Of all the great centre-forwards to have worn the number nine shirt for West Ham United, Victor Watson stands head and shoulders over the rest. In an east London career stretching 15 seasons he made 505 appearances and scored an incredible 326 goals.

 

Born in Girton on 10 November 1897, Watson’s early life was rooted in rural Cambridgeshire. Like many of his generation he served in the Army during the First World War and reached the rank of Sergeant, returning to civilian life with a steady discipline and physical robustness that would later mark his play.

 

Contrary to the oft-repeated claim that the striker joined West Ham United via Wellingborough Town, no documentary evidence has ever substantiated this route. Instead, a wealth of reports from the Peterborough press points firmly to his exploits with Cambridge Town, where the Cambridgeshire-born forward was a regular fixture - frequently selected and frequently on the scoresheet. It was while turning out for the Lilywhites at the Amalgamation Ground that Watson caught the eye, his performances prompting a recommendation to Syd King from former Hammer Patrick Tirrell. In the six months leading up to his move to east London, the prolific amateur had featured in 21 matches and netted an astonishing 28 goals. He also held down a regular place in the side representing Brotherhood’s Engineering Works, the prominent Peterborough firm.

 

On 6 March 1920, Watson was scheduled to play for the works side against Stamford in the Northampton Senior League; instead he accepted an invitation from Syd King’s Hammers to play that afternoon at Boleyn Ground in a London Combination fixture against Crystal Palace Reserves. The striker grabbed his chance and scored a debut goal against the south Londoners in the 2-2 draw. In the remaining ten Combination fixtures that campaign he notched a further 11 goals and gave the manager one of the easiest decisions he would have to make that season - on 15 April 1920 Watson puts pen to paper and signed his first professional contract.

 

As a goodwill gesture for securing his signature the Directors donated £50 to Cambridge Town and the manager also agreed to send a reserve strength side, including Vic to Trinity New Ground for a friendly fixture played on 29 April, the home side were comfortable 3-0 winners. Five-months later, on 25 September 1920, the 22-year-old made his senior debut at Ninian Park against Cardiff City in a Second Division fixture that ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

 

Accolades came in swift succession. His 22 League goals played a pivotal role in securing West Ham’s promotion to the First Division, while five more in the FA Cup helped propel the club to its historic appearance in the inaugural Wembley final. The 1922/23 campaign proved truly memorable - not least because it also saw Watson earn two of his five England caps.

 

Watson’s club record 326 goals is an achievement unlikely to be beaten in the modern era. The all-time leading marksman also bagged a record 42 First Division goals in a single 1929/30 season, in addition he scored four goals in a match on three separate occasions and tallied an astonishing thirteen hat-tricks during his Hammers' career. A personal triumph in a West Ham shirt came on 9 February 1929 on a cold winter’s afternoon at Upton Park, an unforgettable 8-2 thrashing of Leeds United when he scored six times against the Yorkshiremen.

 

Watson’s individual scoring record stood for 39 years until, England’s FIFA 1966 World Cup hero Geoff Hurst equalled the feat against Sunderland in October 1968, but what makes Vic’s success all the more outstanding is that the West Ham team of the time were struggling for league points, while visitors Leeds were among those challenging for the First Division title that winter.

 

Of the 18,055 who packed into the ground that day, many may have fancied the Hammers to edge past their Yorkshire visitors by a narrow margin - but few, if any, could have imagined the rout that followed. Though goals were more freely traded in that era than in today’s game - West Ham netting 86 and conceding 96 over the course of the 1928/29 campaign - it remained a staggering sight to witness a First Division side ship eight in a single afternoon. For those of a claret and blue persuasion, it was a result that defied expectation and danced on the edge of disbelief.

 

Eighteen months on, on 1 September 1930, the headlines roared: ‘Watson the Wonder’ and ‘Irresistible West Ham’. It was another unforgettable afternoon for the prolific marksman and his claret and blue comrades, not to mention the 11,682 spectators who bore witness to the spectacle. Watson helped himself to four of West Ham’s seven goals in a dazzling demolition of Liverpool.

 

Despite the 23 goals of Watson, West Ham United finished in 22nd place in the 1931/32 season and was relegated. Watson continued to score goals for the Hammers in the Second Division: 23 (1932-33) and 26 (1933-34). He also scored 10 goals in 15 games in the 1934/35 season before being signed by former team-mate George Kay, the manager of Southampton. 

 

After a distinguished 15‑year spell with the Hammers, It is a measure of his status among our all-time greats that he became every bit as brilliant as the man he was groomed to replace, Syd Puddefoot. Scoring a goal every 1.55 games, and, given he cost the club just a modest £50, represents an extraordinary return on that small investment.

 

At the Dell he featured regularly throughout that campaign, making 36 league appearances and scoring 14 goals, a return that showed he still possessed a reliable goalscoring touch despite advancing years. At the season’s end he retired from league football to become a market gardener.

 

Watson died on 3 August 1988 at the age of 90, leaving behind a simple but towering legacy: a goalscoring record that became the benchmark for generations of Hammers, and a reputation as a dependable, workmanlike hero who carried the club through an important chapter of its history.