Derby County F.C. - History

History

Derby County F.C. was formed in 1884 as an offshoot of Derbyshire County Cricket Club in an attempt to give players and supporters a winter interest as well as secure the cricket club extra revenue. The original intention was to name the club "Derbyshire County F.C." to highlight the link, though the Derbyshire FA, formed in 1883, objected on the grounds it was too long and therefore would not have been understood by the fans who may mistake it for a Derbyshire FA team. Playing their home matches at the cricket club’s Racecourse Ground, 1884/85 saw the club undertake an extensive programme of friendly matches, the first of which was a 6–0 defeat to Great Lever on 13 September 1884. The club’s first competitive match came in the 1885 FA Cup, where they lost 7–0 at home to Walsall Town.

Arguably the most important game in the club's history came in the following season's FA Cup, when a 2–0 victory over Aston Villa, already an emerging force in English football, helped establish Derby County F.C. on the English football map, helping the club to attract better opposition for friendlies and, in 1888, an invitation into the inaugural Football League. The opening day of the first ever league season was 8 September 1888, when Derby came from 3–0 down away to Bolton Wanderers to win 6–3, though the club ultimately finished 10th out of 12 teams. They absorbed another Derby club, Derby Midland F.C., who had been members of the Midland League, in 1891, leaving them as Derby's sole professional football club. Steve Bloomer, generally considered to be Derby County's best-ever player, joined the club in 1892. In 1895 the club moved to a new stadium, The Baseball Ground (so called because it was previously used for baseball), which became their home for the next 102 years and adopted their traditional colours of black and white. Although Derby were inconsistent in the league, though they did finish runners-up to Aston Villa on 1896 as well as achieving a number of third place finishes, they were a strong force in the FA Cup, appearing in three finals in six years around the turn of the 20th Century, though lost all three, in 1898 (3–1 to Nottingham Forest, 1899 (4–1 to Sheffield United) and 1903 (6–0 to Bury. Bloomer was sold to Middlesbrough, due to financial constraints, in 1906 and the club subsequently suffered its first ever relegation following season, but under Jimmy Methven's management they re-signed Steve Bloomer and regained their First Division place in 1911. In 1914 they were relegated again, but instantly won the Second Division to get promoted (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, the appointment of George Jobey in 1925 kick-started a successful period for the Rams and, after promotion in 1926, the club became a formidable force, with high finishes from the late 1920s and all through the 1930s., including finishing runners up twice.

Derby were one of several clubs to close down during the Second World War but restarted in the early 1940s, in part due to the persistence of Jack Nicholas and Jack Webb. Aided by the adding of Raich Carter and Peter Doherty, who had both been stationed in Loughborough during the War, Derby were one step ahead of the opposition when competitive football resumed with the 1946 FA Cup and won their first major trophy with a 4–1 victory over Charlton Athletic The League restarted the following season after a break due to World War II and, under the management of Stuart McMillan, as well as twice breaking the British transfer record to sign Billy Steel and Johnny Morris to replace Carter and Doherty, finished fourth and third in the 1948 and 1949 seasons respectively, before a steady decline set in and the club was relegated in 1953, after nearly 30 years in the top flight, and again in 1955 to drop to the third tier of English football for the first time in their history. Harry Storer led Derby back into the second tier at the second attempt in 1957, though the club progressed no further over the next decade under either Storer or his successor, former Derby player Tim Ward.

In 1967, Brian Clough and Peter Taylor 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, got banned from competing in Europe due to financial irregularities in 1971 and won their first ever Football League Championship in 1972. 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". 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 and Taylor left in 1973. Such was their impact on the club that, 37 years later, a 9'0 high bronze statue of the pair was erected outside the Pride Park Stadium in commemoration of their legacy.

Despite the departure of Clough and Taylor, Derby's League success was repeated in the 1974–75 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 after a string of managers, including former Manchester United boss Tommy Docherty, unsettled the club trying desperately to maintain its place at the top of the First Division. 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 for only the second time in their history in 1984.

After the relegation, the club appointed Arthur Cox who turned the club around with successive promotions in the mid 1980s to get the club back into the old First Division in 1987. The financial backing of new Chairman Robert Maxwell saw stars such as Peter Shilton, Mark Wright, Dean Saunders and Ted McMinn bought to the club and they finished fifth in the 1988–89 season However, English clubs were banned from European competition at the time following the Heysel Stadium Disaster and so the Rams missed out on their place in the UEFA Cup.

A lack of further investment from 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 central defender Craig Short, at the time – and for five years afterwards – 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 into the top flight; the closest he came being a defeat at the hands of Leicester City in the 1993–94 play-off final. He was sacked in 1995 to be replaced by Jim Smith. Although the new season started slowly, the signing of sweeper Igor Štimac 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. After finishing an admirable 12th in their first season back into the top flight the club left the Baseball Ground, its home of 102 years, to move into the new 30,000-seat Pride Park Stadium for the 1997–98 season. The Baseball Ground was demolished six years later and later a memorial was erected in memory of its role in Derby city history.

The club settles in well into its new home as it recorded back-to-back top 10 finishes for the first time since their 1970s peak before a sudden decline at the turn of the millennium saw three years of struggle, which Smith resign, to be replaced by former players Colin Todd, who lasted just 3 months, and John Gregory before the Rams were relegated after a six year stay in the top flight, in 2002. 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 and former Ipswich Town boss George Burley was brought in. The club was put into receivership then sold in October 2003 for £3 to a group led by Jeremy Keith. After finishing 20th in the 2003–04 season, a dramatic improvement in the 2004–05 season saw Derby finish 4th in the Football League Championship, qualifying for a promotion play-off spot, though 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.

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. In June 2006, former Preston North End boss Billy Davies was appointed Derby County's new permanent manager. 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. In October 2007, Peter Gadsby stepped down as Chairman to be replaced by former Hull City owner Adam Pearson, who immediately began searching for investment from overseas. After a poor start to the season, manager Billy Davies left by mutual consent in November. He was succeeded by Paul Jewell, who failed to save the club as Derby suffered the Premier League's earliest ever relegation, in March, recorded the Premier League's lowest-ever points total, and equalled Loughborough's 108-year Football League record of going through an entire season with only one win. In January, the club was taken over by an international investment group led by General Sports and Entertainment, with Pearson remaining as de facto chairman.

Derby's match at home to Sheffield United on 13 September 2008 generated much media coverage as it was approaching a year since Derby's last league win, a run which saw the club break the English league record for most matches without a win. Just four days short of the anniversary of the 1–0 victory over Newcastle, Rob Hulse scored against his former club as Derby ran out 2–1 winners, earning Paul Jewell his first league win as Derby boss at his 27th attempt. Despite taking the club to the League Cup semi-final, the club's first major cup semi-final since 1976, where Derby lost 4–3 to Manchester United over two legs, Jewell resigned as manager in December 2008. He was replaced by Nigel Clough, son of former manager Brian, who subsequently led the club to mid-to-lowertable Championship finishes over the next four years.