Watford took a chance on the untried and (as then) unheard of Boothroyd in March 2005, naming him as their new manager after the departure of Ray Lewington and with the Hornets in danger of dropping out of the Championship.
"I've been working for this moment for a long time,” he said after leaving his role as a coach at Leeds United.
"I'm absolutely delighted - I have fallen on my feet.”
Not only did Watford survive that season but the following campaign they memorably made it into the Premier League after a play-off final win over Boothroyd’s former club Leeds.
'Incredible'
His young age and incredible achievement led to Boothroyd being tagged as the next big thing in management with plenty of interest in his background and some of his ‘unconventional’ methods and motivational quotes.
This article, from The Independent in 2005 is typical of those that appeared around that time.
Watford lasted just one season in the top-flight but reached the play-offs again the following year. However, with criticism of Boothroyd’s perceived ‘direct’ method of football having never been far from the surface his time at Vicarage Road was coming to a close.
'Inevitable'
A season in charge at Colchester United followed before a return to the Championship with Coventry City where Boothroyd’s side made a solid start to the 2010/11 campaign and were extremely hard to beat throughout the first few months of the season although the inevitable grumbles were heard about an unattractive style of play.
As the Sky Blues’ off-field woes increased however, Boothroyd found it hard to build any momentum going into 2011. A run of just one win in sixteen games led to his departure in March this year but the jury is firmly out as to whether he would have made a success of the job in the long run.