Chelsea are selling executive boxes for £1m and have built a hotel, apartments and restaurants around the Stamford Bridge ground.

Watford, aspiring to rub shoulders with the Premiership elite who exploit every commercial opportunity, launched their own sticker collection and gave away fridge magnets.

If there was ever a club who could not be accused of riding football's over-flowing gravy train, it is the First Division club.

While the top-level game has become almost synonymous with obscene riches and greed, Watford been ploughing money into community projects.

Later this week they will announce details of a sponsorship deal backing their approach and proving there are other routes to commercial success in football. Director of marketing Ed Coan said: 'We are a town club and have a duty to serve the citizens.

'It might be unusual, but we do not want to be as big as Chelsea or Arsenal. There is a lot of greed in football and we do not want to be associated with it.'

To prove the point, the club can point to a raft of initiatives which involve substantial outlay and have no guaranteed return.

They created a classroom with computer facilities for kids' homework clubs and adult learning, employed a full-time teacher with government help and put in a crèche run by fully-qualified staff. A schedule of fans' forums has been drawn up and there are season ticket schemes which allow children under 12 to watch every home League game for a total of £10.

A charity has been set up by the club to help local groups which, with funds from Watford and a donation from former owner Jack Petchey, has £84,000 to give away. They have also published a mission statement to make their ethos abundantly clear.

All this would be enough to make many football fans nauseous, but there's more.

Plans to re-develop the East Stand at Vicarage Road will only be finalised once the trade-offs between providing commercial and community facilities are worked out. Next season, when supplier contracts expire, replica kits and merchandise are likely to become better value for money after a detailed review of pricing.

There can be no mistaking the fact that Watford want to be known as 'the community club'.

They laid claim to that title in the 1980s, but rivals such as Charlton have stolen some their ground since the 1990s. Neither club, though, have invested in their local communities just to appear nice.

Coan added: 'Hopefully, we can create something not entirely dependent on the fortunes on the pitch. Believe it or not, some fans feel the community aspect is as important as winning.'

Manager Graham Taylor makes the club's ethos crystal clear to all the players he signs and demands his charges play their part in community work. He is just as committed as everyone to making Watford more than just a successful football team.

Meanwhile, Watford clung on to second place despite Tommy Mooney's 53rd minute sending-off at Stockport on Saturday.

Graham Taylor's men were coasting with goals from Tommy Smith and Gifton Noel-Williams before Mooney's dismissal.

Stockport stormed back through Aaron Wilbraham and, after Allan Nielsen had hit Watford's third, the visitors were made to sweat for the final three minutes when Ian Moore pulled one back.