Derby County

Derby County FC is a professional football club that was formed in 1884 as an offshoot of Derbyshire CCC to give members a winter activity. The team initially played their home games at the Racecourse Ground home of the cricket club.

Starting out playing friendly matches, a win against Aston Villa, the biggest club in the country at the time, gave County a boost in becoming one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888.

Another local club, Derby Midland were absorbed into County in 1891, who retained their league status in 1894-95 after beating Notts County in a Test Match, the play-offs of the day. The club was nicknamed 'The Rams', a tribute to its links with The First Regiment of Derby Militia, which took a ram as its mascot and the song The Derby Ram as its regimental song.

Steve Bloomer, who is considered to be the clubs greatest ever player, joined the club in 1892. He scored an amazing 328 goals in only 375 appearances as well as notching 28 times for England in 23 games. The club moved into the Baseball Ground, thus called because it formerly staged baseball, in 1895. 

In 1895-96 the Rams ended as league runners-up and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup where they went out to 2-1 to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Wellington Road in Birmingham. Derby went out at the same stage in 1896-97 to Everton at Stoke’s Victoria Ground.

The team went one stage further in 1897-98 as a Bloomer goal came as consolation in a 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Crystal Palace. Derby returned to final in 1898-99 at the same venue where they lost 4-1 to Sheffield United with John Boag scoring.

In 1902-03 the team suffered the joint ever record defeat in a final under the clubs first manager Harry Newbould, going down 6-0 to Bury a year after losing in the semi-finals after a second replay to Sheffield United. Bolton Wanderers handed out another semi-final defeat in 1903-04 at Molineux.

County were relegated in 1906-07 before reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup once more in 1908-09, falling at the final hurdle to Bristol City in a St Andrews’ replay. Jimmy Methven was manager of the side that won the Division Two title in 1911-12 before they dropped back down from Division One in 1913-14.

Another Division Two championship season arrived twelve months later, with the team staying at the top level until relegation at the end of the 1920-21 campaign. New manager Cecil Potter took Derby to another last four FA Cup clash in 1922-23, missing out on the first ever Wembley final after defeat to West Ham United at Stamford Bridge.

George Jobey was the next manager, leading his side to a runners-up place and promotion from Division Two in 1925-26 before the Rams finished Division One runners-up in 1929-30. Derby were foiled from a Cup final appearance after defeat to Manchester City at Leeds Road in 1932-33.

1935-36 saw County end as League runners-up for a third occasion before the clubs’ hoodoo of falling short of major honours was broken following the appointment of Ted Magner as manager.

Derby eventually lifted the FA Cup by beating Charlton Athletic 4-1 after extra time in 1945-46, with Raich Carter starring. Jackie Stamps netted twice in the win along with goals from Peter Doherty and an opponent. Stuart McMillan became manager after the triumph as the Rams went out in the 1946-47 semi-final to Manchester United at Hillsborough.

County were relegated in 1952-53 with worse to come in 1954-55 as the club dropped down to Division Three North. Harry Storer managed the side to their third tier title in 1955-56 as they settled in Division two before he was replaced by Tim Ward in 1962.

Nothing much happened for quite some time, until a certain Mr Brian Howard Clough joined the club as manager from Hartlepool United June 1967. He took the Rams to the semi-final of the League Cup in his first season before leading them to the Division Two title in 1968-69.

Clough transformed the club from top to bottom on and off the pitch with his assistant Peter Taylor, often clashing with chairman Sam Longson along the way with Dave McKay leading the team on the pitch until his retirement. Derby County were crowned as champions of England in 1971-72.

 

The side included the likes of Colin Boulton, Roy McFarland, John Robson, Colin Todd, Ron Webster, Alan Durban, Archie Gemmell, Alan Hinton, John O’Hare, Kevin Hector and John McGovern.

The 1972-73 campaign saw County reach the semi-final of the European Cup before been beaten in extremely dubious circumstances by Juventus. Clough refused to speak after the game to "cheating bastards" when referring to the Italians.

Clough left in extremely controversial circumstances which caused outrage among County supporters in October 1973 before Dave Mackay took over and led the side to a second league title in 1974-75.

The same season also saw the Rams go out in the semi-final of the FA Cup at Hillsborough against Manchester United. Colin Murphy took over as manager in November 1976 before being replaced by Tommy Docherty in September 1977.

 

He lasted until May 1979, with Colin Addison filling in the vacant post. He couldn’t prevent the side from being relegated in 1979-80. Derby struggled in Division Two, under further stewardship of John Newman and Peter Taylor and then a brief spell from former skipper McFarland as they dropped down to Division Three in 1983-84.

Arthur Cox was appointed as the new manager as he oversaw a turnaround with the Rams winning promotion in 1985-86 and then the Division Two title in 1986-87 with the goals of Bobby Davison as Robert Maxwell bought the club.

Star players such as Peter Shilton, Mark Wright and Dean Saunders were added as the rams ended fifth in Division One in 1988-89 before being relegated in 1990-91 as Maxwell cut the purse strings before he died in an "accident" falling from his yacht.

Lionel Pickering had purchased the club a few weeks earlier, as County reached the 1991-92 play-offs where they lost to Blackburn Rovers in their semi-final. Cox resigned in October 1993 to be replaced by Jim Smith.

 

In 1993-94 with the additions of Craig Short, Tommy Johnson and Marco Gabbiadini, a win against Millwall saw Derby reach Wembley for the play-off final. They went down 2-1 to Leicester City with Johnson scoring the Rams goal.

A runners-up place in the second tier Division One in 1995-96 saw County reach the Premier League as Igor Štimac played a major part. After finishing midtable on their return the club moved to the new Pride Park stadium.

Players such as Francesco Baiano and Paulo Wanchope thrilled the crowds as Derby put together back to back top ten finishes before Smith resigned in October 2001 to be replaced by former Ram, Colin Todd. The team was relegated at the end of the 2001-02 campaign after another former player, John Gregory had been appointed as manager.

Further mismanagement saw the club being put into receivership in October 2003. A group of local businessmen bought the club for £3. their actions would later lead to court proceedings which would cause more issues, which can be read about here. 

George Burley was manager when his side reached the play-offs in 2004-05 which ended in semi-final defeat to Preston North End before Burley was replaced by Phil Brown who was then succeeded by interim boss Terry Westley.

In April 2006, a consortium of local businessmen led by former vice-chairman Peter Gadsby bought the club, reducing its debt and returning Pride Park Stadium to the club's ownership in the process with Billy Davies tasking over as manager in June of that year.

County reached the play-offs in 2006-07 defeating Southampton before a goal from Stephen Pearson was enough to beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at Wembley to mark a return to the Premier League, where Davies would be replaced by Paul Jewell.

In January 2009, Nigel Clough, son of the legendary Brian, took over as manager as the club looked to steady the ship off the pitch while building gradually on it. Clough was immensely popular with Rams fans as many youngsters were introduced to the side.

However, the board eventually lost patience and dismissed him nine games into the 2013-14 season to be replaced by former midfielder Steve McClaren. McClaren transformed the side and took them on an amazing run to the play-offs at the end of the season.

Brighton & Hove Albion were defeated in the semi-final, but despite dominating the final, Queens Park Rangers won the game in stoppage time with a solitary goal. Local businessman Mel Morris bought the club as McClaren's side started off the following 2014-15 season like a house on fire. 

A terrible run towards the back end to finish in a very disappointing eighth place. The manager departed at the end of the campaign to Newcastle United, when he was replaced by the Real Madrid assistant manager Paul Clement. he was dismissed just a few months into his reign.

Darren Wassall took over and led the team to the 2015-16 play-offs, where they were defeated by Hull City in the semi-finals. Nigel Pearson was appointed as the new team manager in May 2016, departing a few months later as Steve McClaren came in for a second spell in charge of the team.

The former England boss lasted until March 2017, when he was replaced by Gary Rowett after a poor set of results. County reached the play-offs in 2017-18 where they lost to Fulham in the semi-finals prior to the appointment of Frank Lampard as manager.

He assembled a young side containing several loan players including Mason Mount alongside stalwart Richard Keough to great effect in the 2018-19 campaign. Leeds United were defeated in the play-offs, but Aston Villa proved too strong, winning 2-1 in the final. 

Lampard headed off for Chelsea to be replaced by a spell from Philip Cocu who departed in November 2020. Wayne Rooney had been signed as a player before he was given his first managerial job. His side managed to escape relegation but matters off the pitch reached critical status.

In the 2021-22 season County were deducted twelve points for going into administration, and a further nine for financial irregularities leading to inevitable relegation. The club was close to being liquidated before local property developer David Clowes purchased the Rams in June 2022.

Paul Warne was headhunted to become the new manager with the goals of David McGoldrick leading to a finish just outside the playoffs in 2022-23. The side skippered by Conor Hourihane regrouped. A runners-up place in 2023-24 saw the Rams return to the Championship.

Derby County FC will compete in the EFL Championship in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Derby County 3 Hull City 1 (Saturday 20 October 1984) Division Three (att: 13,442)

I went on an early train with my brother Nick to this game, very wary of the reputation of some of the home fans at the time. We walked from the station and soon discovered we had walked a long way past where we should have headed to the ground. 

We couldn't find a pub where we were, so I reasoned it would be a good idea to get straight into the ground as Derby were sponsored by Bass at the time, so perhaps I'd get a beer there?

We were the first into the away end. The Baseball Ground was quite an imposing arena at the time, as it was before all seater stadiums. We were in the open terracing at the bottom of the Osmaston Stand. 

There were two tiers of seating behind and above us, with a very intimidating high fence at the front, made more so as the terracing finished below pitch level (a regular feature of the time that offered fans a worms eye view of the action). 

The Normanton Stand at the far end was a similar structure. To the left was the Leys Stand, the most modern structure at the ground, built during Clough's reign. It had a large seating upper deck with terracing underneath it. 

The final side was taken up by the Main Stand which was the only side where the ugly fences abated. It was an old stand with seats throughout, with the lower tier consisting of a former terraced paddock.

City had enough chances, aside from Peter Skipper's goal to snatched a draw with a bit of luck; although it could be argued that the score also flattered them. The Rams goals were scored by Steve Biggins, Bobby Davison and Kevin Taylor.

However, we then were more concerned with getting back to the station as the very vast majority of The Tigers fans were on coaches or in cars. We got outside where the police were extremely indiscriminate in their actions on the horses as the home fans taunted the visitors, who in turn surged towards them. It was not a nice experience. 

We mingled in with the rest of the crowd and easily found our way back for the train. The Derby fans commuting home turned out to be very civilised as we chatted about the game and football in general

Derby County 3 Crystal Palace 2 (Saturday 24th March 2012) The Championship (att: 25,222)

I was on night shift at work and the following day I was to travel to Bangkok for a two week holiday, which would include the silver anniversary of the Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes. However, I didn't want to turn down the opportunity to get in a new ground, so i booked cheap train tickets in advance and went for it.

After a sleep I was on the 12.15 service north on a busy train, which included many Palace fans, on a beautiful early Spring day. Several fans were in high spirits, or at least drunk many of them. 

One was making a real pain of himself, unintentionally upsetting some pretty lasses on board as he was egged on by his mates. He offered to complete my crossword, but I offered him two in return. In fairness most 'Eagles' were top lads and they made me laugh.

It was gone 2pm when we arrived so I headed straight to the stadium through the business park. What was no doubt once a souless piece of waste ground had been landscaped. After around ten minutes I was approaching Pride Park. 

Early impressions were that it was like Middlesbrough and Leicester's new homes. Nice touches were the Lionel Pickering entrance, which had been styled on the old main entrance to the Baseball Ground and a statue of the legendary Brian Clough and Peter Taylor.

I went through the turnstiles into the covered concourse, where I enjoyed a reasonable pint of Pedigree and a meat pie before going upstairs to read my programme and take photos. My seat was half way along the row. I try to get on the end so I can make a quick getaway and to get a bit of extra leg room. I was between two gents who I shall say were 'big boned'.

The stadium was indeed like many other new builds. Three sides wrapped round in a single tier. Access was gained half way up. Another nice addition were that similar looking walls surrounded the exits, in the same style as the old Main Stand at The Rams former home. 

The final Main Stand at Pride Park had two tiers with boxes in between. One corner joined with the away fans at the far end, whereas the corner nearest me was filled with more executive boxes.

The teams came out in bright sunshine. The visiting Palace fans sang their hearts out for most of the afternoon, and drowned out most of the noise made by the home fans, at least until they took a commanding lead on the pitch.

Poor defending allowed Theo Robinson to set up Steven Davies to put Derby one up. The lead was doubled after the referee Mick Russell played on after a Palace player had been fouled, citing advantage as his reason. 

Jeff Hendrick smashed the ball in a few seconds later. The Eagles were having plenty of play and came close once or twice. Home keeper Frank Fielding was getting plenty of advice from the home fans, who I sensed didn't have full confidence in their custodian.

I moved after half time over to the corner, where there was a bit more room. Mr Russell upset the away fans and players further when he awarded a contentious penalty for an alleged handball offence. Robinson smashed home the spot kick to make it three.

Palace grabbed a goal back in unusual fashion. Fielding picked up a back pass as he obviously lost concentration. Darren Ambrose grabbed the ball from him and immediately tapped it to loanee striker Chris Martin to fire home into an empty net. The fans around me were going spare with their keeper. Chances were created at both ends, but with around five minutes left I called it a day so I could catch my train at just gone 5pm.

Palace pulled back another goal through Ambrose on my way back but it was too late to salvage a point. I made it back with a few minutes to spare. It was a wise decision as the train was very quiet; well nearly anyway. 

The clown on the way up had obviously been turned away from the game as he was in such a mess. He decided to pester the passengers on the way back to London to round off his day. I avoided him until I was awoken by his drunken singing as we approached London.

I was back home before 7pm in time for a siesta before my final night shift before my holiday. The day had been well worth the effort. Yet another ground had been crossed off in my quest to complete all ninety two Football League grounds.

The pictures of the Baseball Ground on this page have been taken from the internet.