A first midweek match of this season this week against regular opponents Derby County, here’s seven questions on them with the answers to be posted on Wednesday.
60s. This defender was a regular opponent for City in games between them and Derby during the sixties and, with five defeats and only two wins while wearing white, it’s fair to say Cardiff had the better of things in the rivalry. Derby were his second club after having started off with the team closest to his birthplace. Despite staying with this bunch of thieves for seven years, he barely made it into double figures for them when it came to league starts and so he was into his mid twenties by the time he made the move to the Baseball Ground. He played over a hundred times for the Rams before a move to a city whose team was struggling at the time and his spell with them saw a gradual improvement which featured heroics in a cup competition. His next move was a short one to a place which has its own island, of sorts, but he didn’t stay there long before he moved a few miles up the road to finish his career with Cromwell’s men – it was while he was here that he scored the only two goals of his Football League career, but can you name him?
70s. Can you identify the Derby player from the 70s, by this list of clubs from his post Derby days?
Bournemouth, Torquay, Southend, Southend, Chelsea, Brentford, Yeovil and Southend.
80s. One time record Derby buy out to con English footballing hero? (12)
90s. Although not from the area, this England international’s first three clubs were bitter east Midlands rivals. Later in his career he was signed by a club from a capital after a bid for Oleg Luzhny fell through, but he had only played four times during an injury disrupted stay when manager Jupp Heynckes transfer listed him. Since retiring from playing, he has, among other things, been Director of Football at Nottingham University and manager of a club which plays at Liberty Way these days, who is he?
00s. A familiar name to City fans, this midfielder was on the winning side on the one time he faced us in a Derby shirt. His most famous club was his first, but he was limited to just cup games there when it came to senior team action. Since then, he has played for nine other clubs with Derby being the only one he has played for both as a loan signing and a permanent player. Five of those nine have been sides from Lancashire and he also went Dutch for a while – although he is currently without a club and will be thirty six in just over a week, he is still qualified to play for Wales despite the fact that his limited international experience was at age group level for England, can you identify him?
10s. A winger we were reported to be interested in around a decade ago, he signed for Derby from a Midlands club we’ve played this season, and his two appearances against us for them both ended in draws. Since leaving Derby six years ago, he’s played for Midlands nomads, had a spell on the golden mile on loan, performed at a venue with an unusual pier and is currently at a club where the bells have been silenced, name him.
20s. Mole wax on the move last month (3,4)
Answers
60s. Bobby Ferguson began his career with Newcastle United before moving to Derby in 1962. Three years later, Ferguson was signed by Jimmy Scoular for City and he was a regular in the team which made it through to the Semi Final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 67/68. Pretty soon after that though, Ferguson found himself second choice to a young Gary Bell and he was tempted to drop into non league football to become player manager of Barry Town, He must have done a good job there, because, within months,, Newport County (the Ironsides) appointed him in the same role making him the youngest boss in the Football League at 31. Newport had a disastrous time of it in their second season under Ferguson’s management however and he lasted barely three months in 70/71 before he sacked following a 6-1 FA Cup defeat at non league Barnet. However, Ferguson stayed on at Newport as a player and saw out the rest of the season at the club.
70s. Dave Webb played for Derby at the end of the seventies before going on to managed the clubs listed in the question – he was player manager at Bournemouth and Torquay.
80s. (David) Swindlehurst was Derby’s record signing when he signed for Derby from Crystal Palace for a fee of £410.000 in 1980.
90s. Gary Charles was loaned to Leicester City by his first club, Nottingham Forest before he signed for Derby in 1993. Two years later, he signed for Villa before moving on to Benfica where the Injuries that dogged him through his career kicked in again. Charles then moved close to his Newham birthplace by signing for West Ham, but he barely played for them and, after a short loan move to Birmingham, he retired in 2002 – Charles had a try at management with a three month spell at Nuneaton Town in 2018.
00s. David Jones played for Derby in their 3-1 win over us in 2006/07 while on loan from Manchester United – there had been earlier loans for him to Preston and NEC of the Netherlands. Jones signed permanently for the Rams during the summer following their promotion, but his only season with them was the one which saw them being generally accepted as the worst team ever to have played Premier League football. Jones moved on to Wolves and then Wigan where he was loaned to Blackburn for a while before becoming a regular under Sean Dyche at Burnley, the then had three years at Sheffield Wednesday and, following his release by them early this year, played a few games for Oldham, but was not offered a contract with them for this season. Qualified to play for England and Wales, Southport born Jones turned down the latter and his only international experience has been a single substitute’s appearance for the former at under 21 level.
10s. Northampton’s Michael Jacobs was linked with City for a while before he chose to sign for Derby upon the expiry of his contract in the summer of 2012. He started in the 1-1 draw at Pride Park during City’s Championship winning season and came on as a sub when the teams drew by the same score in Cardiff a few months later. Jacobs was first loaned to and then signed permanently by Wolves and he had a short spell at Blackpool on loan while at the Molineux club. Jacobs spent five years at Wigan before signing for Portsmouth during the summer when his contract ran out.
20s. Max Lowe was transferred from Derby to Sheffield United last month.
