Profile:

There is only one thing you can say about Dominic Blizzard that would highlight his development as a professional footballer and give us an indication of where he is going. That is the Epstein Barr virus.

For if it wasn’t for this debilitating illness, Blizzard would have had a much more productive season in trying to grow as a footballer and cement his place in a side that was going for promotion but tipped for relegation. As it happened, Blizzard, by default, has unfortunately had his footballing career put on hold for the best part of a year and now finds himself trying to find the skills and ability that got him promoted to the Watford first team squad. An unenviable situation as he not only has to compete with last season’s star performers but also the new arrivals and up his game to match the changed pace of the Premiership. I have a feeling that if he remains injury free this season he may well be shipped out on loan at some stage.

Blizzard’s only notable appearance last season was the home victory over Notts County in the Carling Cup where he scored the third of three goals in a three-one win to send us through to the next round of a competition we like everyone else had no desire to win. His goal, a tap-in from a fumbled cross, was reminiscent of his other two goals for the Hornets, his penultimate to date being a flicked-on near-post header in Boothroyd’s first game in charge away at Burnley. A somewhat surprising selection some had said for a tough away fixture but that highlighted from the off Boothroyd’s persistent belief in youth and his ethos in recruiting ‘young hungry players with a point to prove’. Blizzard more than ever matches this description with a good year of having to watch his team-mates gain promotion, stoking his desire for success and so far having been a young and raw talent meaning he still has a point to prove in his ability.

This season then we have seen the reintroduction of Blizzard to the reserve and first team fold. Blizzard started the first game of the season away at Northwood and played the first seventy minutes with a solid display in a team comprising of squad, first team and academy players, but as you would expect without having played for a year, minus any real conviction or cutting edge. Such a display saw him sit out the next game away at Wycombe (his place of birth) where he was the only unused sub in a game that saw a total of twelve substitutions made by Watford in the match! Such a move by Boothroyd clearly signifies the fact that he does not see Dominic as part of his first team plans and this was highlighted in the next match against Boreham Wood where a team of reservists and triallists were put out with Blizzard again only making the bench, this time replacing Mackay after seventy-six minutes. Even though he made the trip to Denmark for the pre-season tour, he failed to feature against AC Horsens. In his last appearance to date for the Hornets where he played the first sixty minutes of the reserves’ two-one defeat to Hayes, on a night when the first team were entertaining Inter Milan! Blizzard was paired with Matty Spring, something which would have given him great confidence and footballing experience as Spring’s performances last season would have been an excellent indication for Blizzard about the standard required of him. Alas, he is currently out of the first team squad and it looks likely that he is set for an extended stint in the reserve team set up.

Leon Popplewell
Last updated: August 2006