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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. 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 however, whilst the Marples' departure was put down to the death of a family friend in a helicopter accident <ref>[http://www.therams.co.uk/details.asp?key=1D29|0|2185366269754|R|536|11399242162007495840232 Derby County FC - The Rams from the Derby Evening Telegraph : I've rethought my life after mate's death in helicopter<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. 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,<ref>[http://www.lfconline.co.uk/news/loadgnrl.asp?id=340298&teamno=181 Mike Horton leaves board]</ref>, Martin Ridgeway as Financial Director & Company Secretary, John Vicars as Operations Director and Steve Coakley as Commercial Director.
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. 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 however, whilst the Marples' departure was put down to the death of a family friend in a helicopter accident <ref>[http://www.therams.co.uk/details.asp?key=1D29|0|2185366269754|R|536|11399242162007495840232 Derby County FC - The Rams from the Derby Evening Telegraph : I've rethought my life after mate's death in helicopter<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. 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,<ref>[http://www.lfconline.co.uk/news/loadgnrl.asp?id=340298&teamno=181 Mike Horton leaves board]</ref>, Martin Ridgeway as Financial Director & Company Secretary, John Vicars as Operations Director and Steve Coakley as Commercial Director.


As a result of promotion much of the summer was spent improving the playing and backroom staff.
In preparation for the club's return to the Premier League Davies spent the summer busily improving the playing and backroom staff.

Derby began their summer signings by buying [[Robert Earnshaw]] from [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich]] for £3.5 million, breaking the club's transfer fee record.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/derby_county/6254710.stm Derby sign Earnshaw] BBC Sport Online</ref> Derby then signed [[Tyrone Mears]] for £1 million from [[West Ham United]], following his successful loan spell at Pride Park during the second half of the 2006&ndash;07 season. This was followed up on 6 July 2007 with the signing of [[Sheffield United]] defender [[Claude Davis]] on a £3 million deal, with terms agreed on a four year contract. A few days later it was announced that Andy Todd, son of legendary Rams defender Colin Todd, would be signing for Derby for an undisclosed fee thought to be around £700,000. Finally, Derby signed [[Ipswich Town F.C.|Ipswich Town]] keeper [[Lewis Price]] on July 27 2007 for a fee thought to be around £200,000. In August 2007, Derby completed the signing of two American international midfielders, [[Benny Feilhaber]] from [[Hamburger SV|Hamburg]] and [[Eddie Lewis]] from [[Leeds United]].
In the period between the win over West Brom and the opening game of the 2007/07 season Derby signed [[Robert Earnshaw]] from [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich]] for a club record fee of £3.5 million<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/derby_county/6254710.stm Derby sign Earnshaw] BBC Sport Online</ref>, permenantly signed on loan defender [[Tyrone Mears]] for £1 million from [[West Ham United]], [[Sheffield United]] defender [[Claude Davis]] on a £3 million deal, Andy Todd, son of legendary Rams defender Colin Todd, for an undsiclosed fee thought to be around £700,000 from Blackburn, [[Ipswich Town F.C.|Ipswich Town]] keeper [[Lewis Price]] on July 27 2007 for around £200,000 and, finally, in August 2007, two American international midfielders in the shape of [[Hamburger SV|Hamburg]]'s [[Benny Feilhaber]] and [[Eddie Lewis]] from [[Leeds United]].


In the coaching department, Derby appointed Colin Miller as Assistant First Team Coach and Craig Brown as Footballing Consultant as part of a change to the backroom staff at the club, while Billy Davies also signed a 12 month contract extension until 2010. Finally, on 6 July 2007 it was announced that [[David Kelly (footballer)|David Kelly]], Davies former assistant at Preston, would be joining the club as the new [[Assistant Manager]],<ref>[http://www.dcfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10270~1069065,00.html David Kelly appointed as Assistant Manager]</ref> an appointment which Davies had been pursuing for several months.
In the coaching department, Derby appointed Colin Miller as Assistant First Team Coach and Craig Brown as Footballing Consultant as part of a change to the backroom staff at the club, while Billy Davies also signed a 12 month contract extension until 2010. Finally, on 6 July 2007 it was announced that [[David Kelly (footballer)|David Kelly]], Davies former assistant at Preston, would be joining the club as the new [[Assistant Manager]],<ref>[http://www.dcfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10270~1069065,00.html David Kelly appointed as Assistant Manager]</ref> an appointment which Davies had been pursuing for several months.

Revision as of 15:29, 25 March 2008

Derby County
Badge of Derby County FC
Full nameDerby County Football Club
Nickname(s)The Rams
Founded1884
GroundPride Park Stadium, Derby
Capacity33,597
ChairmanUnited States Andrew Appleby
ManagerEngland Paul Jewell
LeaguePremier League
2006–07Football League Championship, 3rd
(promoted via play-offs)
Current season

Derby County Football Club are an English football club based in Derby. They currently play in the Premier League, the highest division of English football.

History

Further information: History of Derby County F.C.

The club was formed in 1884 as an offshoot of Derbyshire County Cricket Club. Derby initially played 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. In 1891 they absorbed Derby Midland F.C.. 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, 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. They were losing finalists again in 1899 and 1903. Derby were relegated to the Football League's Second Division for the first time in 1907, 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, more successful times lay ahead, instigated by Derby's promotion in 1926. The club became a formidable force, with high finishes from the late 1920s and all through the 1930s. The 30s side included goal scorer Hughie Gallacher from '34 to '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. 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.

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, 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".[1] 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.

Arthur Cox

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 (like Hughie Gallacher before him McMinn had started his senior career at Queen of the South F.C.). 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 from suspected suicide[citation needed], 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 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.

Derby County made an 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.

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 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, John Gregory was appointed Derby manager. 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 bought in temporarily. He later received the job on a permanent basis.

The club's parent company went into liquidation in October 2003 and Lionel Pickering gave way to a new board led by John Sleightholme, who bought the club for 1p. 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 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. Billy Davies was then brought in as manager and achieved instant success as Derby won the Football League Championship playoff final, gaining promotion to the Premier League after a five-year exile.

Recent times

Former Rams Chairman Peter Gadsby

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 popular 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. 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 however, whilst the Marples' departure was put down to the death of a family friend in a helicopter accident [2]. 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,[3], Martin Ridgeway as Financial Director & Company Secretary, John Vicars as Operations Director and Steve Coakley as Commercial Director.

In preparation for the club's return to the Premier League Davies spent the summer busily improving the playing and backroom staff.

In the period between the win over West Brom and the opening game of the 2007/07 season Derby signed Robert Earnshaw from Norwich for a club record fee of £3.5 million[4], permenantly signed on loan defender Tyrone Mears for £1 million from West Ham United, Sheffield United defender Claude Davis on a £3 million deal, Andy Todd, son of legendary Rams defender Colin Todd, for an undsiclosed fee thought to be around £700,000 from Blackburn, Ipswich Town keeper Lewis Price on July 27 2007 for around £200,000 and, finally, in August 2007, two American international midfielders in the shape of Hamburg's Benny Feilhaber and Eddie Lewis from Leeds United.

In the coaching department, Derby appointed Colin Miller as Assistant First Team Coach and Craig Brown as Footballing Consultant as part of a change to the backroom staff at the club, while Billy Davies also signed a 12 month contract extension until 2010. Finally, on 6 July 2007 it was announced that David Kelly, Davies former assistant at Preston, would be joining the club as the new Assistant Manager,[5] an appointment which Davies had been pursuing for several months.

Despite this strengthening, Derby made a disasterous 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.[6] 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 at the beginning of October and, on October 29th 2007, Gadsby stepped down as Chairman to be replaced by former Hull City owner Adam Pearson. Meanwhile, results on the pitch weren't improving, however, with another poor performance away to Aston Villa being followed by an embarassing 5-0 home defeat against a West Ham side ravanged by injuries.

After taking just 6 points from 14 matches Davies left by mutual consent after a meeting with Adam Pearson, taking the majority of his newly assembled backroom staff with him. 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 dismissal, on November 26th 2007, Derby appointed highly rated former Wigan Athletic F.C. manager Paul Jewell.

Jewell was busy in the January 2008 transfer window, selling several players and bringing seven new players in, namely Argentine striker Emanuel Villa, ex-England international defender Danny Mills on loan from Manchester City, Blackburn midfielder Robbie Savage, French winger, Laurent Robert and Tottenham's Egyptian midfielder Hossam Ghaly on loan, Genclerbirligi's Mile Sterjovski and Rangers goalkeeper Roy Carroll. Although performances improved, results didn't and many at the club had accepected 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.[7]

Season-by-season history

See Derby County F.C. seasons

Kit

1884-94 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. The colours of away kits have varied widely, and although they are usually yellow/gold or blue, the colour of the away shirt for the 2007–08 season is black.

Kit manufacturers

Shirt sponsors

Club badge

Derby County's badge from 1946-1971

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).

Derby County's badge from 1997-2007

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.

Stadia

Derby County have played at three different stadia:

Supporters and rivalry

Derby County's fierce rivals are Nottingham Forest, who are based in Nottingham, a city a few miles north-east of 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.[8] Leicester City, also based in the East Midlands, are also local rivals, and Notts County, also from Nottingham.

Other rivals include West Midlands sides such as Aston Villa, Bimingham City, Stoke City,West Brom and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

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.

Current squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Wales WAL Lewis Price
2 DF England ENG Marc Edworthy
4 DF Scotland SCO James McEveley
5 DF England ENG Dean Leacock
7 MF England ENG David Jones
8 DF England ENG Alan Stubbs
9 FW Argentina ARG Emanuel Villa
10 FW Wales WAL Robert Earnshaw
14 FW Scotland SCO Kenny Miller
15 MF United States USA Eddie Lewis
17 DF England ENG Andy Todd
19 DF Jamaica JAM Claude Davis
21 MF Australia AUS Mile Sterjovski
22 MF United States USA Benny Feilhaber
No. Pos. Nation Player
23 DF Jamaica JAM Darren Moore
24 DF England ENG Tyrone Mears
25 MF Scotland SCO Stephen Pearson
26 MF France FRA Laurent Robert
27 DF England ENG Danny Mills (on loan from Manchester City)
28 MF England ENG Giles Barnes
29 GK England ENG Ben Hinchliffe
31 GK Northern Ireland NIR Roy Carroll
32 DF England ENG Miles Addison
35 DF England ENG Jason Beardsley
39 DF England ENG Roy Wilkinson
40 MF Egypt EGY Hossam Ghaly (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)
44 MF Wales WAL Robbie Savage (captain)


Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
3 DF Guinea GUI Mohammed Camara (at Norwich City)
6 DF Jamaica JAM Michael Johnson (at Notts County)
11 FW England ENG Craig Fagan (at Hull City)
16 MF Scotland SCO Gary Teale (at Plymouth Argyle)
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 MF England ENG Lee Holmes (at Walsall)
30 DF Wales WAL Lewin Nyatanga (at Barnsley)
43 GK England ENG Stephen Bywater (at Ipswich Town)

Notable former players

File:Steve Bloomer.jpg
Steve Bloomer, Derby County player from 1892-1906 and 1910-1914

See also: Category:Derby County F.C. players

  • A complete list of all the Club's former players can be found here

Player of the year (the Jack Stamps Trophy)

  • 2007-2008 Not awarded.[9]

At a fans forum conference on 11 March 2008 the club told supporters that the trophy would not be handed out for the 2007/08 campaign.[9]

Managers

Managerial history

Current management team

Board of directors

Club mascot

Derby County's mascot, Rammie

The club's mascot is a ram named Rammie. The Rams were named after the mascot of the Sherwood Foresters (formerly The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) which was formed three years before Derby County. Rammie emerged as a more friendly option to the club's traditional links with the army. At half-time staff of Derby County "Football In The Community" get small goal nets out and he acts as goalkeeper allowing children to take penalties at him. In 2005, Rammie released his first DVD, which features the character reading from Aesop's Fables in the Derbyshire countryside.

Club academy

The Moor Farm training complex at the club is one of the best in Europe, with world class training facilities. The purpose-built complex in Oakwood was built at a cost of £5.2 million and it covers fifty acres and features six full-sized training pitches plus a state of the art indoor pitch as well as a gym and a restaurant. This has provided young players from the likes of Tom Huddlestone, Lee Camp, Lewin Nyatanga and Giles Barnes.

Honours

Note: the leagues and divisions of English football have changed somewhat over time, so here they are grouped into their relative levels on the English football league system at the time they were won to allow easy comparison of the achievement

Club records

All-time club records:[11]

References

  1. ^ Brian Clough obituary The Guardian, 21 September 2004
  2. ^ Derby County FC - The Rams from the Derby Evening Telegraph : I've rethought my life after mate's death in helicopter
  3. ^ Mike Horton leaves board
  4. ^ Derby sign Earnshaw BBC Sport Online
  5. ^ David Kelly appointed as Assistant Manager
  6. ^ "Paddy Power pays out on Derby relegation". Teamtalk.co.uk. 2007-08-31. Retrieved 2007-09-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ General Sports and Entertainment Takeover - BBC Sport
  8. ^ Derby win first Brian Clough Trophy
  9. ^ a b forums.therams.co.uk Cite error: The named reference "07/08 PotY Source" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  10. ^ Player of the Year list at Derby Evening Telegraph
  11. ^ "FACTS AND FIGURES". Derby County F.C. 2007-08-22. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  12. ^ Includes only those caps won whilst at Derby County

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