Supporters who used Watford’s official Hive Live service on Saturday have received a refund, an apology and an explanation from the club via email.

Although there was a live pictures feed of the 0-0 draw at Huddersfield on the site, initially it was accompanied by commentary from a different game in another division and then with no sound at all other than crowd noise.

Not long after the game kicked off the problem was being discussed on social media, and fans shared their anger in the comments section of the Watford Observer’s live blog of the game about the Hive Live issues.

“Nice that we've got 3CR commentary of the Wycombe game to accompany Hive Live pictures,” joked one fan, while another added: “Hive live is consistent - consistently crap.”

In the email to supporters, the club said they were “sorry the service you paid for and are entitled to from Hive Live has been well short of par – not just on Saturday just gone, but across a number of other matchdays this season.”

They also acknowledged that although fans were registering both the problems and their discontent online and to the club’s official social media channels, there was no response.

“We also regret not issuing an apology during November 4’s matchday explaining that we were aware of audio shortcomings and what the expectations around their resolution might be,” said their email.

“Hive Live is our product and Watford FC is accountable for its reliability. This is why we are therefore unhappy at the service being anything less than at optimal level, and prepared to offer appropriate refunds/rebates when things fall short of expectations.”

Those refunds will be £2.50 for those with an audio seasonal or monthly subscription and for those who bought an audio match pass, and £5 for those with a video seasonal or monthly subscription and for those who bought a video match pass.

The club also said in their email that they were aware these sorts of problems with Hive Live had been an all-too-regular occurrence.

“We have found ourselves too often in a position where we are apologising for the operational shortcomings of other companies and we have for some weeks been discussing ways in which we can remove as many points of failure from this relatively complex chain which results in the output you should be enjoying without compromise,” they wrote.

“Here at Watford FC, we’re unable to deliver the product to you directly, due to the way that live football is transmitted in the UK via the league’s network, so are therefore totally reliant on a number of external partners – who are charged with providing the core technological competencies – to ensure the viability of the Hive Live service.

“During lockdown we were able to establish the Hive Live brand among our supporters due to its reliability and output quality, however the past two seasons have, regretfully, fallen short of those standards on a number of occasions.

“We remain committed to doing everything we can to provide the best possible experience for Hive Live subscribers for the remainder of this season, and will not hesitate to offer recompense where services are not delivered to optimal standard.”