Sir Elton John has claimed Watford F.C. "saved his life"

Elton - who owned the club in two spells between 1976 and 2002 and is now Honorary Life President - told the crowd: "I first came here when I was six years old.

"You have no idea how much this club is embedded in my soul. I love it so much. It's a huge part of my life. It saved my life, this club. I can't wait to finish the tour next year so I can spend more time here and watch the game."

It was previously revealed the 75-year-old singer is in "constant communication" with officials at the club - who were relegated to the Championship at the end of last season - and has an "incredible" knowledge of football.

Chief ex ecutive Officer and Chairman, Scott Duxbury,previously said: "He is involved in the sense that emotionally, he is involved on a daily basis. He comes to games as often and as regularly as he can.

"He is in constant communication, both with opinions of how the team has played, opinions on players, who we should be signing, have we seen this player. His knowledge of football is incredible. He often will text or email me, 'Are you watching this second division game?' And I go, 'No, no I am not Elton.' He recommends players that I have not heard of and I say I will pass it to my scouting department. They come back and say, 'Yeah, yeah, really good player let's look at this.' He absolutely has an encyclopedic knowledge of the lower division players. It is incredible. He watches everything and he has a real knowledge of players and an absolute passion for the football club. It is not superficial."

Elton became chairman and director of Watford Football Club in 1976, appointing the late Graham Taylor as manager and he invested large sums of his own money to get the team into the top division of English soccer and eventually to the 1984 FA Cup Final, although they were beaten by Everton.

After selling the club in 1987 he remained president, but purchased it again in 1997 and was chairman until 2002. He still holds a significant financial interest in Watford and is a regular at games with his husband David Furnish and their two sons, Zachary, 11, and Elijah, nine.