Derby County F.C.
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| Full name | Derby County Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | The Rams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1884 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Pride Park Stadium, Derby (Capacity: 33,597) |
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| Chairman |  Andy Appleby |
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| Manager |  Paul Jewell |
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| League | The Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007-08 | Premier League, 20th (relegated) |
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 Current season |
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Derby County Football Club is a professional football club based at Pride Park Stadium in Derby, England. The club will compete in the Football League Championship in the 2008/2009 season following relegation from the Premier League in the 2007/08 season.
The club was founded in 1884 and is notable as being one of the 12 founder members of the Football League. It is therefore one of only eleven clubs to have appeared in all 109 seasons of the football league since its inception. Derby's competitive history includes two spells as English League Champions, one FA Cup title and an appearance in the European Cup semi-finals. The club is nicknamed The Rams in 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.[1]
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[edit] History
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For more details on this topic, see History of Derby County F.C..
The club was formed in 1884 as an offshoot of Derbyshire County Cricket Club[2], initially playing at the Racecourse Ground. As well as competing in a number of friendly matches and informal competitions, Derby County also entered the FA Cup. Derby County were founder members of The Football League when it was launched in 1888[2]. In 1891 they absorbed Derby Midland F.C. Steve Bloomer, generally considered to be Derby County's best-ever player[3], joined the club in 1892. In 1895 the club moved to a new stadium, The Baseball Ground[4], which became their home for the next 102 years, and adopted their traditional colours of black and white.
On 16 April 1898, Derby appeared in their first FA Cup final at Crystal Palace, but lost 3-1.[5] They were losing finalists again in 1899[6] and 1903.[7] Derby were relegated to the Football League's Second Division for the first time in 1907[8], but under Jimmy Methven's management they re-signed Steve Bloomer and regained their First Division place in 1911.[9]
In 1914 they were relegated again, but instantly won the Second Division to get promoted [9] (though World War I meant that they had to wait until 1919 to play First Division football again). After two seasons, they were relegated yet again in 1921. However, more successful times lay ahead, instigated by Derby's promotion in 1926.[10] The club became a formidable force, with high finishes from the late 1920s and all through the 1930s.[10] [11] For example, in the 1929-1930 season Derby County finished in second place in the First Division with 50 points behind Sheffield Wednesday on 60 points. Second place was repeated with the Hughie Gallacher inspired side of 1935-36.
In the 1945-1946 season Derby got to the final of the FA Cup and won by beating Charlton Athletic 4-1 after extra time.[12] [13] The League restarted the following season after a break due to World War II, but Derby could not reproduce their pre-War form and were relegated in 1953. In 1955 they were relegated to the Third Division North for the first time in their history. The third tier proved easy for Derby, though: they were promoted after just two seasons.[14]
In 1967, Brian Clough took over and led them to their greatest glory. Having clinched the influential signing of Dave Mackay, Derby were promoted to the First Division in 1969, finished fourth in 1970[15], got banned from competing in Europe due to financial irregularities in 1971, and won their first ever Football League Championship in 1972[16]. Though Derby did not retain their title the following season, they did reach the semi-finals of the European Cup. They lost to Juventus in a controversial match which was subject to subsequent allegations that the Italian club had bribed the match officials, leading Clough, to call the Italians "cheating bastards".[17] Clough's frequent outspoken comments against football's establishment eventually led to him falling out with the board of directors at the club, and Clough left in 1973. Despite the departure, Derby's League success was repeated in 1974-1975 season when they won the title under Dave Mackay. However, Derby's form declined towards the end of the 1970s and they went down to the Second Division in 1980. Though they challenged well in their first season, Derby's stay in the Second Division was not a happy one and they were relegated to the Third Division in 1984.
After the relegation, the club appointed Arthur Cox to stop the rot - and stop it he did. After a two year stint in the Third Division, Cox's emerging side were promoted to the Second Division and won it at the first attempt, returning to the old First Division in 1987.
The club finished fifth in the 1988-1989 season, with the team now containing stars like Peter Shilton, Mark Wright, Dean Saunders and Ted McMinn. However, English clubs were banned from European competition at the time following the Heysel Stadium Disaster, so the Rams missed out on their place in the UEFA Cup.
A lack of further investment from chairman Robert Maxwell lead to a decline shortly after. With Maxwell soon dead, the club was relegated back to the Second Division in 1991. At this time, local newspaper businessman Lionel Pickering became the majority shareholder of the club. In 1992 Derby paid £2.5 million for Notts County's central defender Craig Short. At the time - and for five years afterwards - he was the most expensive player to be signed by a club outside the top flight.
Cox resigned in late 1993 citing health problems, and Roy McFarland returned as manager. McFarland failed to get the side anywhere near the top of the division apart from a defeat at the hands of Leicester City in the 1993-1994 play-off final and was sacked in 1995. Jim Smith was then appointed as the club's new manager. Although the season started slowly, the signing of sweeper Igor Stimac in the early autumn proved pivotal. Throwing his brief of 'a top-half finish' out the window, Smith guided the Rams to a second-place finish and the Premier League, now the top flight of English football. His first-team coach was Steve McLaren, later to become coach at Manchester United and manager of Middlesbrough and the England team.
Derby County made a strong Premiership début in the 1996-1997 season, finishing 12th in the final table. The club moved into the new 30,000-seat Pride Park Stadium for the 1997-1998 season. Players like Italians Stefan Eranio and Francisco Baiano and Croatian Asa Asanovic were signed.
Progress continued in the next two seasons, before a sudden decline in form. In 2000-2001 Derby narrowly avoided the drop, finishing 17th - one place clear of relegation.
Jim Smith resigned as manager in October 2001. He was replaced by assistant manager Colin Todd, who had succeeded McLaren on his move to Old Trafford. Todd, a former Derby and England player, remained in charge for just three months before he was sacked in the aftermath of a humiliating FA Cup Third Round home defeat against Third Division strugglers Bristol Rovers. At the end of January 2002, another former Rams player, John Gregory was appointed Derby manager, after quitting his job as manager at Aston Villa. Despite a promising start, seven defeats from their final eight fixtures condemned Derby to relegation.
Derby County's relegation saw the club enter a serious financial crisis, which forced them to sell many key players. Gregory was later suspended from his managerial duties over alleged misconduct[citation needed] and former Ipswich Town boss George Burley was brought in temporarily. He later received the job on a permanent basis, after turning the club's playing fortunes around.
The club's parent company went into liquidation in October 2003 and chairman Lionel Pickering, who had presided over the club's promotion and Premiership seasons but was suffering from ill health, gave way to a new board led by Yorkshire solicitor John Sleightholme, who bought the club for £1, despite interest from a local consortium led by former club director Peter Gadsby. Derby finished 20th in the 2003-2004 season, but improved dramatically in the 2004-2005 season and finished 4th in the Football League Championship, qualifying for a promotion play-off spot. They lost in the semi-finals to Preston North End.
Soon afterwards, Burley resigned citing differences between himself and the board. He was replaced by Bolton first team coach,Phil Brown. Brown failed to find much success in the job, however, and was sacked in January 2006, after a bad run of results. Terry Westley, the academy coach at the time, took over first team duties until the end of the season and saved Derby from relegation.
Derby's Chairman, John Sleightholme, resigned in April 2006, saying his position had become untenable. The rest of the board followed him later that month. A court case against three members of that board and two advisors, alleging irregularities involving club finances, is still pending two years later.
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. In June 2006, former Preston North End boss Billy Davies was appointed Derby County's new permanent manager, with Julian Darby as his first-team coach. In his first season, Davies took Derby to the Championship play-offs, where they beat Southampton on penalties in the semi-finals before defeating West Bromwich Albion 1-0 with a second-half Stephen Pearson goal at the new Wembley Stadium to secure a return to the Premier League and the associated £60m windfall.
Despite Derby's promotion, however, there were persistent rumours of a row between Davies and the Managing Director Mike Horton over the appointment of an assistant for Davies and unrest between board members. On 5 June 2007, Horton resigned from his position on the board, and he was followed shortly afterwards by Jill Marples and her husband Peter Marples. Horton claimed at the time that his departure was for family and business reasons, whilst the Marples departure was put down to the death of a family friend in a helicopter accident [18]. With the departure of Horton and the two Marples, the remaining directors appointed 4 new members to the Board. Experienced football executive Trevor Birch came in as Chief Executive,[19], Martin Ridgeway as Financial Director & Company Secretary, John Vicars as Operations Director and Steve Coakley as Commercial Director.
[edit] Recent times
Derby made a disastrous start to the Premier League 2007-08 season and following their 6-0 defeat to Liverpool on 1 September 2007, Irish bookmakers Paddy Power decided to pay out on the club to be relegated after just five games of the new season.[20]. The poor start saw fans accuse Gadsby and the board of failing to invest properly in players for the club. The repercussions of this saw Trevor Birch leave his position as Chief Executive on October 19[21] and, on October 29th 2007, Gadsby stepped down as Chairman to be replaced by former Hull City owner Adam Pearson.[22] Meanwhile, results on the pitch weren't improving, with another poor performance away to Aston Villa being followed by a 5-0 home defeat against a West Ham side ravaged by injuries. After taking just 6 points from 14 matches Davies left by mutual consent after a meeting with Adam Pearson, taking nearly all of his newly assembled backroom staff with him. [23] The move was seen to be more as a result of Davies publicly questioning Adam Pearson's chairmanship of the club in a post-match interview following a 2-0 home defeat by Chelsea than actual results (as Pearson publicly gave Davies his backing a few weeks previously), with some supporters suggesting Davies engineered his dismissal as he was unable to turn the club around. Within two days of Davies's dismissal, on November 26, 2007, Derby appointed highly rated former Wigan manager Paul Jewell.[24]. He initially appointed Stan Ternent as his assistant but, when Ternant left to become Huddersfield manager in April 2008, Jewell moved to appoint Chris Hutchings[25] who had been his assistant at both Bradford and Wigan.
Jewell was busy in the January 2008 transfer window, selling several players and bringing eight new players in, namely Everton defender Alan Stubbs [26]; Argentine striker Emanuel Villa[27]; ex-England international defender Danny Mills on loan from Manchester City; Blackburn midfielder Robbie Savage[28]; French winger Laurent Robert; Tottenham's Egyptian midfielder Hossam Ghaly on loan[29]; Genclerbirligi's Mile Sterjovski [30] and Rangers goalkeeper Roy Carroll [31] . Although performances improved, results didn't, with many at the club already accepting relegation by the end of December. On January 28, 2008, it was announced that Derby had been purchased by American group General Sports and Entertainment, with Tom Glick taking the role of new President and Chief Executive.[32] Derby's relegation was confirmed on March 29, 2008, the first time a club had been relegated from the division before April[33] and sealing the club's first immediate relegation following promotion in its history. Poor results continued: a 6-0 home defeat at the hands of Aston Villa on 12 April 2008 is the biggest defeat at Pride Park and, by the season's end, they had recorded the Premier League's lowest points total.[34] and equalled Loughborough's 108-year Football League record of going through an entire season with only one win.
Following the final day of the season, Jewell publicly announced his displeasure with the current squad, promising drastic changes [35]. Within four weeks of the close of the season Derby confirmed five new signings, namely Plymouth defender Paul Connolly[36]; Doncaster midfielder Paul Green[37]; Watford F.C. defender Jordan Stewart[38] and Nottingham Forest winger Kris Commons[39] on frees. Watford's Nathan Ellington joined on a season-long loan (with a view to a permanent deal)[38]. In addition to these, the club signed out of contract Tranmere youngster Steve Davies[40] on June 12, 2008 on a Bosman (although as he is under 24, a fee will be decided by a tribunal on August 5). West Brom's Martin Albrechtsen joined for free on June 30, 2008[41] and Stockport striker Liam Dickinson signed for £750k on July 1, 2008[42]. Sheffield United striker Rob Hulse followed for £1.75m on July 21, 2008[43], the same day a season long loan deal for FC Porto and Poland international midfielder Przemyslaw Kazmierczak was finalised[44]. On August 7, just two days before the start of the new season, the club completed its eleventh and twelfth signings of pre-season, in the shape of Swiss-born Serbian U-19 international Aleksandar Prijović, who rejected a new deal with Parma to join the club, for free and Latvian international midfielder Andrejs Perepļotkins on a season long loan from Skonto FC Rīga after impressing on trial at the club.[45]
These twelve signings all came in addition to Australian midfielder Ruben Zadkovich who was signed in March[46]. There were also unsuccessful attempts to sign Swansea midfielder Ferrie Bodde[47] and Wigan's Marlon King on a season-long loan. Trials where also given to former Reading winger John Oster (who rejected the offer of a contract[48]), Nigerian midfielder Richard Eromoigbe (whom the club decided not to sign[49]) and Australian defender Daniel Piorkowski.
Four players were initially allowed to leave the club, with the contracts of Michael Johnson, Lee Holmes and Marc Edworthy[50] not being renewed following their completion, and Ben Hinchcliffe's contract being terminated[50]. Andy Todd was told he could leave on a free transfer but is still currently with the club. Players moving out for fees were Kenny Miller, who rejoined Rangers for £2m[51]; club record signing Rob Earnshaw for £2.65m to rivals Nottingham Forest less than a year after joining the club [52]; David Jones, who joined Wolves for £1.2m[53]; Craig Fagan, who returned to Hull City for £750k[54] and Darren Moore, who signed for Barnsley on a free.[55] Stephen Pearson was expected to move to Birmingham but the move fell through due to Birmingham's unwillingness to sign the player while injured and Pearson rejecting a loan move. Stephen Bywater was the subject of an accepted £200k bid from Tottenham. However, despite taking a medical, Tottenham decided not to sign Bywater.[56]
The first game of the new Championship season saw 9 of Jewell's summer signings make their debuts (7 starting and 2 substitutes) [57], but lost 1-0 to Doncaster. This stretched the club's winless run to 33 matches and saw Jewell express disappointment with his players failing to cope with the pressure [58]. Jewell finally got his first win as Derby manager (not counting an FA Cup third round penalties victory against Sheff Wednesday in January 2008) three days later as Derby beat Lincoln 3-1 in the League Cup first round, with Nathan Ellington getting it first goals for the club with a hattrick.[59].
On August 14, 2008 the club finally announced the extent of the club's debt after several months of speculation. The club's new chairman, Andrew Appleby, announced that upon arrival at the club in January 2008, Derby were £31m in debt. This had been reduced by £6m to £25m in the first six months of the new boards tenure, with the aim to reduce it by a further £10m by August 2009, leaving Derby with only the £15m mortgage on the Pride Park Stadium to repay[60]. It was also announced that £10.4m of the 2008/09 season’s £11.5m parachute payment has already been spent on players bought the previous summer. These players (such as Kenny Miller and Claude Davis) had still not completely been paid for, with Chairman of Football Adam Pearson stating that "We’ve (Derby County) still got to find £3m this month for Claude Davis, Kenny Miller, David Jones and Benny Feilhaber – so that’s another significant investment." [60]He added that "At the minute, the wages are circa £2.5m more than where I’d like them to be on an annual basis, so that needs taking care of." [60]
This issue was addressed as soon as the following day, with the announcement that Eddie Lewis' contract had been terminated by mutual consent[61], Benny Feilhaber had joined Danish side AGF Aarhus on a free[62] and Gary Teale had joined Barnsley on a months loan [62]. Liam Dickinson followed soon after, joining Huddersfield Town on a months loan [63], on the same day the club announced the arrival of Dutch attacking midfielder Nacer Barazite on loan until December 31, 2008 from Arsenal [64] French midfielder Julien Sable also joined the club on trial, with a view to a season long loan, playing in a 3-1 victory in a behind closed doors friendly v Leicester City.[65] On August 20, 2008, club captain Alan Stubbs announced his retirement through injury. [66]
[edit] Season-by-season history
1888 Founder member of the Football League;
1907-12 Division 2;
1912-14 Division 1; 1914-15 Division 2,
1915-21 Division 1;
1921-26 Division 2;
1926-53 Division 1;
1953-55 Division 2;
1955-57 Division 3 (N);
1957-69 Division 2;
1969-80 Division 1;
1980-84 Division 2;
1984-86 Division 3;
1986-87 Division 2;
1987-91 Division 1;
1991-92 Division 2,
1992-96 Division 1,
1996-2002 Premier League;
2002-04, Division 1;
2004-07 Football League Championship;
2007-08 Premier League;
2008- Football League Championship
[edit] Kit
Derby County's original colours (right) were amber, chocolate and blue, though by the 1890s the club had adopted its now traditional colours of black and white, still in use today.[67] The colours of away kits have varied widely, and although they are usually yellow/gold or blue, the colour for the away Kit for the 2008-09 season is green, and was first shown to the general public on 12 August 2008[68]
[edit] Kit manufacturers
- c. 1973-1979: Umbro
- 1979-1982: Le Coq Sportif
- 1981-1984: Patrick (also shirt sponsors)
- 1984-1985: Admiral
- 1985-1987: OSCA
- 1987-1993: Umbro
- 1993-1994: Bukta
- 1994-1995: Rams Pro Wear
- 1995-2001: Puma (also shirt sponsors from 1995-1998)
- 2001-2005: Erreà
- 2005-2007: Joma
- 2007-2012: Adidas
[edit] Shirt sponsors
- 1884-1980: No sponsor
- 1980-1981: BMI
- 1981-1984: Patrick
- 1984-1986: Bass Brewers
- 1986-1987: Sportsweek
- 1987-1992: Maxwell Communications Corporation (known by its former name, BPCC in 1987-1988)
- 1992: No sponsor
- 1992-1995: Auto Windscreens
- 1995-1998: Puma (also kit manufacturers from 1995-2001)
- 1998-2001: EDS
- 2001-2005: Marston's Pedigree
- 2005-2008: Derbyshire Building Society
- 2008-: Bombardier
[edit] Club badge
Like most old football clubs, Derby County did not initially have any badge displayed on their shirts. Their first badge was introduced in 1924. The badge consisted of a circular shield spilt into three equally-sized sections, representing the club, its fans and the area, in three equally-sized sections, all containing items traditionally associated with the city of Derby: a Tudor rose and a crown in one section, a buck in a park in the second and a ram's head in the final section. The badge was worn on the players' shirts for just two seasons before they reverted to plain shirts.
By 1934, another badge had been introduced. This time it was a traditionally-shaped shield, again with three sections. The buck in the park had been removed and the rose and the crown had been split up and now occupied a section each. The ram's head also remained and was now given the largest section of the shield. The badge never appeared on the players' shirts. The shield was modified in 1946 when the rose and crown were removed and replaced with the letters DC (Derby County) and FC (Football Club) respectively. The badge, right, was featured on to the player's shirts from its introduction onwards, though the ram's head on its own was used from the late 1960s (the full shield, however, remained the club's official logo).
A new club badge was introduced in 1971, featuring a more modern design that, with modifications, is still in use today. The badge was initially consisted of a stylised white ram facing left. The badge was first modified slightly in 1979 to include the text 'Derby County FC' under the ram (though the ram remained on its own on away kits). In 1982 the ram turned to face to the right and the text under it was removed. The ram was surrounded by a wreath of laurel and the text 'Centenary 1984-1985' was printed underneath for the club's centenary season. The laurel was removed and the text reading 'Derby County FC' returned from the next season. In 1993, the ram faced left again and the text was removed once more. From 1995, the ram faced right and was enclosed in a diamond, with a gold banner reading 'Derby County FC' underneath and the text '1884' (the year of the club's foundation) underneath that. The design was changed again in 1997 (see right): the ram faced now left and the golden banner now simply read 'Derby County'; the diamond and year of formation were removed. A decade later, in 2007, the badge was modified again (to the one seen at top of this article), with the ram (still facing left) and the text 'Est. 1884' now in the middle of a circular frame featuring 'Derby County Football Club' in gold lettering.
[edit] Stadiums
Derby County have played at three different stadia:
- 1884-1895: The Racecourse Ground
- 1895-1997: The Baseball Ground
- 1997-: Pride Park Stadium
[edit] Supporters and rivalry
[edit] Rivalries
Derby County's fiercest rivals are Nottingham Forest[69], who are based in Nottingham, a city a few miles north-east of Derby. When the two sides meet it is known as the East Midlands Derby. In future, whenever the clubs play each other the winners will be awarded the Brian Clough Trophy. On 31 July 2007 Derby won the first ever Brian Clough Trophy after beating Nottingham Forest 2-0.[70] Leicester City, also based in the East Midlands, are also local rivals.[71]
There is also a significant amount of rivalry with Leeds United, despite Leeds not being geographically close to Derby; the rivalry is due to Derby and Leeds being two of the top English teams in the early 1970s.[71]
[edit] Support
Derby is often acknowledged as a 'passionate football town' by rival supporters[72] and the press alike - as David McVay of The Times noted when discussing the East Midlands Derby ""Derby is a passionate football town. Possibly more so than Nottingham... Even in Division Two, it's a reasonable bet that crowds at Pride Park would not fall far below 20,000. It's historical, it's geographical, it's in the blood. Some places have it, some don't."[73] A 2008 survey by Sky Sports Magazine named the club's supporters as 'the most loyal in the country.'[74]
During the 2007-2008 Premiership season Derby County fans were repeatedly referred to as amongst the best in the county due to their loyalty despite the club's disastrous campaign.[75] Almost every home game at Pride Park Stadium was sold out by the Derby fans and the club also had a great following away from home. The recognition included them being named fans of the season in much national coverage of the season and even winning an award from Nuts Magazine.[76] The club also has some notable celebrity fans, such as former manager Brian Clough, former James Bond star Timothy Dalton, former Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett MP, Chief Whip Geoff Hoon MP, actor Robert Lindsay and actress Tracy Shaw .[77]
Statistically, the club had the 12th highest average attendance in the country[78], despite only having the 15th largest club ground[79], and were also 8th in the table for percentage of ground occupancy.
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] Out on loan
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[edit] Notable former players
- See also: Category:Derby County F.C. players
- A complete list of all the Club's former players can be found here
[edit] Player of the year (the Jack Stamps Trophy)
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