The club that was to become Derby County WFC started out as the idea of Sheila Rollinson and Jess Reid, who at the time were both playing for the Coventry-based women's side Holbrooks Athletic.

In 1997, Raf Long made contact with the club in order to secure coaching hours to contribute to his UEFA B licence qualification.

Steve Hall managed the U14 side which included Precious Hamilton, a player who would go on to represent the club a senior level as well as going on to play WSL football for Notts County.

At senior level, Steve Hall stepped up to become first-team manager and under his stewardship the club secured runners up spot behind Leicester City, whilst they lost in the league cup final to the same side.

Derby County Ladies participates as a founder member of the inaugural FA Midland Centre of Excellence programme, with teams competing at U16 and U14 age group.

The fixture was played at Derby County FC's Pride Park stadium and the result saw the club gain promotion to the Women's Premier League.

With 30 minutes remaining, they found themselves 2–0 down before staging a brilliant come-back, with a fantastic Emily Jeffery strike sealing a 3–2 victory and with it safety 2010–11 proved to be Steve Hall's final one as manager, prior to him stepping down and it proved to be a successful one as the club secured a commendable 5th-place finish behind league champions Aston Villa and runners up Coventry City.

Manchester City pipping Sheffield FC to the title The 2012–13 season proved to be poor after the previous two and saw the club finish one place off the bottom of the league.

However, with only one team being relegated and local rivals Leicester City securing only four points all season, the clubs were never in danger of losing their WPL status.

Derby submitted an application to join the league, however, it proved unsuccessful falling short of the required challenging criteria in a number of areas.

Duncan Gibb, an experienced Commercial Manager within the leisure and sport industry, took up an offer to join the club as its chief executive in September 2013.

Bennett took the decision due to family commitments and one of his last games at the helm saw the club win the Derbyshire County Cup for a third consecutive year beating Sandiacre Town 6–2 in the final.

Unfortunately, after an encouraging start to the season, results deteriorated and with the club firmly entrenched in a relegation battle they parted company with Sugarman shortly prior to Christmas.

Reserve Team Managers, Ash Abbey and Jack White undertook the role in an interim basis steadying the ship, before Stuart Wilson was appointed at the start of February.

The Liverpool game had been initially postponed due to a frozen pitch with over 1,000 tickets having already been snapped up, however the rescheduled date fell on the same night that the men's club played.

However, the best was saved until last when club founder Sheila Rollinson picked up the main award of the night when she was recognised for her ‘ Outstanding Contribution To Women's Football ‘.

The award was not just seen as a hugely justified accolade for her part in the amazing journey of Derby County from a local parks side to an established WPL club, but for her contribution to the wider game.

Despite only being able to field four first-team players, Ewe Rams delivered a superb performance on the day resulting in a 5–1 victory under the guidance of Reserve Team Manager, Petter Asser.

These included Sheffield FC club legend' Lisa Giampalma, Doncaster Belles' Molly Johnson and ex Manchester City player' Leanne De Silva.

As part of his work Moore quickly moved towards formally establishing links with the University of Derby's Media & Journalism section.

On the pitch, pre-season targets of a top-five finish and a run in one of the cups were realised, as the club equalled its highest ever league position following a final day victory over local rivals Nottingham Forest.

The win over The Blades saw them rewarded with a mouth-watering tie with local rivals Nottingham Forest, which saw the club once again break its record attendance with over 800 supporters creating a fantastic atmosphere.

Perhaps more pleasing than that was progressing of players from within the club's Under 18's side to the first-team, with forward Ellie May and goalkeeper Charlotte Clarke both featuring regularly towards the latter part of the season, with the former also being called up to John Griffiths England U17's squad.

The club's new website was launched at the start of November and was quickly recognised as the best in the Premier League, justifying the appointment of Andy Moore as Media Director.

A video promo saw the likes of former England International Kelly Smith and leading Sports Journalist and Presenter Jacqui Oatley advertise the course and the first scholar was recruited for the 2018–19 season.

The move to Moor Farm for first-team training was only the beginning of what became the Ewe Rams fifth and most important partnership - when Derby County FC agreed to greater synergy and formed the #OneClub approach offering financial, operational and admin support to the Ladies arm of the team.

The Ewe Rams secured the win in the fixture when local girl and Derby County fan, Amy Sims, headed the only goal of the game to ensure all three points.

Elsewhere, the Development Team regained the Derbyshire FA County Cup with a 4–0 win over Long Eaton United Ladies at their Grange Park home and it was a double celebration with Tommy Booth's side also finishing in their highest ever position In the FA Midland Reserve Division as they earned a runners-up spot behind Stoke City Women.

Former Nottingham Forest captain Kelly Darby joined as did Stoke City WFC pair Hannah Keryakoplis and Emily Owen.

Departing from the club was club-record goalscorer Cara Newton who retired from the game through injury having scored 86 goals for the Ewe Rams.