The Watford Observer described him as “fervently robust”.
But how would Chopper himself put it?
The Watford Observer’s Oliver Phillips described Duncan Welbourne as “tough-tackling… combative… fervently robust.”
But how would Chopper himself describe what used to happen?
Chopper on protecting a team-mate:
“I used to try and look after Scully. If he was getting kicked up in the air, I’d encourage him to let the full back push the ball past him and then I would sort it out.”
Chopper on the famous tackle with Chelsea’s Eddie McCreadie in the 1970 FA Cup semi-final:
“He came in with his legs over the top. His boot caught me in the head. The rest of that game, I could only see through one eye.”
Chopper on having his collar bone broken by Southampton’s Tony Knapp:
“In those days there were no subs, so I had to play on. But I couldn’t take throw-ins, mind.”
Somehow, Chopper generally managed to avoid injury. And always avoided dismissal. He didn’t miss a single League game for Watford between September 1964 and November 1970. He’s the only Watford player in history to have made more than 400 starts for the club.
After ten years, the club gave him a testimonial. Elton John played at Chopper’s benefit night at Bailey’s. Elton also presented Chopper with the gold disc he’d received for sales of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. The disc was inscribed: “To Duncan: something to keep you close to Watford and myself.”
Then the club gave him a free transfer. He was devastated.
“Watford — that club was home to me. I did not envisage ever leaving there, I thought I would have a job after I packed up playing, I loved it. If, when they gave me a ‘free’, they had offered me a job as Les Simmons’s assistant on the ground, I would have shaken their hands off. I would never have left.”
He carried on supporting Watford. And now, after passing away in 2019, Chopper is back in Watford — in Hornet Heaven — where he’s been re-united with old team-mates like George Catleugh, Johnny Williams, and Andy Rankin.
He loves it up there. And rest assured, during five-a-side games on the tarmac outside the Hornets Shop, he’s still “fervently robust”.
Chopper Welbourne has appeared in several of the Hornet Heaven stories. Find out more about the series here.
Read about other ‘Deceased Players of The Month’ here.
HORNET HEAVEN 