John Stephenson will be leaving Watford on Monday after what he describes as a “roller coaster ride” during the last three years.

It was announced in December that Stephenson, who joined the Hornets in September 2007, would be leaving the club to join the up-and-coming Brighton and Hove Albion following an unspecified notice period.

Stephenson has worked alongside three different managers, three chairmen and overseen the recruitment department during a three-year period which has included a promotion push, relegation worries and the club being on the brink of administration.

“It has been an incredible experience because we have had a roller coaster ride in the last three and a bit years since I came to the club,” Stephenson said.

“The highlights would be the last two years which is when I have had an influence at the football club.

“I was part of the previous regime but in terms of having an influence, it has only really been the last two years.

“To be able to bring in players of the quality of Don Cowie, Mike Williamson, Danny Graham, Stephen McGinn, Will Buckley – they are all highlights.

“Every time one of those players go on and do well in the first team, it is a highlight for me because it is a contribution that has come directly from the recruitment department to the club.”

Stephenson, whose title was changed to head of football business and development in 2009 after the Academy was also put under his control, was instrumental in the club setting up their six-stage process to signing players.

The club has 11 scouts in the UK and partnerships across Europe which helps to identify players.

Stephenson estimates he personally watches 80 to 100 games a season and that the scouting network on a whole watch up to 1,200.

The six-stage process will include a scout watching a player three times at home and three times away before the likes of the chief scout and assistant manager Sean Dyche become involved.

Malky Mackay will not go and watch the player himself until stage four, which is when he will also read a 40 to 50-page dossier on the potential target.

If the manager is keen on signing the player, it is then up to Stephenson to conclude the deal before chief executive Julian Winter “rubber stamps” the transfer.

The final stage is when the club attempt to integrate the player following his arrival.

Stephenson said: “The six-stage process is the key to how well we have done in terms of recruitment in the last two years.

“The fact that people believed in it and allowed it to happened is great credit to the likes of Malky Mackay, Brendan Rodgers, Julian Winter and Jimmy Russo, who were supportive and believed this process would deliver players that would help the club be sustainable and maybe generate some revenue should they decide to sell these players.

“It is not just me, there is a whole engine that sits behind the work that I was doing at Watford,” Stephenson continued.

“Because of the culture that exists in football, you have to give great credit to the manager today, Malky, and the manager before, Brendan, who sanctioned it.

“For example Danny Graham, you have to remember Malky was appointed to the job when the deal for Danny was already done. So it is great credit to Malky that he allowed it to come to fruition and Danny has gone on to prove it was the right decision.”

Considering the extensive research that goes into trying to sign players, how did Watford end up buying Jure Travner only for the left-back not to play a single game for the club?

“I think Travner was probably the only player we have signed in the last two years that did not go through the six-stage process,” Stephenson explained.

“Jure was probably a rushed signing and you learn as you go along and what we learned there was don’t bypass the six-stage process. Make sure every player goes through it.

“But saying that, when you look at Jure since he left and went to St Mirren, perhaps he wasn’t right for Watford but he has shown the lad can play. He has been a consistent performer in the SPL every week for 90 minutes.”

In a previous interview with the Watford Observer, Stephenson revealed he spoke to Mackay more than his own wife and he confirmed that was still the case. Not that he minds though.

He said: “That will be something that I miss. I once said to him, ‘Malky, you are a class act’ and I really do mean it.

“He is a great guy, he is an excellent coach and I tell you what, he is going to be a top, top manager.”

Stephenson helped to set up the academies at Reading, Preston North End and Celtic before coming to Watford.

And he views the move to Brighton and Hove Albion, who should move into a new 22,500-seater stadium in the summer, as his next big challenge.

Stephenson said: “The chairman [Tony Bloom] there has a particular vision for the football club and it is going to be exciting times for everyone at Brighton.

“The new stadium is just the start of what the chairman has in mind for the football club, so it is an opportunity to do it all again at a club that maybe has the potential to go a little bit further.”

But despite his departure, the structure implemented by the club in recent years is still expected to continue under the leadership of a new head of recruitment.

Stephenson said: “There are a couple of guys who came with me and are probably at Watford because I was there, so they will be coming with me to Brighton but it would be absolutely inappropriate and unfair to Watford if I was to take their scouting network with me.

“It is important that they stay and the work can continue and I am sure that is what Julian intends to happen.”