History of Derby County: Rams on the Rampage

Aug 10, 2011
Steve Rogerson

Statue of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor at Pride Park - Photo by Steve Rogerson

The history of Derby County, once one of Europe's top clubs under Brian Clough, and now playing in the Championship.

Derby County have experienced both the slumps and the joys of football, having once reached the dizzy heights of being one of the best clubs in Europe in the days when the famous Brian Clough was their manager. Today, Brian’s son Nigel is in charge as they struggle at the wrong end of the Championship.

The history of the club though is based in cricket and not football, being an offshoot of the Derbyshire County Cricket Club, which was formed in 1870, and is why the club still has the word “County” in its name. The football club was created 14 years later, in 1884.

Derby County the Early Years

Because the club was formed before the Football League, most of its early games were friendlies and FA Cup matches, but it built up a sufficient reputation that when the Football League was formed in 1888, Derby County was invited to be one of the 12 founder members. It was not a promising start though, with Derby finishing tenth in the first season.

The club regularly oscillated between emphatic wins and awful defeats, as was well illustrated in the 1890-91 season when they followed an 8-0 drubbing by Sunderland with a 9-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, a record win that still stands today. That year, the club merged with Derby Midland, which was formed in 1883.

In the early days, the football games were played at the County Cricket Ground, but in 1892 they played one match at the Baseball Ground, the home of Derby County Baseball Club. Four years later, in 1895 the club moved permanently to the Baseball Ground and it was to be their home until 1997 when they moved to the purpose built Pride Park where they play from today.

One of the club’s most famous players – Steve Bloomer – made his debut aged 18 years old in 1892. A few weeks later he scored his first goal for the club, and went onto score a total of 332 goals, making him Derby County’s all-time highest goal scorer.

Success though was still hard to come by in the early days, with the best league finish being second in 1896 and they suffered FA Cup final defeats in 1898 to local rivals Nottingham Forest and in 1899 to Sheffield United. They made the final again in 1903, but were stuffed 6-0 by Bury.

In 1907, the club was relegated to the second division, where they stayed until 1912 when they topped the table and won promotion. Relegation came again in 1914, but this time only for a season as they won the second division the following year.

Highs and Lows

After the break for the First World War, Derby County found themselves struggling again, being relegated in 1921 and it wasn’t until 1926 that a second place earned them promotion to the top flight. Things were looking better for the club this time and in 1930 they finished Division One runners-up, and they did the same in 1936.

With the Football League suspended for the Second World War, Derby County entered the Football League North, which they won in 1945 and completed a double by winning the Midland Cup. But the following year they brought home their first major trophy when they won the FA Cup Final, beating Charlton Athletic 4-1 at Wembley.

But hopes that that was to be the dawn of a new era were dashed as the club went into a slow decline culminating in relegation in 1953. It was to get worse, and in 1955 they were relegated again, to Division Three North, where they stayed for two seasons before being promoted as champions in 1957.

Brian Clough and Dave Mackay

The club hovered around in the second division until 1967, when Brian Clough took over as manager and appointed Peter Taylor as his assistant. A year later, Clough brought in Dave Mackay from Tottenham Hotspur and that was the trigger that saw them win the second division title in 1969. They finished fourth in their first season back in the top division.

Brian Clough though was to guide them to their first Football League title in 1972. This earned them a place for the first time in the European Cup. After beating the legendary Benfica, they progressed to the quarter finals where they lost to Juventus.

After a dispute with the board, Clough and Taylor resigned in 1973 and Dave Mackay took over as manager. He took them to third in the league and a place in the Uefa Cup, but they only managed to reach the third round, claiming the scalp of Atletico Madrid on the way. In 1975, with Mackay still in charge, they again won the Football League. The following year’s European Cup saw Derby beat Real Madrid 4-1 at home before being stuffed away to lose 5-6 on aggregate. That year, they could only manage fourth in the league but reached the FA Cup semi-final.

The following season saw them knocked out early in the Uefa Cup and start poorly in the league, leading to Mackay’s departure before the season reached its half-way point.

Derby County Today

After unsuccessfully trying to tempt Clough and Taylor back, the club went through a succession of managers and the instability that created led to them being relegated in 1980. When serious financial problems raised their head, even the return of Taylor as manager could not save them from relegation to the third tier in 1984. Two years later, with Arthur Cox in charge, the club returned to the second tier after finishing third. The following season saw promotion again as champions, and Derby County were back in the top division.

With money from new chairman Robert Maxwell, the Rams started to become a force again and they finished fifth in 1989. But that was as high as it went as the money dried up and players left. A 20-match run without a win saw them relegated again in 1991.

Maxwell left and local millionaire Lionel Pickering arrived. After narrowly missing promotion in 1992, Derby the following year reached the final of the Anglo-Italian Cup, losing to Cremonese at Wembley. They were back at Wembley the following year in the play-off final, but again lost, this time to Leicester City. In 1996 though a 20-match unbeaten run helped them secure second place and promotion to the Premier League.

The following season in the top flight was to be the last at the Baseball Ground before the move to Pride Park. They finished mid-table that year and did better the following two seasons in the new ground with top ten finishes. The next two years though saw them avoid relegation by the skin of their teeth.

The inevitable happened in 2002 when the club were relegated back to the second tier. In 2005, they came close to promotion, losing in the play-offs to Preston North End. Two years later, they beat West Bromwich Albion in the play-off final at Wembley to return to the Premiership, but only for one season as a bottom place finish saw them back in the Championship, where they still are today.