'If you didn’t want a clip round the ear, don’t cross Tom Walley'
Meet Sergeant Major Tom Walley, the man who built Watford’s youth system and turned boys into men.
When Graham Taylor arrived at Watford there was no youth system to speak of. Their were barely enough young players to put out a side. Taylor knew that if Watford were to compete in the top divisions they needed to identify and develop their own young players.
Tom Walley was a Hornets favourite – a veteran of Ken Furphy's team that reached the Second Division the first time round – but his knees had gone and his playing days were coming to an end.
When Taylor met Walley for the first time he spotted something in the Welshman and put him in charge of revolutionising the youth set-up. Walley's combination of carrot and stick, his ability to identify talent and teach them what it would take to make it as a professional, paid dividends many times over as Watford earned a reputation for a progressive approach to developing young players.
Enjoy the game by Lionel Birnie. Read by Colin Mace. Produced by Jon Moonie.
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