Derby County’s first Christmas game was at home to Bolton Wanderers at the County Ground on Boxing Day 1888. Until Bolton were relegated in 1899 they provided the Christmas opposition every year; in 11 meetings, the Rams won six to Bolton’s one. Derby’s first league game on Christmas Day was in 1894, a 4-1 win at Sheffield United. Two years later, the first Christmas Day fixture at the Baseball Ground saw Steve Bloomer hit a hat-trick in an 8-1 win against West Bromwich Albion. Derby’s first Christmas game after the war was played at the Baseball Ground on Boxing Day 1946, with Everton the vis ..read more

Every summer hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the Channel Islands, an archipelago in the English Channel off the French coast of Normandy. The Rams have had their own excursions there to play in friendly matches, visiting Guernsey in 1969 and 1970, and Jersey in 2001. After Kevin Hector’s brace in a 2-0 win at home to Cardiff City on 1 February 1969, Derby did not play another league game until 1 March due to poor weather across the country. To keep fit, the Rams had been to Bisham Abbey and played a friendly against Wycombe, but also seen friendlies at Bournemo ..read more

The Rams have visited Ireland and Northern Ireland eight times since 1950, winning six, drawing two and scoring 31 goals in the process. A few days after the conclusion of the 1949/50 season, a 4-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers at the Baseball Ground, Stuart McMillan’s Derby departed for a close-season tour of Ireland. The first game was at Dalymount Park in Dublin against Bohemians on Wednesday 10 May. The cover of the 8-page programme issued for the friendly shows that Bohemians were celebrating their Diamond Jubilee – a similar cover was used for all their home games throughout the season ..read more

Jack Parry played for Derby Boys and signed for the Rams in July 1948, a time when Raich Carter and Billy Steel were at the club. A one-club man, Parry remained at the Baseball Ground for 20 years and set a club record 482 League appearances in the 1965/66 season (517 appearances in total) until Kevin Hector overtook it. Parry is also the Rams ninth highest goalscorer in all competitions with 110 goals, and his 105 goals makes him Derby County’s fifth highest League scorer. An inside forward, Parry made his debut aged 17, and scored, in a 2-2 draw at home to Aston Villa in April 1949. He playe ..read more

In December 1976 the Sex Pistols were about to begin a 19-date UK tour to promote their first single Anarchy in the UK. The tour was to become one of the most famous in rock ‘n’ roll history as before it even began, the band had already gained notoriety due to their profanity on a live TV interview with Bill Grundy on Thames Television’s Today programme. The ensuing national newspaper headlines and public outcry led most venues to cancel or ban the concerts with only three of the scheduled dates going ahead, as well as four other rearranged gigs. Malcolm McLaren, manager of John Lydon (Johnny ..read more

Most recent postponements of football fixtures have been due to players or coaching staff isolating due to testing positive for Covid-19, including the Rams’ game at Cardiff City on 18 December. The 1980s saw a total of 25 postponements that involved Derby County. The first of these was in 1980/81, a Division 2 away game at Bolton Wanderers on 17 January 1981, with the original programme reissued for the rearranged game on 24 January (30p, 24 pages). Inside the FA Chairman at the time, Sir Harold Thompson, stated that ‘kissing, hugging and jumping on backs when a goal has been scored should ce ..read more

David looks back at the Ram newspaper matchday programme introduced by Derby County in August 1971. What was undoubtedly a brave and risky experiment turned out to be a huge success and the format continued virtually un-interrupted for 13 seasons despite reservations from certain quarters, particularly programme dealers and collectors. Almost everything at Derby County had changed out of all recognition in the first four years of Brian Clough’s reign at the Baseball Ground but there was one exception and that was the matchday programme which at best could only be described as barely adequate ..read more

Planning is underway on a new Derby County book, provisionally titled ‘A Definitive History of Derby County Football Programmes’. The aim is to include a cover image of all Derby County home and away league, cup and European programmes from the 1945/46 season to date, along with many friendly and testimonial issues. There will also be some additional chapters that will cover areas such as pirate programmes and the 1950s floodlight games. If you have any suggestions or ideas for the book, please complete the contact form by clicking on the link below. Contact   The post A Definitive Hi ..read more

I will be having a stall at the Derby Football Memorabilia & Programme Fair on Sunday 6 September 2021 from 10:30am. All Ram newspapers from 1971/72 – 1976/77 will be for sale as well as all away programmes since the start of the first lockdown in March 2020. Hope to see you there. The post Derby Football Memorabilia & Programme Fair – Sunday 6 September 2021 10:30am appeared first on Derby County Memories ..read more

The Derby County v Derby County Legends match in March 2016, for Shaun Barker’s testimonial, was the latest of many home games involving the Rams to pay tribute to a loyal player, or to one whose career was ended by injury. One of the first examples of this type of fixture was Derby’s home league match against Everton on 9 December 1905 where Steve Bloomer and Ben Warren split the gate money between them, amounting to around £100 each. Bloomer had put in over 13 years’ service since making his debut at the age of 18 in September 1892 at Stoke. In contrast, Warren had only played for the Rams s ..read more