Hull v Everton

The club was formed in 1884 as an offshoot of Derbyshire County Cricket Club. Derby initially played at the Racecourse Ground. As well as competing in a number of friendly matches and informal competitions, Derby County also entered the FA Cup.

Derby County were founder members of The Football League when it was launched in 1888. In 1891 they absorbed Derby Midland F.C.. 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, which became their home for the next 102 years, and adopted their traditional colours of black and white.

On 16 April 1898, Derby appeared in their first FA Cup final at Crystal Palace, but lost 3-1. They were losing finalists again in 1899 and 1903. Derby were relegated to the Football League's Second Division for the first time in 1907, but under Jimmy Methven's management they re-signed Steve Bloomer and regained their First Division place in 1911.

In 1914 they were relegated again, but instantly won the Second Division to get promoted (though World War I meant that they had to wait until 1919 to play First Division football again). After just two seasons, they were relegated yet again in 1921. However, more successful times lay ahead, instigated by Derby's promotion in 1926. The club became a formidable force, with high finishes from the late 1920s and all through the 1930s.

In the 1945-1946 season Derby got to the final of the FA Cup and won by beating Charlton Athletic 4-1 after extra time. The League restarted the following season after a break due to World War II, but Derby could not reproduce their pre-War form and were relegated in 1953. In 1955 they were relegated to the Third Division North for the first time in their history. The third tier proved easy for Derby, though: they were promoted after just two seasons.

In 1967 the now-legendary Brian Clough took over and led them to their greatest glory. Having clinched the influential signing of Dave Mackay, Derby were promoted to the First Division in 1969, finished fourth in 1970, got banned from competing in Europe due to financial irregularities in 1971, and won their first ever Football League Championship in 1972.

Though Derby did not retain their title the following season, they did reach the semi-finals of the European Cup. They lost to Juventus in a controversial match which was subject to subsequent allegations that the Italian club had bribed the match officials, leading Clough to call the Italians "cheating bastards".

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 left in 1973. Despite the departure Derby's League success was repeated in 1974–1975 season when they won the title again under Dave Mackay. However, Derby's form declined towards the end of the 1970s and they went down to the Second Division in 1980. Though they challenged well in their first season, Derby's stay in the Second Division was not a happy one and they were relegated to the now-national Third Division in 1984.

After the relegation, the club appointed Arthur Cox to stop the rot — and stop it he did. After a two year stint in the Third Division, Cox's emerging side were promoted to the Second Division and won it at the first attempt, returning to the old First Division in 1987.

The club finished fifth in the 1988-1989 season, with the team now containing stars like Peter Shilton, Mark Wright, Dean Saunders and Ted McMinn. However, English clubs were banned from European competition at the time, so the Rams missed out on their place in the UEFA Cup.

A lack of further investment from controversial chairman Robert Maxwell lead to a decline shortly after. With Maxwell soon dead from suspected suicide, the club was relegated back to the Second Division in 1991. At this time, local newspaper businessman Lionel Pickering became the majority shareholder of the club. In 1992 Derby paid £2.5 million for Notts County's central defender Craig Short. At the time — and for five years afterwards — he was the most expensive player to be signed by a club outside the top flight.

Cox resigned in late 1993 citing health problems, and Roy McFarland returned as manager. McFarland failed to get the side anywhere near the top of the division apart from a defeat at the hands of Leicester City in the 1993–1994 play-off final and was sacked in 1995. Jim Smith was then appointed as the club's new manager. Although the season started slowly, the signing of sweeper Igor Stimac proved pivotal. Throwing his brief of 'a top-half finish' out the window, Smith guided the Rams to a second-place finish and the Premier League, now the top flight of English football.

Derby County made an excellent Premiership début in the 1996–1997 season, finishing 12th in the final table. The club moved into the new 30,000-seat Pride Park Stadium for the 1997–1998 season.

Progress continued in the next two seasons, before a sudden decline in form. In 2000–2001 Derby narrowly avoided the drop, finishing 17th — one place clear of relegation.

Jim Smith resigned as manager in October 2001. He was replaced by assistant manager Colin Todd, who remained in charge for just three months before he was sacked in the aftermath of a humiliating FA Cup Third Round home defeat against Third Division strugglers Bristol Rovers. At the end of January 2002, John Gregory was appointed Derby manager. Despite a promising start seven defeats from their final eight fixtures condemned Derby to relegation.

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 bought in temporarily. He later received the job on a permanent basis.

The club's parent company went into liquidation in October 2003 and Lionel Pickering gave way to a new board led by John Sleightholme, who bought the club for £3. Derby finished 20th in the 2003–2004 season, but improved dramatically in the 2004–2005 season and finished 4th in the Football League Championship (the new name for the Football League First Division) and qualified for a promotion play-off spot, though lost in the semi-finals to Preston North End.

Soon afterwards, Burley resigned citing differences between himself and the board. He was replaced by Phil Brown. Brown failed to find much success in the job, however, and was sacked in January 2006, after a bad 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. Billy Davies was then brought in as manager and achieved instant success as Derby triumphed in the Football League Championship playoff final, gaining promotion to the Premier League after a five-year exile.

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