Their first season in Europe came when they entered the 1972–73 European Cup after winning the 1971–72 First Division Title, reaching the semi-final stages, where they lost 3–1 on aggregate to Juventus in controversial circumstances.

They had qualified for the 1970–71 Fairs Cup after finishing the 1969–70 First Division in 4th, but were banned from entering the competition due to financial irregularities.

A Derby defence praised as "efficient" was left unbeaten in the leg at Broomfield Park as it finished goalless.

[5] The East Midlands leg, rearranged after the original game was postponed,[6] was won 2–1 by the home team, with Derby's goals from Roger Davies and a hotly disputed penalty kick scored by Hinton; Derek Whiteford was the Airdrie goalscorer.

[8] Dave Mackay first led Derby into Europe when he took the club to a third-place finish in the 1973–74 after taking over from Brian Clough in October 1973.

Though the run contained arguably the greatest night in the club's history, a 4–1 home victory over Real Madrid, in which Charlie George grabbed a hat-trick, a 5–1 defeat at the Bernabéu saw Derby exit the competition in the second round.

Dave Mackay's third foray into Europe as Derby manager proved to be the club's last in major competition.

They defeated German giants Borussia Dortmund 3-1 in the playoffs but were eliminated from the competition at the Round of 16 stage after losing 4-1 away to Austrian side Salzburg.