History of Derby County F.C. (1967–present)

Clough and Taylor had guided Hartlepools to an eighth-placed finish in Division Four during the 1966–67 season and was recommended to Derby chairman Sam Longson by former England striker Len Shackleton, who had been working as a journalist in the North East.

The club also had another notable League Cup run, reaching the quarter-finals and beating top-flight Everton and Chelsea in successive rounds, before again being knocked out by the competition's eventual winners, falling 1–0 away to Swindon Town in a replay.

Although they rarely swept away the opposition, instead building on the foundations of a strong defence as record signing defender Colin Todd claimed the club's Player of the Year, there were some memorable performances; 4–0 humblings of rivals Nottingham Forest and Stoke City at the Baseball Ground and away to Sheffield United.

Without the distraction of European football removed, hopes where high that Derby would enter the 1973–74 season as title contenders, but the increasingly fractious relationship between Clough and the board came to a head following a 1–0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford on 13 October 1973.

However, the signing of Swindon Town's Rod Thomas and Aston Villa's Bruce Rioch turned the club's season around and they lost only four of their last 18 fixtures to grab a third place finish and a return to European football; a fine achievement considering the tumultuous nature of the campaign.

Although the season ended with a 6–2 victory over Ipswich Town at Portman Road, with Francis Lee grabbing 2 goals in the final game of his career, unbeknown to Derby County and its fans, the club's peak was passing.

Murphy managed just 7 victories in his 35 games in charge of Derby, whilst adding £300,000 Derek Hales and £175,000 Gerry Daly to the team and oversaw a finish of just 15th, the club's lowest since they had returned to the top flight.

Against a background of turmoil, with various changes of chairman and a police investigation into alleged boardroom corruption during the summer of 1979, Derby could only record a finish of 21st out of 22 teams, 5 points from safety and exited the top flight after 11 years and 2 titles with a whimper.

They even overcame bitter rivals Nottingham Forest, recent Champions of Europe at the time 2–0 at The Baseball Ground in a fractious FA Cup third-round tie before being knocked out in the 5th round 1–0 against Manchester United.

A buoyant feeling had returned to The Baseball Ground, and Cox was in his pomp, shaping a tightly knit group of players who each knew their jobs and respected each other which was supplemented with considered signings such as Phil Gee from Gresley Rovers and Nigel Callaghan from Watford.

Derby twice broke its transfer record in the space of a month when in March 1992 they signed Paul Kitson for £1.3m from Leicester City (Phil Gee being one of two players going in the opposite direction) and then Tommy Johnson for Notts County ten days later.

Facing off against fellow big spenders Blackburn Rovers, Derby fell at the semi-final stage as a 2–1 win at The Baseball Ground wasn't enough to overcome a 4–2 defeat at Ewood Park in the first leg and they crashed out 4–5 on aggregate and missed out on the opportunity to be a part of the inaugural Premier League, instead spending the 1992–93 season in the renamed Division One.

Despite the addition of Craig Short for £2.5m from Notts County – a record for a team outside of the top flight and for a defender at any level – the club could only an 8th-placed finish in the 1992–93 Division One table, largely as a result of taking three points from their opening 7 fixtures, missing out on the playoffs altogether.

With chairman Lionel Pickering's increased frustration at no return on his investment, the purse strings were tightened and McFarland was unable to buy suitable replacements, instead blooding youth products such as Dean Sturridge, Russell Hoult and Lee Carsley to fill the gaps created by the departures.

In the event Derby could only record a 9th-place finish and McFarland, in the knowledge his contract was not going to be renewed, said his goodbye's in the penultimate match of the season, a 2–1 home defeat at Southend United, ending a 28-year association with the club, broken only by a two-year spell as player-manager at Bradford City.

Smith's cosmopolitan side, built as he felt there was "very little market for British players" in the increasingly import soaked Premiership,[13] recorded two consecutive top ten finishes in the 1997–98 (9th) and 1998–99 (8th) Premier League seasons, the first time the club had achieved this since Dave MacKay in the mid-1970s and flirted with qualification for Europe on both occasions.

The key departure, however, was Steve McClaren – Smith's number two since he had taken the Derby managerial position 3 years earlier – who departed in February 1999 to become Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant at Manchester United, winning the treble in his first 3 months at Old Trafford.

All this was temporarily overshadowed by controversy surrounding the signing of Fuertes who, after scoring twice, including the winner against Everton, was refused entry back into Britain after a club training break in Portugal when immigration officials discovered that his Italian passport was forged; Derby were able to recoup his fee by transferring him to French side Lens for £2.8m.

Whilst several players, such as Malcolm Christie, bought from Nuneaton Borough for £50,000 and eventually registering 30 goals in 129 appearances for the club over 5 years, Richard Jackson and Paul Boertien (both of whom spent nearly a decade at the club), were successfully captured from lower league sides, Smith's previous golden touch in the transfer market had appeared to desert him, as players such as Bjorn Otto Bragstad, Con Blatsis, and Daniele Daino where bought and barely registered on the field, with safety only guaranteed on the penultimate day of the 2000–01 FA Premier League season; Malcolm Christie's goal the difference in a 1–0 win away to Manchester United.

After selling Seth Johnson to Leeds United for a club record £7m, Todd used the windfall to bring in François Grenet for £3m (who left after just 14 games to join Rennes for just £800,000), Luciano Zavagno and Pierre Ducrocq but results did not improve and he was removed from his position after an embarrassing 3–1 capitulation at home to Division Three Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup third round.

[15] In an attempt to bounce back to the top flight at the first time of asking the club rejected offers for their better players over the summer -such as Malcolm Christie, Mart Poom, Danny Higginbotham and Chris Riggott – and an opening day 3–0 win over Reading seemed to have justified the decision.

Brown needed a wise head with him as assistant but instead selected Dean Holdsworth, with no experience in the role, as his support and built a side constantly in flux; 22 Derby players made their debut during the 2005–06 season many of whom were "ineffective"[18] loanees, such as Stern John, Khalilou Fadiga and Johnnie Jackson.

The sale of Marcus Tudgay to Sheffield Wednesday, to raise funds for the capture of Darren Moore to strengthen the defence, left the club with just one recognised striker, 35-year-old Paul Peschisolido, and, after just 33 games in charge, Brown was sacked as Derby manager after a 6–1 defeat at Coventry City was followed by an embarrassing 3–1 FA Cup exit to League One side Colchester United.

[19] He was replaced by Academy Coach Terry Westley who made key captures in Alan Wright, Kevin Lisbie and Michael McIndoe as well as introduced youngsters such as Lewin Nyatanga and Giles Barnes into regular first team action.

After a 2–2 draw at home to Hull City on 10 February 2007, Derby were 7 points clear at the top of the table[25] and had strengthened for the promotion run in with the signing of Tyrone Mears, Jay McEveley, Gary Teale, David Jones, Craig Fagan, Stephen Pearson and Jon Macken for a combined £5m.

A run of three consecutive defeats in mid April meant that survival wasn't guaranteed until the penultimate game of the season when Player of the Year Rob Hulse scored the winner in a 1–0 win over Charlton Athletic at Pride Park.

[88] During October and November 2021, former Derby owner Andy Appleby,[89] US businessman Chris Kirchner,[90] and Sandy and James Easdale,[91] were named as interested parties as administrators looked for a buyer for the club, planning to shortlist three preferred bidders by the end of 2021.

[99] On 14 January 2022, with no immediate prospect of Derby County's purchase (hampered by the legal actions involving Middlesbrough and Wycombe), the EFL gave administrators until 1 February 2022 to provide information about how they intended to fund the club until the end of the season.

"[122] On 6 April 2022, with the club nine points from safety with six matches remaining, Chris Kirchner was confirmed by Quantuma as the preferred bidder, having recently renewed interest in Derby County following a failed attempt to buy Championship rivals Preston North End.

[123] With games running out and a third spell of third-tier football looking increasingly likely, Rooney talked about the continuing transfer embargo ("You cannot just pick players out of thin air"), and a 15-point penalty remained a possibility if outstanding debts were not settled in line with EFL insolvency rules.