Programme of the week number 11 – Derby County v Borussia Dortmund 1951 (Festival of Britain)

Programme of the week number 11 – Derby County v Borussia Dortmund 1951 (Festival of Britain)

In the summer of 1951 a national exhibition and fair was held throughout the UK known as the Festival of Britain. Its objective was to give British citizens a feeling of successful recovery after World War Two and to promote British science, technology, culture and sport. As part of the festival, the FA organised friendly games which mostly involved English teams playing against Scottish, Irish and European clubs. Derby County took part in the competition and played Borussia Dortmund on…

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Programme of the week number 10 – 1982/83 Derby County v Fulham

Programme of the week number 10 – 1982/83 Derby County v Fulham

Eight years after being crowned League Champions, Derby, now under the management of Peter Taylor and Roy McFarland, found themselves in a struggle to avoid relegation to the Third Division and, going into the final day of the season, with nothing decided, were one of nine clubs who faced the drop depending upon results. This, however, was still a vast improvement in a season which had seen them bottom of the table in mid-March before going on a 13-match unbeaten…

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Programme of the week number 9 – Carlisle v Derby County 1968-1969 (postponed)

Programme of the week number 9 – Carlisle v Derby County 1968-1969 (postponed)

The Rams were due to travel to Carlisle United for a Division Two fixture on Saturday 8 February 1969 but the game was postponed due to severe frost and snowfall in Scotland and northern England. Manchester had recorded temperatures of -13°C and only two games in the division went ahead, in Cardiff and Portsmouth. Brian Clough and Peter Taylor’s team were four points clear at the top of the league on 40 points from 29 games, with Carlisle in mid-table…

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Programme of the week number 8 – Charlton Athletic v Derby County 1951/1952

Programme of the week number 8 – Charlton Athletic v Derby County 1951/1952

If there was one ground that Derby would have anticipated visiting with great relish at this time, it would have been the vast bowl that was The Valley, home of Charlton Athletic. Since the resumption of League football after the war, Derby had made five visits there and returned home with five victories resulting in an aggregate score of 19-6 in the Rams’ favour. November of 1951 opened with Charlton lying 6th in the table (4 points behind leaders Bolton)…

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Programme of the week number 7 – Derby County v Luton Town 1954/1955

Programme of the week number 7 – Derby County v Luton Town 1954/1955

Milburn Shanks, deputy sports editor of the Derby Evening Telegraph, wrote the following in his match report for the 0-0 Division Two draw at home to Luton on 3 March 1955: “‘Just what more has a team to do to earn two points?’ was a question I heard asked several times by Rams’ supporters after the game at the Baseball Ground yesterday, bewildered because relegation-haunted Derby County, after attacking for a good 90 per cent of the time against promotion-challengers Luton Town, could…

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1960/61 Watford v Derby County [League Cup first round]

1960/61 Watford v Derby County [League Cup first round]

By the end of the 1950s, most (though not all) Football League clubs had installed floodlights (Southampton, in 1950, being the first) but it had taken until 1956 for the FA to agree to clubs using them to play competitive matches. Up until then, it had been exclusively used for friendly fixtures. There were various reasons put forward as to why it was not a good idea, ranging from cost of installation, players being ‘blinded’ by the lights when the…

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Programme of the week number 5 – Lincoln City v Derby County (Johnny Campbell Benefit) May 1939

Programme of the week number 5 – Lincoln City v Derby County (Johnny Campbell Benefit) May 1939

Derby travelled to Lincoln on Wednesday May 3, 1939, to play in a benefit game arranged for the Imps’ Scottish striker Johnny Campbell. Campbell, the second highest goalscorer in Lincoln City’s history, and only one of two players to have scored over 100 Football League goals for the club, was due to retire from professional football that summer due to injury. Derby finished the 1938/1939 season in 6th place in Division One and had already played their final league game…

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Programme of the Week Number 4 – 1955/56 Crook Town v Derby County [FA Cup 1st round]

Programme of the Week Number 4 – 1955/56 Crook Town v Derby County [FA Cup 1st round]

Despite having competed for the FA Cup in 130 of its 144 years, Derby have had comparatively few ties against clubs referred to in modern parlance as “non-league”. Season 1955/56 however, the Rams’ first-ever in the third tier of English football, saw no fewer than three of those ties take place. In the 1940s and 1950s, the North-East of England could lay genuine claim to the title of “hotbed of football”. Newcastle and Sunderland were giants of the professional game…

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Programme of the week number 3 – Derby v ‘Liverpoool’ – 1990/1991

Programme of the week number 3 – Derby v ‘Liverpoool’ – 1990/1991

Derby’s game at home to Liverpool on Saturday 23 March 1991 was memorable for all the wrong reasons – the Rams lost 7-1 on their way to relegation from Division 1 along with Sunderland and Luton. Dean Saunders scored the only goal for the Rams. Liverpool’s scorers were Molby, Rush, Houghton and two from Barnes and Nicol. Derby won only one league game after 1 December, a 6-2 win against Southampton at the Baseball Ground in May, Paul Williams scoring…

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Programme of the Week number 2 – 1932/1933 Southend United v Derby County (FA Cup fourth round)

Programme of the Week number 2 – 1932/1933 Southend United v Derby County (FA Cup fourth round)

Derby’s ongoing attempt to finally win the FA Cup had seen several near misses down the years and season 1932/33 would turn out to be another of those, the club eventually reaching the semi-final where they would lose out to Manchester City. An eventful third round tie at Molineux ended in a 6-3 victory for the Rams and the fourth round draw sent them to the Essex coast and a meeting with Southend United who were sitting mid-table in the…

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