Ronald Peter Image 1 Watford 1920

Description

Walker, Northumberland born inside right Peter Ronald played for North East junior clubs Wallsend Park Villa, Backworth United and Hebburn Argyle before joining Southern League club Watford in June 1914, making his debut against Cardiff City that September and winning a Southern League Championship medal in his first season at Cassio Road, to which he contributed 9 goals in 35 appearances. The First World War then intervened in the peacetime football schedule and he resumed peacetime football with Watford in 1919, scoring 10 goals in 1919-20 as Watford finished runners up in their Southern League title defence.

In August 1920 after their elevation to the new Third Division, Ronald was a member of Watford’s line up for their inaugural Football League fixture at Queen’s Park Rangers, a game in which he scored the team’s opening goal in a 2-1 victory, thereby becoming the first man ever to score for Watford in the Football League. Indeed he also has the honour of having scored Watford’s first Football League goal at home, which arrived on September 8th in a 3-0 win over Swansea Town.

In June 1921 Nottingham Forest paid £500 for Ronald, but he only featured 3 times as they won the Second Division Championship in 1921-22, playing only once more in the First Division in a fixture at Cardiff City in April 1923 before being released and returning to the North East to join non league West Stanley later that year. He then returned to Watford and joined the coaching staff, and on leaving Vicarage Road in 1946 was awarded £50 in recognition of his long service to the club as player and reserve team trainer.