Watford’s board is to face a vote of no confidence and a demand for the immediate resignation of its three directors - chairman Graham Simpson, chief executive Mark Ashton and Andrew Wilson - after a date for the emergency general meeting was confirmed to the Stock Exchange this morning.

The resolution has been tabled by Valley Grown Salads, the company of former Hornets directors Jimmy and Vince Russo, and it will be discussed at the meeting on Monday, December 1 at 11am at Vicarage Road Stadium.

However, the brothers are unlikely to get their wish because the board has received “irrevocable undertakings” from shareholders representing 54 per cent of Watford’s parent company, Watford Leisure Plc, to vote against the resolution.

Other matters the brothers intend to raise include Watford's current financial position and directors' salaries for this season and the previous two.

In a letter to shareholders, the chairman also confirmed the club’s annual general meeting will be held at the same time because “the board sees no benefit in going to the expense of holding a separate general meeting so soon before the AGM at which these issues could have been raised but we are nonetheless obliged, in accordance with the requirements placed upon us by statute, to do so”.