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 achieve nothing better than a goal-less draw.”

After a snowfall, the thaw had led to quagmire conditions on the Baseball Ground pitch with pools of water standing all over the surface. The conditions meant that Luton, who were one of the top teams in Division Two, were dragged down to struggling Derby’s level and made the Rams look better than they were. Despite this though the game was not uneventful.

Derby forward Jesse Pye several times nearly found a scoring position in the penalty area but could not find a shot due to the state of the pitch. Jack Parry should have given Jack Barker’s Rams the lead after 34 minutes when through on goal but young Luton goalkeeper Ron Baynham flung out a hand to deflect the inside right’s rising left-foot drive.

Baynham suffered concussion after being struck on the head by Sid Owen’s knee when the centre half made a clearance after his backpass had stuck in the mud. Match reports describe Baynham staggering off the field at half time ‘with little idea of where he was going’ but this did not detract from his performance and he still made some outstanding saves to prevent Derby from taking the lead.

For Luton, top-scorer Gordon Turner was through on goal in the second half in a rare attack but drove wide. Towards the end of the game, Stewart Imlach had a chance to win it for the Rams when he also found himself clean through but rolled the ball inches wide with all the goal to aim at.

The attendance of 5,937 was the lowest for a home league or cup game since 1925. The game was played at 3pm on Wednesday 2 March which may explain the low attendance, and why the programme is a scarce issue which is hard to come by for collectors.

The 16 page programme contains a couple of prominent adverts for local contractors who had done some work on the Baseball Ground – presumably part of a deal with the club. Hulmes of Sadlergate (established 1843) had installed the public address system and were also responsible for its maintenance and operation. W E Webb of Osmaston Road had installed the floodlighting and were also radio and television engineers.

The 0-0 draw left Derby second bottom of Division Two and a point behind Plymouth after 31 games. The Rams lost 9 out of the next 10 games, only managing a 0-0 draw at home to Birmingham, before winning the final game of the season 3-0 against Hull at the Baseball Ground. Derby finished bottom of the league on 23 points, 8 points behind Plymouth in 20^th and were relegated along with Ipswich Town. Nine years after winning the FA Cup, with Luton manager Dally Duncan in that team, the Rams lost their status as a full member of the Football League for the first time and dropped into Division Three North. Luton finished second and were promoted to Division One.

Derby: Webster; Patrick; Barrowcliffe; Clark; Oliver; Upton; Buchanan; Parry; Pye; Powell; Imlach

Luton: Baynham; Dunne; Aherne: Pemberton; Owen; Shanks; Allen; Turner; Morton; Cummins; Cullen