Albion 2023 Free Transfer 2024 32 3 11 Ismaël Koné CM 16 June 2002 (age 21) Montréal 2023 £8,000,000 2027 63 4 16 Giorgi Chakvetadze AM 29 August 1999 (age 24) Gent 2024 Undisclosed 2026 37 1 18 Yáser Asprilla AM 19 November 2003 (age 20) Envigado 2022 £3,000,000 2026 86 7 24 Tom Dele-Bashiru CM 17 September 1999 (age 24) Manchester City 2019 Free Transfer 2025 49 4 39 Edo Kayembe CM 3 June 1998 (age 25) KAS Eupen 2022 £4,700,000 2026 71 5 Forwards 7 Tom Ince RW 30 January 1992 (age 32) Reading 2023 £500,000 2025 29 2 9 Mileta Rajović ST 17 July 1999 (age 24) Kalmar FF 2023 £1,000,000 2028 43 11 12 Ken Sema LW 30 September 1993 (age 30) Östersunds 2018 Undisclosed 2025 159 12 19 Vakoun Bayo ST 10 January 1997 (age 27) Sporting Charleroi 2022 £5,800,000 2027 67 11 25 Emmanuel Dennis ST 15 November 1997 (age 26) Nottingham Forest 2024 Loan 2024 55 14 34 Kwadwo Baah LW 27 January 2003 (age 21) Rochdale 2021 Free Transfer 2026 0 0 37 Matheus Martins LW 16 July 2003 (age 20) Udinese 2023 Loan 2024 49 6 58 Zavier Massiah-Edwards RW 16 January 2007 (age 17) Academy 2016 — 2024 1 0 59 Jack Grieves ST 5 December 2004 (age 19) Academy 2020 — 2026 5 0 Out on Loan 10 Imran Louza CM 1 May 1999 (age 25) Nantes 2021 £10,000,000 2028 60 6 13 João Ferreira RB 22 March 2001 (age 23) Benfica 2023 £2,500,000 2027 5 1 17 Jorge Hurtado ST 6 September 2003 (age 20) Real Cartagena 2023 Undisclosed 2029 1 0 28 Samuel Kalu RW 26 August 1997 (age 26) Bordeaux 2022 £3,000,000 2025 13 0 47 Shaq Forde ST 5 May 2004 (age 20) Academy 2012 — 2024 1 0 — Ashley Fletcher ST 2 October 1995 (age 28) Middlesbrough 2021 Free Transfer 2026 6 2

Transfers In Date Position Nationality Player From Fee Ref. 27 June 2023 RW Tom Ince Reading Undisclosed 1 July 2023 CF Jorge Cabezas Real Cartagena Undisclosed 1 July 2023 CF Rhys Healey Toulouse Free Transfer 20 July 2023 LB Charlie Stallard † St Neots Town Free Transfer 21 July 2023 DM Jake Livermore West Bromwich Albion Free Transfer 9 August 2023 CB Ali Gould † Motherwell Free Transfer 25 August 2023 CF Mileta Rajović Kalmar Undisclosed 14 September 2023 CM Junior Gyamfi † Free agent 26 January 2024 LB Freddie Buers † Kings Langley Free Transfer 1 February 2024 AM Giorgi Chakvetadze Gent Undisclosed 2 February 2024 CB James Clarridge † Nottingham Forest Undisclosed † Signed initially for the Under-21s

Out Date Position Nationality Player To Fee Ref. 14 June 2023 CF João Pedro Brighton & Hove Albion Undisclosed 30 June 2023 AM Andrés Aguilar Free agent Released 30 June 2023 CF Britt Assombalonga Antalyaspor Released 30 June 2023 CM Leandro Bacuna FC Groningen Released 30 June 2023 LB Christos Batzelis Free agent Released 30 June 2023 RW Aaron Benn Free agent Released 30 June 2023 CB Craig Cathcart KV Kortrijk Released 30 June 2023 CM Tom Cleverley Retired 30 June 2023 DM Max Delyfer Free agent Released 30 June 2023 CM Jordan Fankwe Salford City Released 30 June 2023 CM Dan Gosling Notts County Released 30 June 2023 CM Ethan Goulding Free agent Released 30 June 2023 CF Damani Hunter Free agent Released 30 June 2023 CM Adian Manning Norwich City Released 30 June 2023 LB Bogdan Marian Free agent Released 30 June 2023 CM JJ McKiernan Morecambe Released 30 June 2023 CB Harvey Peters Free agent Released 30 June 2023 CF Ezio Touray Weymouth Released 1 July 2023 CM Juergen Elitim Legia Warsaw Undisclosed 1 July 2023 RB Mario Gaspar Elche Mutual Consent 1 July 2023 CM Domingos Quina Udinese Undisclosed 4 July 2023 CB William Troost-Ekong PAOK Undisclosed 15 July 2023 LW Adrian Blake Utrecht Free Transfer 19 July 2023 RW Joseph Hungbo 1. FC Nürnberg Undisclosed 25 July 2023 CB Christian Kabasele Udinese Undisclosed 25 July 2023 RW Ismaïla Sarr Marseille Undisclosed 17 August 2023 RW Ignacio Pussetto Huracán Mutual Consent 24 August 2023 GK Maduka Okoye Udinese Undisclosed 19 January 2024 CF Rhys Healey Huddersfield Town Undisclosed

Loaned in Date Position Nationality Player From Date until Ref. 4 July 2023 LW Matheus Martins Udinese End of season 27 July 2023 LB Jamal Lewis Newcastle United End of season 2 August 2023 AM Giorgi Chakvetadze Gent 1 February 2024 24 January 2024 LW Emmanuel Dennis Nottingham Forest End of season

Loaned out Date Position Nationality Player To Date until Ref. 1 July 2023 CM Óber Almanza Orsomarso 31 December 2023 25 July 2023 CF Ashley Fletcher Sheffield Wednesday End of season 1 August 2023 RB João Ferreira Udinese End of season 3 August 2023 CF Jorge Cabezas Hurtado New York Red Bulls 31 December 2023 4 August 2023 CB George Abbott Chippenham Town 1 September 2023 14 August 2023 CF Shaq Forde Leyton Orient End of season 18 August 2023 LW Kwadwo Baah Burton Albion 11 January 2024 7 September 2023 RW Samuel Kalu Lausanne-Sport End of season 24 October 2023 RB Hamzat Balogun Bedford Town 2 January 2024 28 October 2023 GK Roraigh Browne Northwood 5 February 2024 3 November 2023 LB Charlie Stallard Hayes & Yeading United 3 December 2023 10 November 2023 CF James Collins Royston Town 10 December 2023 13 December 2023 RB Scott Holding Dover Athletic End of season 29 December 2023 CB George Abbott Potters Bar Town 28 January 2024 15 January 2024 CM Imran Louza Lorient End of season 19 January 2024 RW Dawid Hamiga Slough Town 13 February 2024 30 January 2024 CF James Collins Haringey Borough 29 February 2024 1 February 2024 CF Jorge Cabezas Hurtado Gillingham End of season 15 February 2024 GK Roraigh Browne Walthamstow 30 April 2024 17 February 2024 CF Michael Adu-Poku Kings Langley 17 March 2024 17 February 2024 GK Gabriel Ortelli Kings Langley End of season 8 March 2024 GK Jonathan Macaulay Hemel Hempstead Town 1 May 2024 12 March 2024 CM Junior Gyamfi Hemel Hempstead Town 1 May 2024 19 March 2024 LB Charlie Stallard Bedford Town End of season 28 March 2024 CF Tobi Adeyemo Wealdstone 24 April 2024 28 March 2024 LB Josh Mullins Bedford Town 1 May 2024 29 March 2024 CF Michael Adu-Poku Maidstone United End of season

Pre-season and friendlies On 30 May, Watford announced their first two pre-season friendlies, against Boreham Wood and Stevenage. However, the friendly against Stevenage was later cancelled as they were drawn against each other in the 1st round of EFL Cup.

Competitions Overall record

Championship

League table

Results summary

Results by round

Matches On 22 June, the EFL Championship fixtures were released.

FA Cup

As a Championship club, Watford joined the FA Cup at the third round stage, and were drawn at home against Chesterfield and then to Southampton in the fourth round.

EFL Cup

Watford were drawn away to Stevenage in the first round.

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No.Pos.Nat.PlayerLeagueFA CupEFL CupTotalDisciplineAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals1GKDaniel Bachmann2703000300312DFJeremy Ngakia11+300010150103DFFrancisco Sierralta23+403010310404DFWesley Hoedt44330104831205DFRyan Porteous33+431+10104031406DFJamal Lewis32+401+1000380407FWTom Ince8+1920+2000292108MFJake Livermore25+53100+10323909FWMileta Rajović17+24101+110043111011MFIsmaël Koné28+144300+104643012FWKen Sema24+511+10103211015DFMattie Pollock10+8010001903016MFGiorgi Chakvetadze14+20130003717018MFYáser Asprilla28+1662+10004766019FWVakoun Bayo27+1261+10114272124MFTom Dele-Bashiru28+7221103832025FWEmmanuel Dennis11+640+10001841026GKBen Hamer1900+10102103037FWMatheus Martins20+19531104363039MFEdo Kayembe28+75000+103656042DFJames Morris10+202+10101602045DFRyan Andrews26+1431+200+104437155DFAlbert Eames0+100000100058FWZavier Massiah-Edwards0+100000100059FWJack Grieves1+1000002000Players who went out on loan or left permanently but made appearances for Watford prior to departing10MFImran Louza11+410+10101714014FWRhys Healey1+102100+101321017FWJorge Hurtado000+10001000

Goalscorers As of 4 May 2024

PlayerChampionshipFA CupEFL CupTotal 1 FW 9 Mileta Rajović 101011 2 FW 19 Vakoun Bayo 6017 3 MF 18 Yáser Asprilla 6006 FW 37 Matheus Martins 5106 5 MF 39 Edo Kayembe 5005 6 MF 11 Ismaël Koné 4004 FW 25 Emmanuel Dennis 4004 8 DF 4 Wesley Hoedt 3003 DF 5 Ryan Porteous 3003 MF 8 Jake Livermore 3003 MF 24 Tom Dele-Bashiru 2103 DF 45 Ryan Andrews 3003 13 FW 7 Tom Ince 2002 FW 14 Rhys Healey 2002 15 MF 10 Imran Louza 1001 FW 12 Ken Sema 1001 MF 16 Giorgi Chakvetadze 1001 Total613165

Assists As of 4 May 2024

PlayerChampionshipFA CupEFL CupTotal 1 MF 18 Yáser Asprilla 7108 2 FW 12 Ken Sema 4004 3 DF 4 Wesley Hoedt 3003 DF 5 Ryan Porteous 3003 MF 10 Imran Louza 3003 MF 11 Ismaël Koné 3003 MF 16 Giorgi Chakvetadze 3003 FW 19 Vakoun Bayo 3003 MF 24 Tom Dele-Bashiru 2013 10 DF 6 Jamal Lewis 2002 FW 7 Tom Ince 2002 FW 37 Matheus Martins 2002 MF 39 Edo Kayembe 2002 DF 45 Ryan Andrews 2002 15 DF 2 Jeremy Ngakia 1001 DF 3 Francisco Sierralta 1001 MF 8 Jake Livermore 1001 FW 14 Rhys Healey 1001 FW 17 Jorge Hurtado 0101

Clean sheets As of 27 April 2024

No.PlayerChampionshipFA CupEFL CupTotal 1 Daniel Bachmann 11 0 0 11 26 Ben Hamer 3 0 0 3Total 14 0 0 14

References