It's been an encouraging season so far for Watford, as they look to secure an immediate promotion back to the Premier League.

The Hornets are one of a number of teams who currently look to be locked in a battle for the second automatic promotion spot in the Championship, and it would be certainly be a welcome achievement for the club were they to succeed in that promotion race.

Over the years, there have been plenty of players to come out of Watford's academy who have gone on to enjoy successful and impressive careers in professional football.

Some of those have made a big impact at Vicarage Road for the Hornets themselves, while others have gone on to make their mark elsewhere in the world, with others a mixture of both.

Here, we've taken a look at ten of the best players to have come through the youth ranks at Watford, and the impact they have made in the game beyond their original breakthroughs at Vicarage Road.

We start this list with one of football's cult heroes of the current century, in the form of Adebayo Akinfenwa.

Having been part of the youth ranks at Watford, the striker never actually made a senior appearance for the club, although he has never the less enjoyed a career that after early trophy success in Lithuania and Wales, has seen him move about the Football League.

The 38-year-old's strength is of course something of a modern day football legend, and he's no mean player either, having helped Wycombe win promotion to the Championship for the first time in their history last season.

Having first joined Watford at Under 9s level, O'Nien would spend his youth career rising through the ranks with the Hornets, although he would make just one senior appearance for the club, as a late substitute in a 3-0 win over Barnsley in March 2014.

O'Nien left Watford as a 20-year-old in the summer of 2015, joining Wycombe, making more than 100 appearances for the Chairboys, before leaving for Sunderland in 2018.

Since making the move to the Stadium of Light, O'Nien has emerged as a key player for the club, and his versatility has proved vital to their latest push for promotion back to the Championship this season.

Having joined Watford as an 11-year-old, Lee is another one who would rise through the ranks with the Hornets to eventually become part of their first team.

Although not always first choice for the club, the goalkeeper would still make well over 100 appearances for Watford during an eight-year spell with their senior side between 2002 and 2010, also winning caps for England at Under 20 level during his time with Watford.

Indeed, the fact he did not play more during his career is somewhat disappointing given some of the saves he was capable of making, but Lee was still as reliable a second-choice goalkeeper as you could find, also capable of stepping up to the number one spot when required.

Having come through the ranks with his hometown club at Watford, Robinson is a player who certainly made an impact at Vicarage Road.

The defender would more than 250 appearances senior appearances in all competitions for the Hornets during a seven-year spell with the first-team, which included helping them win promotion to the Premier League in 1999.

After leaving Vicarage Road, Robinson would continue to play in the top two tiers of English football for the rest of his career, representing the likes of West Brom, Bolton and Birmingham with some distinction, eventually retiring in 2018 at the age of 39 in 208, with more than 750 senior appearances to his name.

Having joined Watford's academy setup as a 17-year-old, Assombalonga would make just four appearances for the club at first-team level, before leaving as a 20-year-old in 2013, following an impressive spell on loan in League Two with Southend.

One prolific season in League One with Peterborough followed in 2013/14, and Assomablonga has since become a rather potent striker at Championship level.

In each of the past five seasons where he has more than 25 league appearances, Assombalonga has hit double figures in terms of goals in the Championship, with Middlesbrough having broken their club transfer record to sign the forward from Nottingham Forest for a reported £15million back in the summer of 2017.

Next up on this list, is a name that will be familiar to just about any English football fan to have followed the game in recent years, in the form of David James.

Before he went on to become number one for the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and England in a career that eventually saw him make over 1,000 appearances in all competitions for club and country, James initially began life as a senior footballer with Watford.

After coming through the Hornets' youth system, the goalkeeper made just short of 100 appearances for Watford during two seasons as the club's first-choice shotstopper, earning himself a place in the club's hall of fame, and a move to Liverpool for over £1million in 1992, a not insignificant fee for a goalkeeper in those days.

Another player to make a huge contribution to the club after coming through their youth system, is Adrian Mariappa.

Having made his debut for the club as an 18-year-old in 2005, the defender made almost 250 appearances for the club before departing in 2012.

Mariappa returned to the club in 2016, and over the next four years, would take his tally of appearances for the Hornets to well past the 300 mark in all competitions, while also helping the club to reach the FA Cup final in 2019, before leaving Vicarage Road again at the end of last season, later going on to join the Hornets' Championship rivals Bristol City.

The next player on this list is one whose place as a Watford legend simply cannot be questioned, with Doyley having made a huge contribution to the Hornets during his time at Vicarage Road.

Having joined the club as a nine-year-old in 1991, Doyley would spend the next ten years working his way up the ranks at Watford, eventually making his debut for the club in a 3-3 draw with Birmingham in 2001.

That would prove to be the first of a 443 appearances in all competitions for Watford made by Doyley, during which time the defender helped the club win promotion to the Premier League in 2006, spending a total of 14 seasons as part of the Hornets senior side, before departing the club in 2015.

Having come through the academy at Watford, Sherwood is not one of those on this list who enjoyed the majority of his success with the Hornets, making just 32 league appearances for the club before leaving as a 20-year-old in the summer of 1989.

Never the less, the quality of Sherwood as a player cannot be understated, something perhaps best exemplified when he captained Blackburn Rovers to their first top-flight title in 81 years during the 1994-95 season.

Sherwood would also go on to play an important role for Tottenham as a player for several years, and his tally of three England caps seems rather on the low side for a player of his undoubted ability.

A comfortable top spot on this list, both for his efforts with Watford and elsewhere, there are plenty of Hornets fans who will no doubt be excited by reports that Ashley Young is targeting a return to Vicarage Road this summer, regardless of whether or not the club win promotion this season.

Young of course started his career at Watford, joining the club at the age of ten and going on to make more than 100 senior appearances, winning promotion in 2006 before leaving a year later for Aston Villa.

It was at Manchester United though where Young would enjoy much of his success, claiming four major titles, while becoming an England regular for a time, with the 35-year-old now looking to help Inter Milan end Juventus' Serie A dominance during the current campaign, before that rumoured return to Watford in a few months time.