Leeds and returned to Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2005 after his loan spell ended. Watford In the summer of 2005 King was loaned to Watford for six months, with an option to buy in the January transfer window. He impressed at the Hertfordshire club, scoring 12 goals in 21 games as Watford featured in the upper reaches of the table. King scored his first goal for the Hornets in a 3–3 draw away at Plymouth Argyle on 9 August, and followed this up with two goals at Cardiff City in his next match. The transfer was made permanent for £500,000 in January, and King went on to finish top scorer in the 2005–06 Championship with 21 goals. Watford finished third, with King scoring in the 3–0 semi-final first leg win over Crystal Palace. He played in the second leg, and in the final against Leeds United, which Watford won 3–0 to win promotion to the FA Premier League. King was named the club's Player of the Season. King scored his debut Premier League goal against West Ham United in the second game of the new season. His second Premier League goal, the first in a 3–3 draw with Fulham on 2 October 2006 marked his 100th goal in domestic competition. In the following game, away at Arsenal, he sustained a knee injury which kept him out of the next three games. During his return to fitness he suffered a relapse, and in an exploratory operation it was discovered that some bone had flaked away from his femur. The injury kept him out of action for six months, and he did not return until 14 April 2007, when he came on as a substitute in the 4–1 FA Cup semi–final loss to Manchester United at Villa Park. He scored in the final two games of the season, away at Reading and at home to Newcastle United to bring his season tally to four. Watford were relegated and returned to the Championship for the 2007–08 season. With Watford topping the table for much of the first half of the season, King scored ten goals before the end of 2007, including five in successive games in October. Wigan Athletic King had a medical at Fulham in January 2008, which Fulham at the time said he had failed. Following King's conviction in October 2009 Fulham manager Roy Hodgson said "I think we