Allan Nielsen has reflected on his decision to leave Tottenham Hotspur for Watford back in 2000 and said it was Graham Taylor's vision that attracted him to the club.

The Dane's transfer from North London to Hertfordshire took place only a year after he had scored the winning goal in the 1999 League Cup final win over Leicester.

A lot had changed for Nielsen in the the following campaign, as he was loaned out to Wolves in January after finding first-team opportunities hard to come by.

The fact that he slipped down the pecking order at club level, coupled with Denmark’s disastrous Euro 2000 campaign, pushed the then 30-year old to seek a new challenge elsewhere, despite the fact that he had a year remaining on his contract at Tottenham

He explained that after holding long talks with then Watford manager Graham Taylor, he was sold on the project the Hornets had in place. The hierarchy’s ambitious recruitment that summer even sparked talk of a promotion challenge and Nielsen claimed that Watford’s approach was impossible to rebuff.

“My move from Tottenham to Watford came after Euro 2000 where we played in Holland and Belgium and the Danish team did not do too well," he said.

"During the tournament I was still under contract with Tottenham but also I had in mind that Graham Taylor was the manager at Watford.

“Just before Euro 2000 I went on loan to Wolverhampton because I was not being played as much as I wanted by Tottenham. I knew I had to play some games before Euro 2000 and therefore I did a move on loan to Wolves.

“(After that loan ended) I spent a bit of time thinking if I should stay at Tottenham, where I had four amazing years but I knew that Graham Taylor brought in new players at Watford. So we had many great conversations and he really really wanted to push Watford, which was just relegated, back to the Premier League.

“The club’s project was to get back in the Premier League again and it was a great plan, I really felt strongly to go and support them to help them get straight back to the promised land, the Premier League.

“It was of course on my mind that it was a ‘London' club and I did not have to move my family and house. Watford’s training ground was actually just a short drive down the M25. So all in all, the package was too enticing and the opportunity was spot on for me at that time. It was something I really wanted.”

Despite Watford’s inability to secure promotion in his three years at the club Nielsen still has no regrets about his decision to choose Watford over more established sides at the time.

“I have many amazing memories from my time at Watford," he said. 

"First of all, I had three amazing managers, there was a lot of in and out and many very memorable moments from Sir Elton John. He always came down to the dressing rooms after our home games and had a chat with the players, he also always came to the treatment room, where players had a little bit of oil on their legs and so on. He always enjoyed that very much.”

Looking back on his time at Vicarage Road, the now 49-year old picked the standing ovation he got from the supporters after coming off on his last-ever appearance for the club as the high point of his Watford career.

“On my last home game I had a standing ovation, I cannot even remember for how long," he said.

"When the manager took me off a few minutes from time, the whole stadium was standing and singing my name. This is something I will never ever forget. After three years where you just try to do your best, you always push for more and do just what you are good at, it’s great to feel how appreciated you really were in all those years.

“I never thought about what I was doing but only tried to do my best and then you get the most important feedback you can ever have and that’s the crowd, from the people who were watching you weekend after weekend.

“They are applauding you for your good service and telling you ‘well done, thank you so much’. For sure, leaving Watford with that memory was exceptional for me, and something I still remember strongly. All in all, my three years at Vicarage Road were filled with many ups and downs but it was a very very positive experience.”

Conversely, finishing 14th under manager Gianluca Vialli was the lowest point of Nielsen’s Watford career and. despite speaking fondly of the Italian, he felt he was not the right appointment for the team in that particular moment. 

In fact, Nielsen felt that Vialli was ahead of his time and that the squad was almost not talented enough to put his ideas into practice.

“Gianluca Vialli is an absolute hero and Italian football legend," he said.

"Initially I was very excited and keen when they appointed him because I knew his philosophy and how he wanted to transform Watford in terms of nutrition, sleep, treatment, playing. He wanted healthy professionals. He instilled a new philosophy at the club, players had to look after themselves if they wanted to play.

“He was really into nutrition, proper training and proper camps and maybe Italians were a little ahead of the English at the time when they came to the United Kingdom.

“Even though I was excited to play under him I think he arrived four or five years too early. The intentions he had and what he wanted was spot on but I am not sure he had the right team and set-up for him.

“ He also brought nine staff members with him, which was too much for Watford. Everything was spot on and Watford tried their best but I think everything around Vialli and how he and his staff went about things in the smallest details was too much for our troop to absorb at the time.

“Don’t get me wrong I loved that season but it just simply did not work out.”