OLLY WICKEN

Olly has been a Watford fan since September 7th 1968. By the end of 2016/17, he had seen exactly 1,175 of the Hornets’ league and cup matches. (He likes his Watford facts to be exact.) 

He started writing about being a Watford fan in 1993 when his story about being a ballboy at Vicarage Road in 1974/75 was chosen for Nick Hornby’s football anthology ‘My Favourite Year’. 

For Tales from the Vicarage, he has exclusively written fiction.

In Volume 1, he wrote an unofficial autobiography of Graham Taylor in which GT revealed that he was, as rumoured, God.

In Volume 2, his chapter introduced the notion of Hornet Heaven - which Olly has since developed into a podcast sitcom that won the silver award for Best Sport Podcast in 2017.

In Volume 5, he wrote two stories - one of which was about getting a Hornet tattoo. He was amazed and delighted that a reader promptly went and got exactly the tattoo Olly had imagined. 

Olly loves the way that the Tales From The Vicarage books add depth and richness to our lives as Watford fans - if that doesn’t sound too poncey. Whether this is because his own life is badly in need of depth and richness, he’s not prepared to reveal.

We caught up with Olly ahead of Watford vs Brighton and Hove Albion earlier this season. You can watch our Q&A with him here.