The second half of the 1930s saw some of the most celebrated names in the club’s long history wear the shirt but without ever managing to get their hands on either of the two major trophies on offer. Generally the club finished top half of the table – but the real inconsistency was to be found in the attendance figures which could vary wildly and never was this more apparent than in season 1937/38 where, for instance, in September alone the Baseball Ground hosted over 31,000 for the 2-0 victory over Arsenal, ten days after just over 14,000 attended to see Everton beaten 2-1.

By the time February came round, the Rams had been knocked out of the FA Cup and lay 13^th in the league table. That position inferred mid-table safety however only 14 points separated leaders Brentford from bottom-placed Blackpool. In other words, Derby were only four points outside the relegation zone.

January had drawn to a close with one of those silly results that every club is subject to every so often when current league champions Manchester City had arrived at the Baseball Ground joint-bottom of the table and had proceeded to slam seven goals past a shell-shocked Harry Wright so it was more a question of how many players George Jobey would drop from the team for the visit of Stoke four days later, rather than if he would drop any at all.

As it was, Jack Barker, out since late September, was deemed fit enough to return to boost the defence with Ike Keen dropping out. Inside-right Verdun Jones made his debut for the Rams, replacing Charlie Napier and the aforementioned Wright was benched for the more experienced Jack Kirby. The Stoke side included the 23-year old Stanley Matthews on the right wing and one wonders how many of those in attendance that day would also be there when he lined up for Stoke as a 47-year old in 1962 as his remarkable career drew to a close. Matthews played against many, many left-backs down the years but has been quoted as saying that, of them all, it was Derby’s Jack Howe whom he found the trickiest to get the better of.

As kick-off approached, no doubt the players looked round the ground to see many empty spaces with the attendance given as just 9,601. The dire display the previous Saturday probably wasn’t the major driver here, though. In these pre-floodlit football days, midweek fixtures in February were usually held on a Wednesday afternoon which was, traditionally, half-day closing for many industrial-based businesses. There would still be many fans (especially schoolboys!) who would, at least in theory, not be able to attend.

The programme issued was the standard 16-page one costing 2d with the teams, as ever, listed on the front cover. “Here And There” notes that “our lads made so many mistakes (against Man City) that the opposition found it easy to place the ball in the net”. The performance is summed up as ‘disappointing’, proving the editor had a flair for understatement.

Elsewhere in the article, it’s noted that on no fewer than six occasions during West Ham’s match with Southampton, shots at goal were so wayward that the ball caused a bit of havoc to traffic driving by outside the ground. There’s also mention of Charlton’s stadium which, despite it having one of the highest ground capacities around (75,000), only included 2,000 seats in that figure. (I made one visit to the Valley in 1982 before it was redeveloped and can confirm that the main bank of terracing was truly massive).

As ever, the adverts are fascinating for anyone interested in social history. A 14 horse power Hillman would set you back £245 for a 5-seater model. No matter the car you owned, Babington Motors on Babington Lane offered all-day parking for just 6d and, for 23 guineas, A. E. Tomlinson in Osmaston Road was offering a new HMV radiogram on which you could hear stations from all round the world as well as being able to play your 78 rpm records on the in-built electric gramophone.

As for the match, well, the revamped Rams line-up had the best possible start when Sammy Crooks’ long-range shot beat ‘keeper Norman Wilkinson with less than a minute played. A similarly speculative Doug Westland shot levelled for Stoke before yet another long-range strike, this time from Dally Duncan regained the lead for Derby just before the interval.

In the second half, with Howe blunting the threat of Matthews and the Stoke half-backs’ passing having an off day, the bulk of the game took place in the Stoke half though it took until the 80^th minute for Dai Astley to sweep home Crooks’ astute pass to extend the Rams’ lead and, when Crooks and Duncan combined for the latter to net his second goal, it was no more than Derby deserved.

Ultimately, the Rams finished the season in 13^th place but I believe that, of all the Football League seasons there have been, the final table was the most congested it has ever been. Champions Arsenal would finish with only 16 points more than bottom club West Brom.

Ironically, champions Manchester City, who had won the aforementioned 7-1 game at the Baseball Ground, suffered a late season collapse. Despite scoring more goals (80) than any other club in the division, they became the first reigning champions to be relegated the next season and did so with a positive goal difference, ‘only’ conceding 77 goals.

Derby: Kirby; Bell, Howe; Nicholas, Barker, Ward; Crooks, Jones, Astley, Dix, Duncan

Stoke: Wilkinson; Brighorn, Challinor; Tutin, Turner, Kirton; Matthews, Antonio, Westland, Soo, Baker

Att: 9,601