Sir Elton's boost for Watford

Sir Elton John, a lifelong Watford fan and former chairman of the club, has given £150,000 to a fund raised to help buy back Vicarage Road.

The millionaire pop star has donated his fee from a trailer he made for BSkyB's football coverage, which features his song 'Are You Ready', to a supporters' trust fund called 'Buy Back The Vic'.

Watford, who sold their ground for about £6million to raise funds, are now trying to save enough money to buy it back.

The club made £400,000 from the FA Cup tie against Chelsea and hope to increase that by £350,000 from the replay. "I know I won't get any of the money," said Watford manager Ray Lewington. "I would rather have beaten Chelsea but the draw was the dream result for finances.

"The money from the two ties will help the situation a great deal. I know one of the priorities is to buy back the ground."