The game was played on May 19, 1984, long before the Watford Observer was able to publish reports and reaction immediately afterwards on the internet. This meant Hornets fans had to wait almost a week to read the analysis and thoughts of this newspaper’s legendary Watford correspondent Oliver Phillips. On Friday, May 25 beneath the headline ‘Questions and controversy after Watford’s Cup Final defeat’, this was Oli’s match report: Did they freeze? Was Wembley too much? Did experience pay? Were they robbed by another cruel refereeing decision? Did they pay for missed chances or were they outmanoeuvred by an Everton side which had plainly done their homework? These were the questions on many lips after Watford lost in their first-ever FA Cup Final appearance on Saturday.
Some sections of the national Press reached for the cheap and easy angles, blaming Watford’s style and its failure to succeed at the top level, while saner mortals pointed to the missed chances which, had they been taken, would have changed the pattern of the game. Had Watford scored first, those who came to crucify the Hornets with their pens would have had to look for other angles than nailing the Hornets to the cross of long-ball football. But in the final analysis it was an amalgam of everything which caused Watford’s downfall on this historic day.
Only three Hornets played up to real form, while two more froze, a couple of others played below par, another fluctuated between the impressive and .