1970–71 Derby County F.C. season

Derby County
1970–71 season
Chairman	Sam Longson
Manager	Brian Clough
Stadium	Baseball Ground
First Division	9th
FA Cup	5th round
League Cup	4th round
Top goalscorer	League: O'Hare (13); All: O'Hare (15)
Home colours	Away colours
	← 1969–70 1971–72 →

The 1970–71 season was Derby County's 71st in the Football League and their 2nd consecutive season in the First Division. Also, they competed in FA Cup, Football League Cup and Watney Cup.

Season summary[edit]

During summer, assistant Peter Taylor told Brian Clough about Scottish midfielder Archie Gemmill who had been considering signing for the reigning champions Everton. Clough saw him as a player who could pass well and had the type of energy that would drive an attack forward. Clough drove to Gemmill's house. When the player refused to sign for Derby (who had never won the league title), Clough told him that he was going to sleep outside in the car. "But my wife invited him in and he stayed the night," Gemmill said. Clough, eventually, got his man for £60,000 over fried eggs the following morning.In his fifth season as chairman, Sam Longson received a telegram by his fourth season manager Brian Clough informing him about the arrival of Central-back Colin Todd in February 1971 for a British record transfer fee for a defender of £175,000.^[1] Todd rejoined with Clough after played for his youth squad at Sunderland in 1965.^[2]^[3] When linked with the club, Brian Clough famously remarked "We're not signing Colin Todd, we can't afford him". He then signed him that same day. Also for this campaigned arrived Forward Jeff Bourne from Burton Albion.^[4]

The team finished on a disappointing 9th spot in First Division. However, during August the team clinched the inaugural Watney Cup after defeating Fulham F.C., Sheffield United and, on the Final in front of 32,000 fans the squad won with a 4-1 score against Manchester United.^[5]

Squad[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Colin Boulton
—	GK	ENG	Les Green
—	DF	ENG	Ron Webster
—	DF	ENG	Tony Rhodes
—	DF	ENG	Peter Daniel
—	DF	ENG	Roy McFarland
—	DF	WAL	Terry Hennessey
—	DF	ENG	John Richardson
—	DF	ENG	John Robson
—	DF	ENG	Colin Todd


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	SCO	Dave Mackay (Captain)
—	MF	ENG	Willie Carlin
—	MF	WAL	Alan Durban
—	MF	SCO	John McGovern
—	MF	ENG	Alan Hinton
—	FW	ENG	Kevin Hector
—	FW	SCO	John O'Hare
—	FW	ENG	Frank Wignall
—	FW	ENG	Barry Butlin
—	FW	ENG	Jeff Bourne

Transfers[edit]

In
Pos.	Name	from	Type
MF	Archie Gemmill	Preston North End	£60,000
FW	Barry Butlin	Notts County	loan ended

Out
Pos.	Name	To	Type
MF	Arthur Stewart	Ballymena United F.C.
DF	Pat Wright	Southend United
DF	Jim Walker	Hartlepool United	loan

Winter[edit]

In
Pos.	Name	from	Type
DF	Colin Todd	Sunderland	£175,000
FW	Jeff Bourne	Burton Albion

Out
Pos.	Name	To	Type

Pre-season and friendlies[edit]

Watney Cup[edit]

1 August 1970 1	Fulham F.C.	3-5 (a.e.t.)	Derby County	Fulham
	Steve Earle 6' Vic Halom 11' Vic Halom 13'		2' O'Hare 23'Hector 69'Durban 102'Hector 106'Durban	Stadium: Craven Cottage Attendance: 18,501 Referee: R Matthewson

5 August 1970 Semifinals	Derby County	1-0	Sheffield United	Derby
	McGovern 30'			Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 25,322 Referee: D Smith

8 August 1970 Final	Derby County	4-1	Manchester United	Derby
	McFarland 19' Hinton 23' Durban 35' Mackay 72'		32'Best	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 32,049 Referee: K Walker

Competitions[edit]

First Division[edit]

League table[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
7	Southampton	42	17	12	13	56	44	1.273	46	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
8	Manchester United	42	16	11	15	65	66	0.985	43	Qualification for the Watney Cup^[a]
9	Derby County	42	16	10	16	56	54	1.037	42
10	Coventry City	42	16	10	16	37	38	0.974	42
11	Manchester City	42	12	17	13	47	42	1.119	41

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
Notes:

^ Manchester United and West Bromwich Albion qualified for the Watney Cup as the two teams with the most goals that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.

Results by round[edit]

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Ground	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H
Result	L	W	W	W	D	L	L	L	W	L	D	D	L	L	L	D	D	W	W	L	D	L	D	L	W	W	W	W	W	L	D	L	L	L	W	L	W	D	W	W	D	W
Position	18	8	5	5	4	-	8	13	11	14	13	13	14	18	20	18	19	14	16	15	16	18	16	15	15	15	13	14	13	14	14	14	13	13	13	12	12	12	10	9	8	9

Source: Competitive matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; = Leader, Qualification to 1971–72 European Cup; = Qualification to 1971–72 UEFA Cup; = Relegation to 1971–72 Second Division; c = Qualification for the Watney Cup

Matches[edit]

source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/derby-county/tab/matches/season/1971/

15 August 1970 1	Chelsea F.C.	2-1	Derby County	Fulham
	Hutchinson 74', 84'		25' O’Hare	Stadium: Stamford Bridge Attendance: 46,969

19 August 1970 2	Wolverhampton	2-4	Derby County	Wolverhampton
	Curran 19' Dougan 29'		15', 31' McGovern 21' Durban 23' O’Hare	Stadium: Molineux Stadium Attendance: 29,910

22 August 1970 3	Derby County	2-0	Stoke City	Derby
	Hinton 19' (pen) Wignall 47'			Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 35,461

26 August 1970 4	Derby County	2-0	Ipswich Town	Derby
	Harper 3' (o.g.) Hector 23'			Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 30,869

29 August 1970 5	Huddersfield Town	0-0	Derby County	Huddersfield
				Stadium: Leeds Road Attendance: 27,997

2 September 1970 6	Derby County	3-4	Coventry City	Derby
	Hinton 13' McGovern 62' Hector 8'		88' Carr 31' Clements 28' Martin 54' Martin	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 31,621 Referee: R Capey

5 September 1970 7	Derby County	1-2	Newcastle United	Derby
	O’Hare 40'		4' Dyson 14' Young	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 30,466

12 September 1970 8	Southampton F.C.	4-0	Derby County	Southampton
	Davies 34', 52' Channon 56', 89'			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 19,429

19 September 1970 9	Derby County	1-0	Burnley F.C.	Derby
	Hinton 5'			Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 26,749

26 September 1970 10	West Bromwich Albion	2-1	Derby County	West Bromwich
	McVitie 22' Brown 73'		46' O’Hare	Stadium: The Hawthorns Attendance: 31,437

3 October 1970 11	Derby County	1-1	Tottenham Hotspur	Derby
	Hinton 81' (pen)		47' Peters	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 36,007

10 October 1970 12	Everton F.C.	1-1	Derby County	Walton
	Morrissey 23'		48' McGovern	Stadium: Goodison Park Attendance: 46,214

17 October 1970 13	Derby County	1-2	Chelsea F.C.	Derby
	O’Hare 3'		26', 57' Weller	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 35,166

24 October 1970 14	Derby County	0-2	Leeds United	Derby
			53' Clarke 65' Lorimer	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 32,797

31 October 1970 15	Arsenal F.C.	2-0	Derby County	Highbury
	Kelly 35' Radford 66'			Stadium: Highbury Stadium Attendance: 43,023

7 November 1970 16	Derby County	0-0	Liverpool F.C.	Derby
				Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 33,004

14 November 1970 17	Manchester City	1-1	Derby County	Moss Side
	Bell 77'		24' O’Hare	Stadium: Maine Road Attendance: 31,817

21 November 1970 18	Derby County	2-0	Blackpool F.C.	Derby
	Hector 39' McFarland 59'			Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 28,237

28 November 1970 19	Nottingham Forest	2-4	Derby County	West Bridgford
	Chapman 8' Storey-Moore 32'		26' Gemmill 55' O’Hare 59' Wignall 72' McGovern	Stadium: The City Ground Attendance: 30,539

5 December 1970 20	Derby County	2-4	West Ham United	Derby
	Wignall 8' Durban 26'		16' Greaves 19' Brooking 71' Best 88' Best	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 30,806

12 December 1970 21	Crystal Palace F.C.	0-0	Derby County	Selhurst
				Stadium: Selhurst Park Attendance: 24,418

19 December 1970 22	Stoke City	1-0	Derby County	Stoke-on-Trent
	Burrows 60'			Stadium: Victoria Ground Attendance: 21,906

26 December 1970 23	Derby County	4-4	Manchester United	Derby
	MacKay 2' Wignall 21' Hector 67' Gemill 70'		74' Kidd 55' Law 59' Law 57' Best	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 34,068
Note: Les Green made his final appearance before moving to Durban City in August 1971.

9 January 1971 24	Derby County	1-2	Wolverhampton	Derby
	Gemmill 78' (pen)		2' Shaw 89' Gould	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 34,243

16 January 1971 25	Ipswich Town	0-1	Derby County	Ipswich
			56' O’Hare	Stadium: Portman Road Attendance: 20,231

6 February 1971 26	West Ham United	1-4	Derby County	Upton Park
	Eustace 48'		7' Hector 19' Hector 29' Hinton 67' Hinton	Stadium: Boleyn Ground Attendance: 26,606

17 February 1971 27	Derby County	1-0	Crystal Palace F.C.	Derby
	Mackay 76'			Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 25,521

20 February 1971 28	Blackpool F.C.	0-1	Derby County	Blackpool
			24' O’Hare	Stadium: Bloomfield Road Attendance: 17,892

27 February 1971 29	Derby County	2-0	Arsenal F.C.	Derby
	McFarland 31' Hector 50'			Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 35,875
Note: Colin Todd made his debut after moving from Sunderland this month.

6 March 1971 30	Leeds United	1-0	Derby County	Leeds
	Lorimer 77'			Stadium: Elland Road Attendance: 36,467

13 March 1971 31	Derby County	0-0	Manchester City	Derby
				Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 31,987

20 March 1971 32	Liverpool F.C.	2-0	Derby County	Anfield
	Mackay 42' (o.g.) Lawler 88'			Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 40,990

27 March 1971 33	Newcastle United	3-1	Derby County	Newcastle upon Tyne
	Mackay 1' (o.g.) Webster 21' (o.g.) Foggon 55'		89' Hector	Stadium: St James' Park Attendance: 26,026

31 March 1971 34	Derby County	1-2	Nottingham Forest	Derby
	Hector 90'		20' Richardson 81' Storey-Moore	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 34,857

3 April 1971 35	Derby County	3-2	Huddersfield Town	Derby
	Hinton 14' (pen), 67' Hector 16'		Clarke 38' Ellam 39'	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 24,113

7 April 1971 36	Tottenham Hotspur	2-1	Derby County	Tottenham
	Chivers Pearce		Hinton	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 25,627
Note: John Richardson made his final appearance before moving to Notts County in July.

10 April 1971 37	Manchester United	1-2	Derby County	Greater Manchester
	Law 72'		37', 50' O’Hare	Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 45,691

12 Apr 1971 38	Derby County	0-0	Southampton F.C.	Derby
				Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 26,217

17 Apr 1971 39	Derby County	3-1	Everton F.C.	Derby
	Hector 29' O’Hare 49', 51'		75' Whittle	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 28,793

24 Apr 1971 40	Burnley F.C.	1-2	Derby County	Burnley
	Casper 28'		52' Durban 79' McGovern	Stadium: Turf Moor Attendance: 10,349

27 Apr 1971 41	Coventry City	0-0	Derby County	Coventry
				Stadium: Highfield Road Attendance: 22,051

1 May 1971 42	Derby County	2-0	West Bromwich Albion	Derby
	Durban 27' Hinton 60'			Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 33,651

FA Cup[edit]

2 January 1971 3rd round	Chester F.C.	1-2	Derby County	Chester
	Keith Webber 84'		25' Wignall 64' Gemmill	Stadium: Sealand Road Attendance: 15,882

23 January 1971 4th round	Derby County	2-1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Derby
	Alan Hinton 27' (pen) John O'Hare 89'		80' John Richards	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 40,576

13 February 1971 5th round	Everton F.C.	1-0	Derby County	Liverpool
	David Johnson 43'			Stadium: Goodison Park Attendance: 53,490

Football League Cup[edit]

8 September 1970 Second round	Derby County	3-1	Halifax Town	Derby
	Alan Durban 19', 68' Kevin Hector 45'		26' Phil McCarthy	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 20,029 Referee: P Partridge

7 October 1970 Third round	Derby County	4-2	Millwall F.C.	Derby
	Dave Mackay Alan Hinton (pen) John McGovern John O'Hare		Derek Possee Gordon Bolland	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 25,537

27 October 1970 Fourth round	Coventry City	1-0	Derby County	Coventry
	Neil Martin 59'			Stadium: Highfield Road Attendance: 26,557 Referee: C Thomas

Statistics[edit]

Players statistics[edit]

Substitute appearances indicated in brackets

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		First Division		League Cup		FA Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	ENG	Colin Boulton	22	0	19	0	3	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Ron Webster	41	0	34+1	0	3	0	3	0
	DF	SCO	Dave Mackay	47	3	42	2	3	0	2	1
	DF	ENG	Roy McFarland	41	2	35	2	3	0	3	0
	DF	ENG	John Robson	40	0	34+1	0	2	0	3	0
	MF	SCO	John McGovern	39	7	32+2	6	3	0	2	1
	MF	WAL	Alan Durban	32	6	26+2	4	2	0	2	2
	MF	SCO	Archie Gemmill	34	4	31	3	3	1
	MF	ENG	Alan Hinton	39	12	34	10	2	1	3	1
	FW	ENG	Kevin Hector	48	12	42	11	3	0	3	1
	FW	SCO	John O'Hare	48	15	42	13	3	1	3	1
	GK	ENG	Les Green	26	0	23	0	0	0	3	0
	DF	ENG	Colin Todd	14	0	14	0
	MF	ENG	Willie Carlin	15	0	13	0	0	0	2	0
	DF	WAL	Terry Hennessey	14	0	12	0	1	0	1	0
	FW	ENG	Frank Wignall	20	5	10+7	4	1	1	2	0
	DF	ENG	John Richardson	8	0	8	0
	DF	ENG	Peter Daniel	6	1	4	1	1	0	0+1	0
	DF	ENG	Tony Rhodes	4	0	3	0	0	0	1	0
	FW	ENG	Jeff Bourne	2	0	2	0
	FW	ENG	Barry Butlin	1	0	1	0
	DF	ENG	Jim Walker	1	0	1	0

Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/derby-county/tab/players/season/1971/

References[edit]

^ "Appearances by season and competition". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
^ "Sunderland AFC 1966/67". Rokerpark.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
^ Nannestad, Ian (13 November 2007). "PFA Centenary Auction – a tribute to the stars featured in this unique collection". Professional Footballers' Association (PFA). Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
^ "We are the Champions: 1974-75 – Derby County". gameofthepeople.com. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
^ Steve Nicholson (18 November 2020). "'So perfect' The story behind Derby County's Watney Cup success". derbytelegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2023.

[table_note_res_WAC0.079517453480287-6] Manchester United and West Bromwich Albion qualified for the Watney Cup as the two teams with the most goals that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.

[1] "Appearances by season and competition". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2009.

[2] "Sunderland AFC 1966/67". Rokerpark.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2009.

[3] Nannestad, Ian (13 November 2007). "PFA Centenary Auction – a tribute to the stars featured in this unique collection". Professional Footballers' Association (PFA). Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2009.

[4] "We are the Champions: 1974-75 – Derby County". gameofthepeople.com. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2016.

[5] Steve Nicholson (18 November 2020). "'So perfect' The story behind Derby County's Watney Cup success". derbytelegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2023.

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