Derby County

Derby County was formed in 1884, joined the Football League in 1888, and kicked around between the top two divisions—three times finishing second—before World War II suspended everything. When football came back, they won the 1946 FA Cup, and then it was “normal service resumed.” After a brief spell in the third tier in the mid-1950s, they were a midtable Second Division side until the late 1960s. That’s when they hired Brian Clough (CLUFF).

You might have heard of him; he is one of the all-time greats as a manager and personality. He was an outrageous scorer as a player—251 goals in 274 games for Middlesbrough and Sunderland—but an injury caused him to retire at age 29. He was hired a couple of years later, in 1967, by Derby, who had just finished 17th in the Second Division. He brought along an old teammate from Boro named Peter Taylor, and two years later they won the division. In 1972 they won the First Division. The next year they made the semifinals of the European Cup, losing to Juventus.

But Clough was, among many things, a pain in the ass. The stories are many and legendary, but to the dismay of Rams fans, he and Taylor both left in 1973 amid constant battles with the club’s board. (Making things worse, he would wind up with archrivals Nottingham Forest, where he won the league once and Europe twice.) Derby, meanwhile, claimed another league title in 1975 but by 1980 were relegated. They went to the Third Division from 1984 to 1986, and then did the yo-yo with seven league changes in 22 seasons.

Starting in the 2019–20 season, they flirted with relegation all the way to the final day, while also getting in trouble for financial mismanagement. In fact, their status in the Championship was in doubt for a while after the season, until the Football Association decided to dock them points for the 2021–22 season. They went into administration during the season and were relegated to League One after 14 years in the Championship. New ownership was lined up in June 2022 after a nine-month saga, and the club was lifted out of administration and allowed to sign players for the 2022–23 season. Derby ended the 2022–23 season by narrowly missing out on the League One playoffs, finishing in 7th, and followed it up with a second place finish in 2024, earning them a direct promotion back to the Championship. They stayed up last season by one point.

2024–25 SEASON: 19th in the Championship, 3rd Round FA Cup, 2nd Round League Cup

2025–26 SEASON: The Championship (promoted in 2024)

The biggest rival is Nottingham Forest, which is mostly because they are only 14 miles apart but also because of the Clough connection. Derby fans weren’t happy when he signed up with their rivals, so that added a whole new level to things. In fact, the winner of the East Midlands derby gets to keep the Brian Clough Trophy, currently with Nottingham Forest.

They also dislike Leeds, and again Clough is involved. When he was at Derby, he openly disliked Leeds’s playing style and their legendary manager, Don Revie, so the fans took it from there. Leicester City is also disliked because they are 30 miles away; no Clough connection there.

Derby County FC Women, aka the Ewe Rams, play in the Women’s National League North, tier 3 of the pyramid. Home games are at Don Amott Leisure Group Arena in Mickleover, on the west side of Derby.

Back around the turn of the 20th century, Derby had a superstar named Steve Bloomer. He scored 352 goals in 598 games for them and Middlesbrough, as well as 28 in 23 for England. There’s a bust of him, with his arms folded, surveying things from next to the home dugout at Pride Park. Well, in 1997 a couple of Derby supporters heard an Australian song called “Up There Cazaly,” thought it was cool, and reworked the lyrics. So now they have an anthem that includes the chorus:

Steve Bloomer’s watchin’,

Helping them fight,

Guiding our heroes,

In the black and the white.

All teams who come here,

There’s nowhere to hide.

Everyone is frightened

Of that Derby pride.

Pride Park, named for the 1990s-era business park where it’s located, has been their home since 1997. It replaced the Baseball Ground, which was actually built for baseball and so had some seats that didn’t exactly face toward the football pitch. The new home, a classic modern rectangle, seats 33,597, with away fans in the southeast corner and the home rowdies in the southwest. So if you don’t mind sitting behind a goal, the south end can be pretty fun.

Aside from the statue of “watchin’” Bloomer inside the ground, there is also one outside of former player and manager Dave Mackay emerging from a wall and another of Clough and Taylor. This brings us to the basis for an interesting trivia question: Clough has a statue here and in Nottingham (in town, not at the stadium), making him and Sir Bobby Robson (of Ipswich Town and Newcastle) the only people we know of who have statues at two different clubs.

TOURS: Tours cost £10 and are available a couple of times a month. You can also book a private tour by contacting the club.

GETTING THERE: It’s a 15-minute walk from Derby railway station and a fairly nice one, with part of it through a greenbelt along the River Derwent.

PUBS: Since it’s an office park, there isn’t much around for eating and drinking, aside from a Frankie and Benny’s. Along the walk from the station there’s a Harvester’s, which is a chain pub. Another chain, Merlin, has a location just past the stadium on the A6 road.

Derby, however, has a serious collection of high-quality pubs. Lonely Planet called it the best place to drink real ale in the world. No idea how it became such a beer-drinker’s heaven, but, well, here you go:

• The Brunswick Inn, near the station in a building from 1842, has been called one of the top 10 places to drink real ale in Britain and the best pub in Derby two years running.
• Mr. Grundy’s Tavern on the Derby Mile is another CAMRA recommendation.
• The Old Bell, dated 1650, has a great patio and second bar out back.
• Ye Olde Dolphin Inn, dated 1530 and the oldest pub in town, has good steaks and a cool patio out back.
• Falstaff Free House is packed with brewing memorabilia and brews its own beer.
• The Abbey is in a former abbey on the banks of the river.
• Also near the river and the station is The Alexandra Hotel, which has been a top CAMRA pub in town for years.

That’s not nearly a complete list. For a map of their Real Ale Trail, check camra.org.

GRUB: Many of those pubs above have food. Otherwise, there is a wealth of options down in the center.