Without a win in four matches, Derby County travelled to Elland Road on Saturday 1 December 1934 to face Leeds United. All eyes were on Hughie Gallacher, the prolific Scottish forward recently signed from Chelsea for £2,750 by Rams manager George Jobey. Gallacher, brought in to replace the injured Jack Bowers, was set to make his fourth consecutive appearance in black and white.

The cover of the official matchday programme is dominated by an advertisement for Thorne’s Creamy Milk Chocolate – a product of the long-standing confectionery company founded by Henry Thorne in the 1830s. At its peak, the firm produced over two million pieces of confectionery a day before closing in 1972.

Inside, the “United Notes” section lamented the extent of Leeds’ injury woes: “We do not think that any club in the country has had to contend with more injuries – serious injuries – than ourselves.” The list of absentees included forward Arthur Hydes, left-half Tom Neal, centre-half Ernie Hart, and inside-right Fred Mills. However, Hydes made a surprise recovery and would go on to play a pivotal role in the match.

Programme line ups

Leeds United: Moore, Sproston, Milburn, Edwards, McDougall, Hornby, Mahon, Duggan, Hydes, Furness, Cochrane

Derby County: Blore, Cooper, Collin, Nicholas, Barker, Keen, Brooks, Stockill, Gallacher, Ramage, Duncan

A crowd of 16,865 was in attendance to witness a fiercely contested and controversial encounter, which ended in a 4–2 win for the home side. The match report in the Derby Evening Telegraph carried the headline: “Did referee err when disallowing Gallacher’s goal?” – a reference to a key moment six minutes into the second half when the Scot thought he had put the Rams 3–2 ahead, only for the goal to be ruled out.

Leeds struck early, taking the lead in the fourth minute when Cochrane, instead of delivering a cross, pulled the ball back for Furness to finish. Despite the setback, Derby responded strongly. Dally Duncan rattled the bar with a placed shot and Moore had to be at full stretch to deny the follow-up. Hydes then went through one-on-one with Vincent Blore, only for the Rams’ keeper to pull off a fine save from close range.

Derby found the equaliser in the 22nd minute. Jack Barker played in Sammy Crooks, who fed Stockill. His shot deflected off a defender and landed at Gallacher’s feet. The Scot coolly drew Moore out of his goal before squaring to Stockill, who slotted into an empty net. Spurred on by the goal, Derby pressed for a second. Crooks fired a shot across the face of goal, and Stockill struck the post before Moore turned the rebound out for a corner. Blore again came to the Rams’ rescue with a spectacular one-handed save to deny Hydes. Then, as half-time neared, Derby took the lead. From a Duncan corner, Stockill found Peter Ramage in the box, and the inside-left buried his shot to make it 2–1 to the Rams.

Just three minutes after the restart, Leeds were level again when Cochrane delivered a pinpoint cross for Hydes to head home. Derby thought they had regained the lead shortly after when Gallacher found the net, but the referee penalised Stockill for a push on McDougall, much to the visitors’ frustration.

Leeds eventually broke the deadlock ten minutes from time in contentious fashion. Hydes’ fierce effort was saved on the goal line by Blore, but Furness charged towards the keeper and forced the ball into the net. Moments later, Leeds sealed the victory. Mahon’s attempted pass rebounded off Jack Nicholas straight into the path of Hydes, who scored Leeds fourth goal – “another example of the bad luck that seems to be with the Rams these days,” noted reporter Mark Eaton.

While Blore impressed with several acrobatic saves, Eaton was less complimentary about Barker, Cooper, and Collin, who “lacked the effectiveness of the home halves” and were “woefully weak in their kicking,” leading to constant pressure on the Derby defence. The full-backs struggled to deal with Leeds’ wide players, often caught in two minds as to whether to cover centrally or track wingers.

Despite not scoring on the day, Gallacher would go on to finish the season as Derby’s top scorer with 24 goals in all competitions. The defeat marked a third successive loss for the Rams, extending their winless streak to five games. However, a remarkable turnaround followed: Derby won their next three matches, including a sensational 9-3 home win over West Bromwich Albion and a 5-2 victory at Blackburn, where Gallacher scored all five goals. Derby ultimately finished sixth in Division One, while Leeds ended the season battling relegation in 18th.