History of Derby County F.C.
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The History of Derby County Football Club is described in detail in two separate articles:
- History of Derby County F.C. 1884-1955 covers the major events in the history of the club from its formation in 1884 up until the end of the 1954-1955 season.
This era saw Derby become one of the original twelve founder member of the Football League, finishing League Runners-Up on three occasions, and reach four FA Cup Finals, winning one and recorded the club record for the longest continued presence in the top tier of the English football league system, spending 27 years (and 20 seasons) there between 1926 and 1953. A sharp decline towards the end of the era saw Derby lose their status as full league members for the first time in their history with relegation to the Third Division North in 1955
In terms of players, it saw arguably the club's greatest ever player, Steve Bloomer, who scored a club record 332 goals in 525 appearances, as well as other Football League greats such as John Goodall, Hughie Gallacher, Raich Carter and Peter Doherty.
After nearly a decade of treading water in the Second Division, the arrival of Brian Clough leads to a revolution at Derby and the early 70s sees Derby win the First Division title for the first time in its history and reach the Semi Finals of the 1972-73 European Cup. However, Clough's burgeoning media reputation led to clashes with chairman Sam Longson and he resigned in 1974. Despite a second league title, under the stewardship of former player Dave MacKay, in 1975, the club declined badly and found itself in the third tier of English football by 1984. Resurgence under Arthur Cox saw the club finish 5th in the 1988-89 First Division but another decline followed, and the club faced a five year spell in the Second Division, despite heavy spending from new owner Lionel Pickering, before Jim Smith led the club to promotion and consecutive Top 10 finishes in the Premier League in the late 1990s. However, a sharp decline followed and financial worries crippled the club for much of the early 00s. The appointment of Billy Davies saw the club reach the top flight once again in 2007 but it was woefully underprepared and underfunded and endured a disasterous, record breaking campaign - acquiring just 1 win and 11 points from 38 game campaign. 2009 saw the appointment of Nigel Clough, son of Brian, in an attempt to steer the club away from a second consecutive relegation.
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Derby County Football Club
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