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The initial kit worn by Derby
County replicated the colours of the county cricket club, who founded
the club, not because they were interested in the game, but because they
saw it as a way of cashing in on the games popularity to boost their
finances. And so the early profiteers entered the game and made the 1884
side turn out in chocolate, amber and pale blue strip !! It didn’t
thwart the club’s development as they were founder members of the
Football League and went on to reach the FA Cup finals of 1898, 1899 and
1903—unsuccessfully on each occasion. The club had moved into the
Baseball Ground in 1895, having to evict gypsies who had been camping on
the site and since that date the club had believed there was a curse on
the ground put there by one of the former inhabitants.
The curse had not stopped Derby
reaching 13 FA Cup semi-finals between 1895 and 1909 and becoming
Division 2 champions in 1912 and 1915. They did suffer a record 0-6
defeat in the 1903 FA Cup final against Bury, when their keeper was
injured, but many say that Shakers would have won by more had that not
happened. The matter of the curse had lasted for such a long time, that
when they reached the 1946 FA Cup final the captain of the side crossed
a gypsies palm with silver to lift the curse. It worked as they beat
Charlton to take the Cup back to Derby, despite the ball bursting during
the game. That also happened in their next League match - also versus
Charlton - five days later and in the next two games after that too. The
cost of replacements almost equalled their FA Cup winning bonuses !!
When Dai Astley (no relation to
Rick) scored 29 goals in his first 30 games, the Rams fans wondered what
was happening. Between the years of 1936 and 1939, he went on to score
49 in 98 League and Cup games.
The Rams run to the 1946 FA Cup
final saw the end of midweek afternoon matches in this country, because
the semi-final replay at Maine Road attracted a crowd of 80,000 and the
post-war Government were in fear of the massive loss of productivity
because of people being away from work. Considering the other side was
Birmingham, it is a mystery where all these fans came from.
The club were embroiled in an
illegal payments scandal in the war years, which involved crossing
gypsies palms with silver to curse the opposition. It is a period in the
club’s history that does them great shame at a time when many, many
lost their lives fighting to protect the country from this sort of
thing.
The club went into hibernation
until the early 70’s when a brash young manager took over at the club
and took them to the League title in 1972. Manager Brian Clough led them
to their best years, including European football and this was followed
up by Dave Mackay, who had been captain in ‘72 and repeated the feat
in 1975. As the club fell from it’s exalted position, media tycoon,
Robert Maxwell moved in and in their Centenary season 1983-84, he almost
took them into Division Four. Since his death and the subsequent move to
the modern surroundings of Pride Park, the club have established
themselves as Premier League material. Foreign imports have come and
gone and the club does well to stay in the top league despite a limited
budget for signing new players. Manager Jim Smith is an experienced
campaigner who is trying to get Derby back where they belong.
The new stadium has echoes of
the old Baseball Ground. The old place was developed by a baseball mad
foundry owner and had Catchers Corner and Homerun stand. But the craze
was not long-lived and he had to move in a stand from the Racecourse
ground (their previous home) to make enough room for supporters when the
football team took over the stadium. The new ground boasts a number of
Lion bar outlets and also the Simba stand, which is a reserved area for
Junior Rams. Pride Park is also has a lavishly grassed pitch in complete
contrast to the old Baseball Ground, which was quite often a mud heap
and many a player had to be treated by the physio for trench foot.
FAMOUS PLAYERS : - Colin Todd,
Jack Stamps, Jack Bowers, Kevin Hector, Manila Envelopes, Steve Bloomer,
Roy McFarland, Dave Mackay, Colin Boulton, Paolo Wanchope, Raich Carter
FAMOUS
FANS : - Tim Brooke-Taylor
(Comedy Actor - The Goodies), Simon Groom (former Blue Peter presenter),
Robert Lindsay (Actor), Tracy Shaw (Actress - Coronation Street)
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