‘I came home from FA Cup final and Elton John came leaping out of my front room’

Elton John went to extreme lengths to make Dave Bassett his Watford manager – turning up at his house unannounced after the FA Cup final.

Bassett, now 79, was a man in demand after leaving Wimbledon in the summer of 1987 having taken the Crazy Gang from the fourth tier to the top flight in just five years. One of those interested in securing his services was then-Hornets owner Sir Elton.

The pop icon didn't waste any time in making his case, catching Bassett off guard after he'd been to Wembley for the final match of the domestic season. "I tell the story where I come home from the cup final, it was Everton and Liverpool," he recalled on Under The Cosh.

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"I’d drawn up and my missus opened the door. I thought ‘that’s funny, I’ve got a front door key’. She said ‘you ain’t gonna believe who’s here’. I said ‘what do you mean I ain’t gonna believe who’s here, who’s here?’.

"I couldn’t see a flash car or anything like that at all. She said ‘you ain’t gonna believe it’ and then all of a sudden, Elton come leaping out of my lounge.

"He had a f***ing funny hat on and the gear and that and I thought ‘f***ing hell, Elton John’. I said to the missus ‘ain’t you told him you haven’t got a piano?’."

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Elton gave Bassett little thinking time about the vacant Watford position, finding himself coerced into the role which he came to regret as he was sacked in January 1988 with the club bottom of the First Division.

"He insisted he wanted to know the next day because he was going with the team to China on Wednesday and I got talked into it really," Bassett continued. "When you’ve got somebody like that, I wasn’t ready to deal with Elton."

While his reign was short-lived, Bassett didn't do too badly out of the deal – bagging a free holiday out of John, who he was full of praise for, before he was given his marching orders.

"He looked after me, they paid me my contract, he bought Graham Taylor’s jag from the club to give to me," he added. "Paid for me, my missus and two kids to have a fortnight in California, Disneyland, for our holiday. Brilliant fella, really."

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