Key Takeaways
- Gordon “Flash” Watson came from humble beginnings en route to a 14-year football career.
- Watson sat down with RG and discussed his footballing journey, injury hell, and a new chapter with BetUS.
- “I come from a very poor background, and my only dream was to escape that by playing professional football,” said Watson.
Gordon Watson playing for Southampton -- Mandatory Credit: Graham Chadwick/ALLSPORT
If there’s one thing that Gordon ‘Flash’ Watson knows how to do, it’s go with his gut. It’s why he managed to play 125 times in England’s top-flight. It’s why he successfully gambled on the New England Patriots to erase their 28-3 deficit and defeat the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI. And it’s why, six years after leaving England for Costa Rica, he’s relishing his new chapter with BetUS.
Escaping Poverty Via Football
Born in Sidcup, England, Watson encountered a difficult childhood, bouncing around from children’s homes in South London and being placed on a care order by a judge. However, he found a safe haven in sports, particularly cricket and football. After leaving cricket behind at 15 years old, Watson emerged as a goal-scoring phenom in Charlton Athletic’s youth set-up and was eventually promoted to the first team, where he scored seven goals in 31 appearances in the Football League. In 1991, he made the move to South Yorkshire, joining Sheffield Wednesday for £250,000 with a further £100,000 payable depending on appearances. That same year, he made his only two international appearances, debuting for England’s U-21s in a match against Senegal before scoring against the Commonwealth of Independent States.
“I come from a very poor background, and my only dream was to escape that by playing professional football,” stated Watson in an exclusive RG interview. “Sometimes, I’d have to try to find money that had fallen out of my parents’ pockets and into the back of the sofa in order to get something to eat, whereas all of a sudden, I had money and adulation. I could do whatever I want, whenever I want, after being bought by one of the biggest teams in the country in Sheffield Wednesday. I could have gone out eight nights a week; nothing was off-limits for me. With my upbringing, I was like a kid in the candy store where life was just one big temptation for me – I took on a new identity and a new attitude.”
Watson excelled at Hillsborough, racking up 21 goals in 87 appearances with the Owls and eventually earning the interest of Southampton, who signed him in 1995 for £1,200,000. Nicknamed after the comic book hero Flash Gordon, Watson proved to be Flash by name and by nature, offering a constant source of swashbuckling dribbles and tireless runs and helping Saints go from fighting relegation to comfortably finishing 10th in the table. He racked up 13 goals and 5 assists in 66 matches for Saints before deciding to cut his time short after two years and join Bradford City for a club-record expenditure of £500,000.
“I could run all day and score goals, that was it in a nutshell. I had boundless energy and could time my runs to perfection as a goal-scoring midfielder. In my early days, I wasted a lot of my energy because I'd run down alleyways where it wasn't needed, but I could finish, and I was always at the right place at the right time if the ball was bouncing around the box.”
Darkest Before the Dawn
He made his Bradford debut on January 18, 1997, in a 1-1 draw at Swindon Town before grabbing an assist the following week in a 1-0 win against Port Vale. However, his third appearance for the Bantams would last just four minutes until Huddersfield Town defender Kevin Gray went studs-up and launched himself into Watson with a tackle that would be better suited to a karate match than a football match, causing him to suffer a double fracture of his right leg. After suffering one of the most gruesome injuries in football history alongside Miguel Ángel Benítez vs. Atlético Madrid, Watson was thrust into a deep depression and went to therapy in order to cope with the mental anguish of his situation. Whilst recovering from both maladies, he decided to take his matter to court and sue both Huddersfield Town and Gray for negligence, winning initial damages of £50,000, which would later climb to a British record fee of £959,143.
“It was a shock to the system. They said I would never play again, even though I believed I would. It took me 18 months to get back to any type of fitness and mental awareness of what was needed. I struggled throughout because I had no release, and there were frustrations. I watched a lot of football, which did actually help me when I got back. Obviously I wasn't as mobile, but I was quite sharp mentally compared to when I was younger and a bit more raw. If I’d had some sort of mentor when I was younger at Sheffield Wednesday, I probably would have been a much better player, because I would have been able to execute on the field of play from what I had seen from others.”
Watson returned to the pitch on September 20, 1998, in a 2-0 victory against West Brom; six days later, he scored two goals in a six-minute cameo to lead Bradford to a 2-1 win against Barnsley. He racked up four goals in 20 appearances for Bradford, who returned to the top-flight of English football for the first time in 77 years after finishing second in the First Division (later renamed the Championship). But rather than accept a new contract, Watson decided to join AFC Bournemouth in an effort to rebuild his career, stating that he was not "fit enough or good enough” to represent Bradford City in the top flight. He failed to score in 11 appearances in 1999/00 before joining Portsmouth’s reserve side.
“I just wanted to get fit again, which is why I played for Bournemouth for free. I was playing in the third division, and to be fair, I didn't show it any type of respect, and I ended up tearing my ankle ligaments in training. I thought I was going to retire at 29/30, and a year later, I said I cannot retire, because I have a young child, and later on in life, he's gonna have things challenge him, and if I tell him he's got to dig in and fight through, he can then say to me, ‘What, like you did when you retired?”
Watson made the move to Hartlepool United in 2001, where he managed to get his career back on track despite a hectic commuting schedule. Whilst continuing to live on the south coast, training during the week with the Southampton squad and flying up to Hartlepool for matches, Watson emerged as the club’s attacking talisman and finished as their top scorer after racking up 18 goals across all competitions. The newly crowned North East Player of the Year signed onto a one-year contract extension, but he failed to build on his momentum after breaking his left leg in September 2002. He resumed first-team training five months later and helped the Monkey Hangers achieve promotion and return to England’s third division for the first time in a decade.
Making The Transition After Hanging up The Boots
Whilst he was linked with a return to Sheffield Wednesday after trialling with his former club, Watson ultimately decided to call it quits in 2003 after a 14-year playing career. He combined working in investments in the City of London while commentating Southampton matches for BBC Radio Solent, before working as a scout for Leicester City on the cusp of their historic Premier League title.
“I struggled in the corporate world because I was always one of those who would call it as it was, and you can’t do that with some people. I was fortunate enough to be given a type of role, but it didn't last long enough. My addictive personality really took over, and I wanted everything an hour ago rather than playing the long game. I'm not very good with people I don't trust, and 9 times out of 10, human nature will let you down.”
Watson made the move to Costa Rica in 2019 and started working as a presenter for BetUS Sportsbook, analyzing upcoming matches and selecting the best betting picks from each one. He isn’t just fixing his attention on football, but on other sports like baseball, American football, and tennis.
New Beginnings in Costa Rica
Whenever Watson isn’t focused on his day job, he’s busy raising his 12-year-old son with his wife in Costa Rica.
“I have two adult children – my daughter is in England and my son in the USA – and some of the mistakes I made with them, like being too hard on them, being the competitive dad, I’m now being more encouraging and supporting of my kid. When my older son was five, I couldn't understand why he wasn't hitting golf balls like Tiger Woods, I was the strict English parent. Now, I try to ask, ‘Are you enjoying, are you listening?’ instead. It’s just experience and a bit of training. He’s got the best of both worlds, the craziness of being Colombian, and the craziness of being English.”
At 54 years of age, Watson has done it all in English football, from playing in each of their professional divisions to working as a co-commentator and a scout. And today, he remains as deeply obsessed as ever with the Beautiful Game, poring through hours of footage on a weekly basis and ascertaining the best possible betting picks.
“What makes me feel younger is being the best at what I do. When you're spending 12 hours of watching the games, writing, reading, making sure that your opinion carries something. I’m someone who works hard and calls it like it is, whose mantra is failure to prepare, prepare for failure. I make sure I do everything the best I possibly can. I'm happy where I am, I'm happy at what I'm doing. I certainly do not think that I would ever want to go into management, because it’s short-term where you can win the league one year and be in the bottom six the next year and suddenly you’re gone. I want to hold the destiny of what I do in my own hands.”
