Beginning and early success

Derby County F.C. was formed in 1884 as an offshoot of Derbyshire County Cricket Club in an attempt to give players and supporters a winter interest as well as secure the cricket club extra revenue. The original intention was to name the club "Derbyshire County F.C." to highlight the link, though the Derbyshire FA, formed in 1883, objected on the grounds it was too long and therefore would not have been understood by the fans who may mistake it for a Derbyshire FA team. Playing their home matches at the cricket club's Racecourse Ground, 1884–85 saw the club undertake an extensive programme of friendly matches, the first of which was a 6–0 defeat to Great Lever on 13 September 1884. The club's first competitive match came in the 1885 FA Cup, where they lost 7–0 at home to Walsall Town.

Arguably the most important match in the club's history came in the following season's FA Cup, when a 2–0 victory over Aston Villa, already an emerging force in English football, established Derby County on the English football map, helping the club to attract better opposition for friendlies and, in 1888, an invitation into the inaugural Football League. The opening day of the first ever league season was 8 September 1888, when Derby came from 3–0 down away to Bolton Wanderers to win 6–3, though the club ultimately finished 10th out of 12 teams. In 1891, they absorbed another Derby club, Derby Midland, which had been a member of the Midland League, leaving them as Derby's sole professional football club. Steve Bloomer, generally considered to be Derby County's best-ever player, joined the club in 1892. In 1895, the club moved to a new stadium, the Baseball Ground (so called because it was previously used for baseball), which became their home for the next 102 years. It was then that the club adopted their now traditional home colours of black and white.

Although Derby were inconsistent in the league, they finished as runners-up to Aston Villa in 1896, and achieved a number of third-place finishes. They were a strong force in the FA Cup, appearing in three finals in six years around the turn of the 20th century, though lost all three, in 1898 (3–1 to Nottingham Forest),^[2] 1899 (4–1 to Sheffield United)^[3] and 1903 (6–0 to Bury).^[4]

Edwardian and interwar era

In 1906, Steve Bloomer was sold to Middlesbrough due to financial constraints, and Derby subsequently suffered its first ever relegation the following season,^[5] but under Jimmy Methven's management, they re-signed Bloomer and regained their First Division place in 1911.^[5] In 1914, they were again relegated, but instantly won the Second Division to earn promotion,^[5] though World War I meant they had to wait until 1919 to play First Division football again. After two seasons, they were relegated yet again in 1921. However, the appointment of George Jobey in 1925 kick-started a successful period for the Rams and, after promotion in 1926,^[5] the club became a formidable force, with high finishes from the late 1920s and all through the 1930s,^[5] including finishing as runners-up twice.

The Brian Clough and Peter Taylor statue

Derby were one of several clubs to close down after the outbreak of World War II but restarted in the early 1940s, in part due to the persistence of Jack Nicholas and Jack Webb. Aided by the recruitment of Raich Carter and Peter Doherty, who had both been stationed in Loughborough during the war, Derby were one step ahead of the opposition when competitive football resumed with the 1946 FA Cup and won their first major trophy with a 4–1 victory over Charlton Athletic.^[6]

Post-war success and decline

The league restarted the following season after a break due to World War II and, under the management of Stuart McMillan, as well as twice breaking the British transfer record to sign Billy Steel and Johnny Morris to replace Carter and Doherty, finished fourth and third in the 1948 and 1949 seasons respectively, before a steady decline set in and the club was relegated in 1953, after nearly 30 years in the top flight, and again in 1955 to drop to the third tier of English football for the first time in their history.^[5] Harry Storer led Derby back into the second tier at the second attempt in 1957, though the club progressed no further over the next decade under either Storer or his successor, former Derby player Tim Ward.

Brian Clough era

In 1967, Brian Clough and Peter Taylor took over and led Derby to its greatest glory. Starting at 18th in the Second Division in 1968, Clough and Taylor acquired Alan Hinton, Roy McFarland, and John O'Hare, then clinched the influential signing of Dave Mackay to lead the club to 1st place in 1969, and promotion to the First Division.^[7] Derby went on to finish fourth in 1970,^[5] were banned from competing in Europe due to financial irregularities in 1971, and won their first ever Football League Championship in 1972.^[5] Though Derby did not retain their title the following season, they did reach the semi-finals of the European Cup, where they lost to Juventus. Clough's frequent outspoken comments against football's establishment eventually led to him falling out with the board of directors at the club, and Clough and Taylor left in October 1973. Such was their impact on the club that, 37 years later, a 9 ft (2.75 metres) bronze statue of the pair was erected outside Pride Park in commemoration of their legacy.^[8]

Success and decline after Clough

Despite the departure of Clough and Taylor, Derby's league success was repeated in the 1974–75 season when they won the title under successor Dave Mackay, who had been a player under Clough when they had returned to the top flight in 1969. However, Derby's form declined towards the end of the 1970s and they went down to the Second Division in 1980 after a string of managers, including former Manchester United boss Tommy Docherty, unsettled the club trying desperately to maintain its place at the top of the First Division. Though they challenged well in their first season, Derby were soon hit hard by rising debts, falling attendances and dismal performances. Peter Taylor returned to the Baseball Ground as manager in early 1983 and kept Derby up that season, but he retired a year later just before Derby's relegation to the Third Division for only the second time in their history. However, Derby did manage to avoid going out of business, and they were soon under the ownership of wealthy businessman Robert Maxwell.

Derby County's former Baseball Ground commemoration by Denis O'Connor

1980s revival and promotion to Premier League

After relegation to the Third Division in May 1984, the club appointed Arthur Cox as manager. Although they missed out on promotion in Cox's first season as manager, they then won back-to-back promotions and were back in the First Division for the 1987–88 season, with attendances also rising as the club's on-the-field fortunes and financial position improved. The financial backing of new chairman Robert Maxwell saw stars such as Peter Shilton, Mark Wright, Dean Saunders, Trevor Hebberd and Ted McMinn brought to the club and they finished fifth in the 1988–89 season.

A lack of any further investment from Maxwell quickly led to a decline and discontent amongst the club's fans, culminating in relegation back to the Second Division in 1991 when the club finished bottom of the First Division with just five wins all season. At this time, local newspaper businessman Lionel Pickering became the majority shareholder of the club, taking control just before Maxwell's death in November 1991. In 1992, Derby County paid £2.5 million for Notts County central defender Craig Short, at the time – and for five years afterwards – the most expensive player to be signed by a club outside the top flight, and indeed one of the highest fees paid by any English club for a player at the time. Other expensive signings included strikers Tommy Johnson and Marco Gabbiadini. Cox's resignation as manager in October 1993 saw the appointment of legendary former player Roy McFarland as manager. Derby reached the final of the Division One playoffs that season, but were beaten by local rivals Leicester City. McFarland was sacked a year later after Derby missed out on the playoffs, and his replacement was Jim Smith – a manager whose track record at his previous clubs included four promotions and an FA Cup semi-final appearance.

Although the 1995–96 season started slowly, the signing of sweeper Igor Štimac in the early autumn proved pivotal. Smith guided the Rams to a second-place finish and the Premier League, now the top flight of English football. During that season, it was announced Derby would be leaving the Baseball Ground after more than 100 years to move into a new all-seater stadium, following earlier plans to develop the Baseball Ground as a 26,000-seat stadium.^[9]

After finishing in 12th place in their first season back in the top flight, the club left the Baseball Ground, its home of 102 years, to move into the new 33,597-seat Pride Park Stadium for the 1997–98 season. The Baseball Ground was demolished six years later and a memorial was eventually erected in memory of its role in Derby city history.^[10]

Relegation from top flight and financial crisis

The club settled well into its new home as it recorded back-to-back top 10 finishes for the first time since their 1970s peak, before a sudden decline at the turn of the millennium saw three years of struggle. Smith resigned to be replaced by former players Colin Todd, who lasted just three months, and John Gregory, before the Rams were relegated after a six-year stay in the top flight, in 2002.

Derby County's relegation saw the club enter a serious financial crisis, which forced them to sell many key players. Gregory was later suspended from his managerial duties over alleged misconduct and former Ipswich Town boss George Burley was brought in. The club was put into receivership then sold in October 2003 for £3 to a group led by Jeremy Keith. After finishing 20th in the 2003–04 season, a dramatic improvement in the 2004–05 season saw Derby finish fourth in the Championship, qualifying for a promotion play-off spot, though they lost in the semi-finals to Preston North End. Soon afterwards, Burley resigned citing differences between himself and the board. He was replaced by Bolton Wanderers first team coach Phil Brown. In January 2006, Brown was sacked after a poor run of results. Terry Westley, the academy coach at the time, took over first-team duties until the end of the season and saved Derby from relegation.

Return to the Premier League and straight back to the Championship

In April 2006, a consortium of local businessmen led by former vice-chairman Peter Gadsby purchased the club, reducing its debt and returning Pride Park Stadium to the club's ownership in the process. In June 2006, former Preston North End boss Billy Davies was appointed Derby County's new permanent manager. In his first season, Davies took Derby to the Championship play-offs, where they beat Southampton on penalties in the semi-finals before defeating West Bromwich Albion 1–0 with a second-half Stephen Pearson goal at the new Wembley Stadium to secure a return to the Premier League and the associated £60 million windfall.^[11]

After failing to win any of their opening five matches of the season (one draw and four consecutive defeats), Derby scored their first victory with a 1–0 win over Newcastle, where Kenny Miller scored the only goal of the game.^[12] In October 2007, Peter Gadsby stepped down as chairman to be replaced by former Hull City owner Adam Pearson, who immediately began searching for investment from overseas.^[13] After a poor start to the season, manager Billy Davies left by mutual consent in November.^[14] He was succeeded by Paul Jewell,^[15] who failed to save the club as Derby suffered the Premier League's earliest ever relegation, in March,^[16] recorded the Premier League's lowest-ever points total,^[17] and equalled Loughborough's 108-year Football League record of going through an entire season with only one win, which occurred during the 1899–1900 season when Loughborough finished bottom of the Second Division. In January 2008, Derby was taken over by an international investment group led by General Sports and Entertainment, with Pearson remaining as de facto chairman.^[18]

Derby's match at home to Sheffield United on 13 September 2008 generated much media coverage as it was approaching a year since Derby's last league win, a run which saw the club break the English league record for most matches without a win. Just four days short of the anniversary of the 1–0 victory over Newcastle United, Rob Hulse scored against his former club as Derby ran out 2–1 winners, earning Paul Jewell his first league win as Derby boss at his 27th attempt. Despite taking the club to the League Cup semi-final, the club's first major cup semi-final since 1976, where Derby lost 4–3 to Manchester United over two legs, Jewell resigned as manager in December 2008 after a run of just two wins in 11 matches.^[19] He was replaced by Nigel Clough,^[20] son of former manager Brian Clough. Nigel Clough led the club to 18th place and safety. After four years of midtable obscurity, Clough was replaced by Steve McClaren in September 2013; McClaren led the club to a 3rd-place finish in the 2013–14 season, but lost the play-off final to Queens Park Rangers.

Play-off heartaches, administration and relegation

The following season local businessman Mel Morris assumed ownership of the club. Morris initially oversaw a level of spending unprecedented in Derby's history, breaking the club's transfer record four times in his first three years, but also oversaw an equally unprecedented managerial turnover, with nine managers in six years from June 2015. In that period, the club endured three unsuccessful play-off campaigns, failing in the semi-finals twice and losing in the 2019 final to Aston Villa. In May 2021, the club, by then managed by Wayne Rooney, narrowly avoided relegation to League One.^[21] In May 2021, the possibility of EFL sanctions arose amidst allegations of breaches of financial fair play regulations.^[22] On 8 July 2021, the EFL imposed a transfer embargo on the club,^[23] leaving Rooney with a squad of just nine contracted senior professionals.^[24]

On 17 September 2021, the club's board of directors announced that the club was to go into administration, and the EFL confirmed Derby faced a 12-point deduction.^[25] On 16 November, the club had a further deduction of nine points for breaching EFL accounting rules. A further three-point deduction, for breaches of EFL profitability and sustainability rules, was suspended.^[26] Derby and related companies were reported to owe £29.3m to HMRC. Other liabilities included a £20m loan from US investment group MSD Holdings, plus various football and trade creditors owed around £15m.^[27] On 2 December, after press speculation that the club might go into liquidation due to the scale of its debts, Rooney insisted that was not an option.^[28] Following a defeat at QPR, Derby County were relegated to League One.^[29]

On 26 June 2022, after Derbyshire-based property developer David Clowes had purchased Pride Park,^[30] his bid to buy the club was accepted, and Quantuma granted Clowes preferred bidder status. The administrators said Clowes's offer complied with EFL insolvency policy, meaning Derby would avoid a further points deduction. The deal, and the club's exit from administration, was eventually confirmed on 1 July 2022,^[31] though some constraints on transfers were agreed by the EFL and Derby's new owners.^[32] The club's transfer embargo was finally lifted in May 2023.^[33]

In September 2022, Derby approached Rotherham United to request permission to speak to Paul Warne,^[34] who was announced as the club's new head coach on a four-year-deal on 22 September 2022.^[35] The side vied for promotion, but missed out on the League One play-offs, finishing 7th.^[36]

Crest

Derby County's badge from 1946

Like most old football clubs, Derby County did not initially have any badge displayed on their shirts. Their first badge was introduced in 1924. The badge consisted of a circular shield split into three equally sized sections, representing the club, its fans and the area, all containing items traditionally associated with the city of Derby: a Tudor rose and a crown in one section, a buck in a park in the second and a ram's head in the final section. The badge was worn on the players' shirts for just two seasons before they reverted to plain shirts.

By 1934, another badge had been introduced. This time it was a traditionally shaped shield, again with three sections. The buck in the park had been removed and the rose and the crown had been split up and now occupied a section each. The ram's head also remained and was now given the largest section of the shield. The badge never appeared on the players' shirts. The shield was modified in 1946 when the rose and crown were removed and replaced with the letters "DC" (Derby County) and "FC" (Football Club) respectively. The badge, right, was featured on the player's shirts from its introduction onwards, though the ram's head on its own was used from the late 1960s (the full shield, however, remained the club's official logo).

Derby County's badge from 1997 to 2007

A new club badge was introduced in 1971, featuring a more modern design that, with modifications, is still in use. The badge initially consisted of a stylised white ram facing left. The badge was first modified slightly in 1979 to include the text "Derby County FC" under the ram (though the ram remained on its own on away kits). In 1982, the ram turned to face to the right and the text under it was removed. The ram was surrounded by a wreath of laurel and the text "Centenary 1984–1985" was printed underneath for the club's centenary season. The laurel was removed and the text reading "Derby County FC" returned from the next season. In 1993, the ram faced left again and the text was removed once more. From 1995, the ram faced right and was enclosed in a diamond, with a gold banner reading "Derby County FC" underneath and the text "1884" (the year of the club's foundation) underneath that. The design was changed again in 1997 (see left): the ram now faced left and the golden banner now simply read "Derby County"; the diamond and year of formation were removed.

Derby County's badge from 2009 to 2013, a version of this badge with gold trim was used from 2007 to 2009.

A decade later, in 2007, the badge was modified again with the ram still facing left and the text "Est. 1884" now in the middle of a circular frame featuring "Derby County Football Club" in gold lettering, with the colours being modified to the club colours of black and white in 2009 (see top of page). In July 2012, the club announced its intention to show only the iconic ram, now just an outline, on future shirts, rather than the full club logo. In July 2013, this traditional ram became the club's full logo again.

Colours

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Derby County F.C. kits.

Derby County's original colours (right) were amber, chocolate and blue, though by the 1890s the club had adopted its now traditional colours of black and white, which are still in use today. In the 1970s and 1980s, colours for home matches were white shirts with small blue or red touches (on the club badge or shirt makers insignia), blue shorts and socks that were blue, red, white or a combination of the three.^[37] The colours of away kits have varied widely, and although they are usually yellow/gold or blue, the colour for the away kit for the 2008–09 season was fluorescent green.^[38] The club also introduced a surprise third kit in August 2008. Similar in design to the club's away kit of the 1970s, with blue and white stripes and reminiscent of the Argentina national team strip, the style was re-introduced following feedback from fans who said it was one of their favourite kits from the club's past.^[39]

1884–94 kit

Club mascot

Derby County's mascot, Rammie

Derby's mascot is a ram named Rammie, who also works to maintain the club's links with fans and the East Midlands in general, such as school visits to promote literacy and charity events.^[40][41] Rammie originally emerged as a more friendly option to the club's traditional links with the British Army and the Mercian Regiment in particular.

Rammie was the first full-time mascot in British football.^[42][43] Rammie's traditional activities include penalty shoot-outs with members of the crowd at half-time, with Rammie as goalkeeper, and warming the crowd up before the match and encouraging the Derby fans during matches. Rammie is a very popular figure amongst Rams fans^[44][45] and, in 2005, released his first DVD, which features the character reading from Aesop's Fables in the Derbyshire countryside.^[42]

Shortly thereafter, Rammie was joined by a female equivalent and his sister, named Eweie. However, Eweie did not last very long at Pride Park, and took a reported "vacation" to the United States. She returned from a 10-year exile on 3 October 2015 at a home match against Brentford.^[46]

Support

Derby is often acknowledged as a "passionate football town" by rival supporters^[51] and the press alike. Tony Francis of The Daily Telegraph noted, "Derby is a passionate football town... Even in Division Two, it's a reasonable bet that crowds at Pride Park would not fall far below 30,000. It's historical, it's geographical, it's in the blood. Some places have it, some don't."^[52] During the 2007–08 Premier League season, Derby County fans were repeatedly referred to as the best in the country (England) due to their loyalty despite the club's disastrous campaign.^[53] Almost every home match at Pride Park Stadium was sold out to the Derby fans and the club also had a large following away from home. The recognition included them being named fans of the season in much national coverage of the season, winning an award from Nuts magazine,^[54] and being named the most loyal supporters in the country in a 2008 survey by Sky Sports Magazine.^[55] In 2013, Derby supporter Nick Webster was voted Championship Fan of the Year.^[56]

Statistically, the club had the 12th-highest average attendance in the country in the 2007–08,^[57] 2008–09,^[58] and 2009–10 seasons,^[59] despite only having the 15th-largest club ground and finishing 18th or lower in their respective division. In 2008–09, they were the best supported club in the Championship, with a larger average attendance than nine Premier League clubs, and had the Football League's single largest league match attendance, with 33,079 against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 13 April 2009. Since moving to the Pride Park Stadium in 1997, Derby's average attendance has never dropped before 23,000 and they have finished in the top 20 for highest average attendances in 19 out of 23 seasons, despite spending the majority of the time in the second tier.^[60]

Derby's celebrity supporters include actors George Clooney^[61][62] and Robert Lindsay, former Labour MP Dennis Skinner,^[63] Irish singer Niall Horan,^[64] Blur guitarist Graham Coxon,^[65] The Gaslight Anthem guitarist Alex Rosamilia,^[66] adult film star Keiran Lee^[67] and actor Jack O'Connell.^[68] It has been reported that O'Connell has persuaded other celebrities to support the club, including actress Angelina Jolie,^[69] and model Cara Delevingne.^[70]

Rivalries

Derby's primary rival clubs are Nottingham Forest, Leicester City and Leeds United.^[71]

Forest, based in Nottingham, 14 miles (23 km) east of Derby, are by far the fiercest rivals; a 2008 survey named the rivalry the 11th-largest in English football, revealing that nine out of 10 fans from both clubs point to the other as their fiercest rival,^[72] whilst a 2020 survey listed it joint-12th.^[73] Meetings between the side are known as East Midlands derbies and the winning team is awarded the Brian Clough Trophy. The rivalry as a whole largely developed from the 1970s, due to former Derby manager Brian Clough taking over at Forest, much to the anger of the Derby fans. The rivalry has been seen to be as much about which club owns Clough's heart as the proximity of the clubs geographically.^[74]

The rivalry with Leicester stems from location, as well as Leicester winning in the 1994 play-off final^[75]

Leeds United are disliked due to ongoing friction from the early 1970s when Derby and Leeds were two of the top English teams and the scarcely concealed hostility between their respective managers, Brian Clough and Don Revie^[75] and is documented in the novel and film The Damned United. This rivalry is traditionally stronger on Derby's side: while Derby consider Leeds their second or third-biggest rivals, Leeds fans focus more on their dislike of Manchester United and Chelsea,^[71] however the rivalry intensified once more in the 2018–19 season following the 'Spygate' scandal, play-off semi-final and increased animosity between the managers, staff and fans of both clubs.^[76][77]

A 2019 study called 'The League of Love And Hate' reported Derby fan's top five rivals as Nottingham Forest (88%), Leicester City (64%), Leeds United (63%), Stoke City (43%) and Aston Villa (30%). Derby themselves appeared in the top fives of Forest (1st – 77%), Leicester (2nd – 60%), Burton Albion (3rd – 56%), Leeds (5th – 30%) and Stoke (5th – 28%).^[78]

Current squad

As of 10 January 2024^[79]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Joe Wildsmith 2 DF  ENG Kane Wilson 3 DF  SCO Craig Forsyth 4 MF  IRL Conor Hourihane (captain) 5 DF  ENG Sonny Bradley 6 DF  IRL Eiran Cashin 7 MF  ENG Tom Barkhuizen 8 MF  ENG Max Bird 9 FW  IRL James Collins 10 FW  ENG Martyn Waghorn 11 MF  GUA Nathaniel Mendez-Laing 12 MF  ENG Korey Smith 13 GK  ENG Scott Loach 14 FW  NIR Conor Washington 16 MF  ENG Liam Thompson 17 MF  ENG Louie Sibley 19 FW  ENG Tyreece John-Jules (on loan from Arsenal) 20 DF  AUS Callum Elder 22 MF  SLE Tyrese Fornah

No. Pos. Nation Player 23 MF  ENG Joe Ward 24 DF  NAM Ryan Nyambe 26 MF  NIR Darren Robinson 30 DF  ENG Kwaku Oduroh 31 GK  ENG Josh Vickers 34 DF  ENG Jake Rooney 35 DF  ENG Curtis Nelson 36 MF  ENG Ben Radcliffe 37 MF  ENG Jaydan Davidson 38 MF  WAL Cruz Allen 39 FW  ENG Dajaune Brown 40 DF  ENG Max Bardell 41 DF  WAL Daniel Cox 42 MF  ENG Adebayo Fapetu 43 FW  ENG Tony Weston 44 MF  ENG Harry Hawkins 45 FW  WAL Lennon Wheeldon 46 DF  ENG Adisa Osayande

Women's team

Notable former players

Coaching positions

As of 30 June 2023^[83]

• Head coach: Paul Warne
• Assistant head coach: Richie Barker
• First team coach: Matt Hamshaw
• Goalkeeping coach: Andy Warrington
• Academy manager: Matt Hale
• Head of recruitment: Mark Thomas

Board of directors and ownership

As of 30 June 2023^[84][83]

• Owner and Chairman: David Clowes
• Club Secretary and Board Member: Richard Tavernor
• Board Member: Ian Dickinson
• CEO: Stephen Pearce
• Club Ambassadors: Roy McFarland; Roger Davies

Managerial history

Below is a list of all the permanent managers that Derby County have had since the appointment of Harry Newbould in 1900.^[85] In the 16 years prior to Newbould's appointment, the team was selected by club committee, a standard practice by football clubs at the time.

Source:^[86]

Moor Farm

Derby County's academy, called Moor Farm, is a purpose-built complex situated near the city suburb of Oakwood. It was built in 2003, at a cost of £5 million,^[87] to replace the club's previous academy, The Ram-Arena, which was based at Raynesway. It covers 50 acres (200,000 m²) and features six full-sized training pitches plus an indoor pitch and includes a gym, restaurant, ProZone room and a laundry.^[87] When opening the academy, then-Chairman Lionel Pickering said that the intent was to have "at least eight players from the Academy... in the first-team within three years."^[87] Although this was not achieved, the academy produced a number of notable players, including England international midfielder Tom Huddlestone, Wales international defender Lewin Nyatanga, Northern Ireland international goalkeeper Lee Camp, England under-21s players Miles Addison and Lee Grant, as well as England under-19 player Giles Barnes.

In April 2009, new manager Nigel Clough announced his intention to restructure the academy, appointing former Derby players Darren Wassall and Michael Forsyth^[88] and Wolverhampton Wanderers Academy director John Perkins to the backroom staff, replacing the departed Phil Cannon, David Lowe and Brian Burrows.^[89] Following this, and an increased investment of £1 million per year from the club,^[90] a number of players broke through to the first team squad ahead of the 2010–11 season, almost a third of the Derby squad were academy graduates, with Mason Bennett setting the club record for youngest first team appearance when he made his full debut with a start in a defeat at Middlesbrough on 22 October 2011 at the age of 15 years and 99 days old.^[91] This helped strengthen the academy's reputation^[92] and reinforced CEO Tom Glick's stated desire to make Moor Farm "the academy of choice in the Midlands."^[92] In August 2012, Derby's academy became a tier 2 academy under the new controversial Elite Player Performance Plan.^[93] It was awarded Tier 1 status two years later in July 2014.^[94] Focus on the academy continued during the ownership of Mel Morris after his purchase of the club later that year and, at the end of the 2019–20 season Derby had given more first-team minutes to players aged under 21 than any other club in the Football League Championship, with academy graduates such as Max Bird, Louie Sibley, Jason Knight, Jayden Bogle, Morgan Whittaker and Lee Buchanan getting a total of 7,946 minutes in the league during the campaign.^[95] When discussing targets for the 2020–21 campaign, Morris stated "We are not going to see a team of 11 players from the Academy featuring this season (2019/20) but the target for next season (is) 50% of our starting 11 should be Academy players. That (is) our target, and I think there is a possibility we could get there."^[96]

All-time XI

Boulton

McFarland

Štimac

Webster

Nish

Gemmill

Durban

Eranio

Hinton

Bloomer

Hector

Derby County F.C. All Time First XI

As part of the club's 125th Anniversary celebrations,^[102] it was announced that during 2009 each month a vote would be carried out to decide on the club's official All Time XI, starting in February 2009 with the goalkeeper, with the following eight months offering opportunities for Derby's support to select a team based within a 4–4–2 formation, with December's vote being reserved for the manager.^[103] Voting closed on the 25th of each month, with the winner being announced in the following few days.^[104]