Watford PodJockey Neil Kelly looks back at Tommy Mooney's career at Vicarage Rd and invites all Hornet fans to listen to the first part of this exclusive interview on the Watford FanCast.

The challenge posed to Matt, Craig and myself at the Watford Football FanCast team was to try and get a Watford legend on the show.  One who Watford fans would want to listen too and one who we have always wanted to pose questions to, but never had the chance, until now.  It was a short discussion and it wasn't long before the first name that sprung to all of our minds was Tommy Mooney.  Tommy's still plying his trade in the lower leagues, and is still banging the goals in for Walsall.  The three of us had grown up watching teams of the 90's and Mooney was an important player for The Golden Boys, an idol you could say for ourselves and many others. 
 

So for us, and so many of you out there who have seen Tommy play, his attitude, passion and commitment were there for all to see week in week out, and along with his goals became a major factor in why Tommy Mooney will always be a fans' favourite at Vicarage Road.  Watford fans were delighted to see Tommy Mooney inducted into the Watford Hall of Fame in 2006, and we were lucky enough to catch up with Tommy in an exclusive 2 part interview the first of which you can hear on this weeks Watford Football Fancast.  But it wasn't always happy days for Middlesbrough born striker.  

Cast your minds back to 1994, the Glenn Roeder years and a young striker arrives on loan from Southend United after a short spell at Roots Hall.  Few would have predicted such a long and successful spell for the Moon-man who epitismised everything the Watford faithful want to see from those pulling on the yellow jersey, here was one player who wore his heart on his sleeve, and always gave 110%.

Mooney's Watford career started slowly and he failed to form a poignant front line with the infamous Jamie Moralee.  Tommy speaks in the interview about his disappointment at getting relegated to division two but it wasn't long before the Hornets bounced back.  Nevertheless Mooney grew frustrated at his lack of first team chances, and found himself back in the team at the start of the 1997 campaign, in an unfamiliar defensive role, playing both at centre back, and left back throughout as Mooney played an instrumental part in the Second Division Championship winning season.

In part one Tommy talks about his relationship with Graham Taylor, (and Elton John) and relives the memory of the 0-4 away win at local rivals Luton, and the magical day at Craven Cottage on the last day of the season as he got 'carried shoulder-high by 6-8 blokes to the dressing room to crack open the champagne'.  As Watford attempted to go for back to back promotions The Hornets began to fall away from the playoffs after a string of poor results.  Mooney had found himself warming the bench for a few games until the fans favourite came off the bench against Tranmere and helped change the course of Watfords season, helping to setup Peter Kennedy who scored as Watford won 2-1.  Mooney had been, until then, the Watford super-sub and tells Football Fancast how he came very close to leaving Vicarage Road, a story which may come as a surprise to some Hornets' fans.  Thankfully, he didn't, and he went on to play an integral part in getting the Golden Boys to Wembley, as his goals kept Watford in the playoff postions, he particualarly recalls the Birmingham and Port Vale away games with fond memories. 

Part 2 see's Tommy talk about that amazing day at Wembley as Watford beat Bolton 2-0 to reach the Premier League.  One of my personal highlights is the goal that Mooney scored at Anfield that season in our first away game as we went onto win 0-1 on a soaking wet day.  Tommy went onto add to his tally before getting injured in the famous 1-0 win at home to Chelsea, and unfortunately for him he missed the majority of that season injured.  He was back with a vengeance in the Championship as Mooney grabbed 20 goals, the first player in more than a decade to do so for the Hornets, before leaving for Birmingham.  It's a fascinating insight into a footballers mind, and one who gave us so many sterling performances on the pitch.  As Watford fans proved last year, Mooney is welcome in the Watford crowd anytime, even if he tries to do so on the sly it won't work!  There were even rumours of him returning to Vicarage Road one day, but at the ripe old age of 36, that now looks unlikely, but he would've arguably formed a dream partnership with some bloke named King who I think used to play for us.

So log onto the Watford Football FanCast this week and next week to find out the highs and lows of his Watford career, his favourite games, goals and managers as Tommy relives some of the happiest moments of his life with incredible detail and he's quite a funny guy too!