For quite a few years in the early part of the 21st century my son Dexter and myself were season ticket holders at Derby County football club. We saw a few good times interspersed with long periods of fairly indifferent action. The 2006/7 season was one of our better times...we travelled down to Wembley in May for the championship playoff final where a goal from 'Pearo' (Stephen Pearson) sank the Baggies (West Brom) and sent us back to the Premiership.
If Pearo was the hero of the day then it also belonged to Billy Davies our then manager under whose stewardship this triumph was achieved. We started the season that August in high spirits with the prospect of excitements when the big boys came to visit. We were away in August so missed the first two home games -a draw against Portsmouth and a narrow defeat to Birmingham so our first match took place against Newcastle in September.
I don't recall much of the game but we did run out 1 - 0 winners. But the portents of what were to come were already planted in that days match programme. A few days earlier we had a thumping by Liverpool. It should have been obvious maybe but it wasn't yet clear how badly the side would ship goals at one end and be so toothless in attack the other.
It was a season for the record books - but for all the wrong reasons. Derby never won another match and we were relegated in March with what still stands as the worst performance by a side in the history of the Premiership (only 1 win and 11 points). Shortly after the Newcastle game the Chairman stood down and by the end of November the often pugnacious and eccentric Billy Davies left the club. Despite the numerous changes it took until September 2008 (just 4 days short of a year) for us to witness a home victory (against Sheffield United back in the Championship). Is it blind faith or just stupidity that keeps us coming back for more I wonder!
