Ngonge recalls Watford, Wembley and 'drunk' supporters!

It’s widely available online, pops up often on TV and if you were inside the stadium it is indelibly etched on your memory.

Plus there are so many different angles available, even though it is nearly 25 years ago, that chances are you’ve seen it from more than one perspective.

However, there was one man at Wembley that day who had a view of the goal unlike any other. And that’s because he was standing in the back of the net when the ball flew into the top corner.

Striker Michel Ngonge was playing up front for Watford that day, and had attacked the initial corner taken by Peter Kennedy.

“Ha ha ha, yeah, I had a great view,” said the Belgian, starting his answer with the loud belly laugh that often preceded him when he was walking around the training ground during his time at Vicarage Road.

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“I’d gone for the first header and I had run into the goal. I don’t even remember the way that Nicky Wright shot for the goal because I didn’t see it at the time!

“All I saw was the ball coming towards my head. I probably had the best view for that goal!”

Ngonge was a rarity – a player that the late Graham Taylor signed without ever having seen play live. He brought Ngonge from Turkish side Samsunspor in the summer of 1998 having watched him on DVDs.

However, he had the endorsement of another Watford player of that time who was highly regarded by Taylor and the fans.

“The move came from an agent who knew Ronny Rosenthal,” Ngonge explained.

“He went to Graham Taylor and said ‘Listen, I’ve found a mature striker like the one you’re looking for’.

“They put me forward to Watford and Graham, and Graham watched some videos. After that he called me and invited me to Watford to have a chat.

“I came with my wife and my first son, and we talked for two days. I had a medical and then after that I signed.

“I remember I had a very good chat with Graham and Kenny Jackett, and we agreed on a three-year contract. And I was really pleased to sign.”

If Ngonge was something of an unknown quantity to Watford, then the club was also a step into the unknown for him.

“I knew nothing about Watford,” he admitted.

“I had just heard about Ronny Rosenthal being there, and he had played in Belgium when I was playing there.

“I knew Ronny was a top player who had played for Liverpool and Tottenham.

“All I knew about Watford was what Ronny explained to me. I knew nothing else about Watford apart from that.

“At that time I can’t even remember knowing there was a connection between Watford and Elton John.”

Ngonge admitted he travelled from Turkey to England with some trepidation.

“To be honest with you, at that time English football – and particularly the Championship – was seen as a very physical league,” he said.

“I was a bit worried about playing in the Championship, but when I arrived in England people like Ronny told me not to worry and that it would be a good thing for me.

“And to be fair, the league showed me off very well because I didn’t know that I was so physical.

“After three or four months I had acclimatised to it and it was fine.”

Ngonge found himself a home near where both Rosenthal and fellow Hornet Alon Hazan were based.

“I was living in Hendon, and Hendon is the last borough in London before you take the M1,” he recalled.

“So I just knew two places: the training ground and Vicarage Road Stadium! I would leave my house, take the M1 to train or play matches, and then I would go back to Hendon.”

The trips to Vicarage Road meant he was exposed to a driving challenge that still tests motorists today.

“I had to learn about the Watford ring road, but for the first two months I was driving with Alon and Ronny, so I wasn’t driving by myself,” he laughed.

“They showed me the way to the training ground and the stadium, and after that I knew the way and I started driving by myself.”

When he first went to the training ground, the striker admitted he was taken aback by how many players Watford had.

“It was the first time in my career I was part of such a massive group of players, I think we had 34 or 35 players.

“I was used to being in teams where we had a squad of perhaps 20 players. It was nearly double that when I arrived at Watford.

“I remember when I arrived we had three or four other players who could play where I played: Gifton Noel-Williams, Allan Smart, Tommy Mooney, Tommy Smith.

“It was a large group of good players and that meant it was difficult to be in the squad.

“And the training we did was very hard work. And every player worked really hard in training. Graham Taylor had a large squad of good players who worked really hard.”

What did he think of Taylor?

“Graham was a very clever coach. Very, very smart guy,” said Ngonge.

“I never knew a coach like him who would come to you and give you a boost so quickly. Tactically he was very smart.

“I had a great relationship with Graham as a man because I think he liked me and we got on well.

“It was only in the last year of my contract that it changed. I made a mistake. I was 33 years of age and the DR Congo national team called me up for the African Cup of Nations.

“It was in January in the middle of the season and I decided to go the African Cup of Nations, and after that my relationship with Graham changed.

“I don’t think he liked that I went to the African Cup of Nations and I felt after that our relationship was over.

“When my contract ended he didn’t want to extend it and I had to leave. I was a little bit disappointed, but I knew it was my decision to go to the African Cup of Nations that caused it.”

Ngonge (No.7) heads the winner against Birmingham in the 1999 Play-Off semi-final first leg (Image: Action Images)

Ngonge scored nine times in his 50 appearances for Watford, and perhaps the most famous goal was his header that secured a 1-0 win in the play-off semi-final first leg against Birmingham at Vicarage Road on Sunday May 16, 1999.

“That goal I know was very important. Throughout my career, it was the most important goal I scored,” he recalled.

“You have to remember we had a good last few weeks of the season, just to get to the play-offs, and when we arrived in the play-offs that gave the whole team real confidence.

“I think I scored in the fifth minute and from that moment I felt everybody had confidence.

“Then when we won on penalties in Birmingham, that gave us another boost. After that the play-off final was only one game, just one game.

“So I know the importance of that goal against Birmingham, it was really important.”

Ngonge was substituted just before the end of normal time in the second leg at St Andrews, which meant he didn’t take part in the shoot-out after the semi-final ended 1-1 on aggregate.

“I don’t think I was going to be in the first five penalty takers. Those five were better penalty takers than me,” he said.

“But we went past the first five, and had I not been substituted then I would have taken one.

“I wouldn’t have had a problem with that. I took penalties when I played in Belgium and in Turkey.

“I wouldn’t have been scared about that.”

In the final at Wembley, Ngonge started up front and played for 75 minutes before being replaced by Allan Smart, who then scored Watford’s second goal.

It completed an incredible season for a team who had gone from League One to the Premier League in 12 months.

“One thing people often forget about that season is that we had been promoted the season before,” Ngonge said.

“We were just wanting to stay in the Championship. No way were we expecting to go straight to the Premier League.

“We had built the foundations through that season as we went along, so when we arrived at the penalty shoot-out at Birmingham there was a lot of pressure but we had built confidence.

“That season was a beautiful thing. It was unexpected. But game after game we grew confidence and the whole thing was beautiful.”

Ngonge in action against Everton. (Image: Action Images)

Ask Ngonge about playing at Wembley, and the tone of his voice changes as he clearly has fond and emotional memories of a very special day.

“For any player, but especially for a guy who was 33 years old, to play at Wembley for the chance to play in the Premier League – it was a gift,” he said.

“It’s the game everyone wants to play in and I went out there and gave 100%. That day, I went out there and gave everything I had in my body.

“That day is a day I will remember all my life. It is one of the most beautiful days of my life.”

Like everyone else at the club, Ngonge headed to Sopwell House after the Wembley victory for an epic party.

“It was an amazing night, but you know I don’t remember everything that night because it was all too much: the game, the tiredness, the joy, the party. My family and friends were there, and I couldn’t really take it all in,” he conceded.

“I was more excited the next day when all the lads went for dinner with Graham, and I can remember all those things.

“The night of the party it was just all too intense. But I do remember very well the feeling of that night.”

His memory isn’t clouded by what he consumed that evening?!

“No, no, no! I’m not really a drinker,” he said, laughing heartily again.

“I drink a little bit. I’m not someone who really likes alcohol. I only drink a little bit.”

Onto the Premier League, and Ngonge scored in the opening day 3-2 defeat to Wimbledon at Vicarage Road and was in and around the team for much of the first half of the season.

“To be honest, I thought the Premier League suited me quite well,” he said.

“It was more tactical than physical and that more suited a player like me.

“I scored five goals in 23 games in a team that was relegated. It’s not bad.

“In the Premier League, opponents let you play more than they do in the Championship. It’s more like continental football than English football.

“I felt the Premier League really suited me, I have to be honest.”

He was loaned to Huddersfield in March 2000, then left permanently to join QPR at the end of that year. He had a year at Loftus Road before a short spell with Kilmarnock, after which he retired.

“The memories I have of Watford are very happy. Definitely, definitely happy,” he said.

“The people, the players, the success we had. There were very good people at Watford.

“I liked living in London, it’s a great city. My family enjoyed living in London, I had my second son while I was at Watford.

“I had a very good social life as I have friends in London, and we would go to the cinema, theatre, to concerts. I had a nice life away from football.”

Ngonge lets fly with teammate Richard Johnson in the background. (Image: Action Images)

Anyone around at the time Ngonge was at the club will remember his fans’ song, and the striker instantly recalled it when asked.

“The fans were great. I still remember they even had a song for me: “Ngonge my lord”!

“The crowd and supporters at Watford were amazing to me. I really enjoyed my time there. I have very happy memories.”

One of the funniest stories involving Ngonge was when Graham Taylor decided his players needed some media training midway through the 1999/2000 season in the Premier League.

He and I found a very good media training company and a day-long session was arranged at Vicarage Road in late January, 2000.

There were all sort of mocked-up interviews: written press, radio, TV. And the players were put in various situations, such as a sit-down with a print journalist, a pre-recorded radio piece and a live TV interview.

The live TV was done in conditions as close as possible to the real thing: there was a cameraman, lights, an interviewer with a microphone, and although the players were told they would be speaking about the last game (a 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle), they were not told what they’d be asked and were only given a couple of minutes notice.

Ngonge had scored in the game against Newcastle, and the Vicarage Road faithful had given the then England striker Alan Shearer a pretty rough ride.

Having been asked about his goal and how the game had gone in his TV interview, the reporter asked him why he thought the Watford fans had taunted Shearer.

“Because they were pi**ed,” was Ngonge’s instant reply.

Cue so much laughter from the other players, plus the interviewer, that we had to start again!

“Oh yes, I remember that! I remember we did the media training in the executive boxes, all of the players,” he said when I reminded him, again with his hearty laugh.

“I thought my answer to the question about the fans booing Alan Shearer was very good. Well, it was very honest!”

Since hanging up his boots, Ngonge now lives in Brussels and has kept himself involved in football but also started another career.

“I opened a real estate company about 17 years ago, and I am still working in that,” he said.

“I have done my courses to be a coach, and I have my A Licence. That means I could be an assistant to a Premier League coach, or manage a team a league lower.

“I’m spending more time relaxing now. I’m 56 and I want to enjoy time with my family and I like to go to Italy to watch my son play.”

Cyril Ngonge in action for Verona against Chris Smalling of Roma (Image: Action Images)

That son is Cyril Ngonge, a Belgian Under-19 international winger who currently plays for Verona in Italy.

He scored twice in a 3-1 win over Spezia in last season’s relegation play-off to keep Verona in Serie A, and this season has two goals in three Serie A appearances.

“I am very, very proud of him,” said Ngonge.

“He had the qualities to be a top player but he made some mistakes when he was 17 or 18, but he is coming through now.

“He’s playing in Serie A against big international players and he is doing well.

“He is 100% better than me! He is much better than me, definitely.”