Alan Ramage 4 EVA

Benedict Cumberbatch was a bit of a disappointment. 

I would say we had a better team when we were relegated 1983/84(just my opionion ) In the squad I THINK  we still had Archie Gemmill /Steve Powell/ Roy Mcfarland/Steve Buckley/John Robertson/Bobby Davison/Kevin Wilson/Kenny Burns /Paul Blades/John Barton/Yakka Banovic/Andy Garner All gave 100% with probably Robbo being the only exception ?

Hey, we're already the worst team in history, so why not go the whole hog, and have fans to match!  
 

I think I may need an evacuation if it's 1-1 after 85 minutes. 

it was actually a outstanding achievement,what came before it was the disastrous failure! 

Every time he plays against us he is there MOM

I also worry about Barry Bannan, he has controlled so many games against us since he actually played here.

Got in kids pen that day rememeber queing outsside and scousers trying to cadge money from us as we stood outside waiting to get in Great days

Nice to see Alex putting up his Swindon flag.. 

Got a very rare ex player shirt going for a song 
Danny Porter any one ?? LOL 

GLAD it`s gone to a good home .!
Looking GREAT I can still remember buying that from the Ramtiuqe at the BBG( first football shirt I ever bought) .
I used to think I was the dogs gonads wearing it ! .Those collars Brill 

Big thanks to @Alan Ramage 4 EVA for helping me to acquire this beauty from 1976 !

Jim Walker the forgotten man
As many of you know I have been for the last 18 months meeting up with the old brigade, the proper DCFC legends, the ones that put us on the map in footballing terms, the ones that made us the best team in England and got us to the European Cup semi finals, the teams of 71/72 and 74/75.
It started off as way to spend time with my Dad who was a bit lost after the loss of my mum, he is a season ticket holder now and was back in the day so I started off out on a journey that has lead us to meet most of them, one of them remains elusive and one didn’t wish to participate.
All of them have been fantastic, eager to tell stories of the great Brian Clough and the amazing fortunes of Derby County who in those bleak years of three day weeks, power blackouts, strikes and Rolls Royce nearly going under taking thousands of local jobs with it gave the people of Derby something to be proud of.
Upon meeting one of those legends, Jim Walker I was particularly struck by how at peace he was with the world, very relaxed, very friendly and by far the best story teller of them all.
Jim had not long ago lost his wife to illness so immediately him and my dad had something in common other than the love of football, he made us very welcome and gave us an open invite to go round when ever to continue with the tales.
Now most people may remember Jim as the guy who was signed by Clough & Taylor from non league football to play for Derby County and was a major part of the team that won promotion from division two in 1968/69.
He lost his place in the team to John Mcgovern but captained the reserves and stepped in when required to cover injuries of suspensions, this meant that he played only a few games in the 1971/72 season but it was his goal in a 1-0 win against Crystal Palace in late march that gave Derby both points and if you remember we won the league and finished first above dirty Leeds who were just one point behind and had a greater goal difference, so in effect Jim scored the goal that won us the First Division Championship.
Aswell as a footballer Jim is probably better known as the Aston Villa physio, he was there for around twenty years and served under many managers including Graham Taylor, Ron Atkinson, Brian Little and John Gregory, he was also the man charged with looking after Paul McGrath for many years both on and off the pitch and is spoken of in very high regard in Pauls autobiography.
He had a private practice at the Belfry for the golfers and was also the go to man at the NEC when any pop stars suffered an injury or needed attention from a physio, he worked with George Michael, Elton John, Neil Diamond, Michael Hutchence and Kylie to name a few hence him having so many fantastic stories.
Jim has also had illnesses this however does not dampen his spirit or take a smile from his face.
One thing that I was amazed to hear that Jim did not receive a medal for winning the league title despite being only one of sixteen players in that 71/72 season to have donned the shirt and scoring such a valuable goal.
When ever you see the pictures of the team celebrating and holding up their medals jim does not have one.
I approached Andy Ellis the club historian and the writer of many Derby County books and the fount of all knowledge and he confirmed it.
So we the approached the club and asked if they would support an application to Gordon Taylor of the PFA to ask if he would inturn support an application to the football league to present Jim with the medal that he should have received 46 years ago.
The club agreed and they sent the letter to Gordon Taylor who gave it his blessing and the approach was then made to the football league, this was back in February this year after the ball was started rolling in June of 2017 so it took a while.
I am delighted to say that the agreement was given and Derby County approached the very same jewellers who had made the original ones to make one for Jim, to the exact specifications of the original medals and in the same box and made from 9ct gold with all of the hall marks.
For some reason the club at this time can not be seen to publicly present Jim with the medal which is a great sadness as I thought that he was going to be able to step out on the pitch at Pride Park on the opening home game against Leeds (quite fitting as he stopped them winning the league with his goal), it is a litigious matter so I will comment no further other than to say that they did everything that they could.
So to wrap up the story I had the great honour of going to Jims house today with my dad and my son and presenting him with his long overdue medal, he had no idea that it was coming and to say that he was over whelmed is an understatement.
It was great to see his face and to have the privilege to do something like that, I had the medal at my house for a while but obviously didn’t want to post any pictures until now as it was a secret.
Not very often that you get to present a league championship winning medal on behalf of Derby County and to one of the few from those great days and can be called the legends.
We are hoping that Jim will still be able to have amore public presentation at sometime in the season at Pride Park when what ever issues are resolved.
Up the Rams !!
 

Piccadilli Rats Brill
The man on the left( NO shirt) told me he had played backing with the Everly Bros in the 60s !

Think it is Les Green in between Roy Mac and Alan Durban NOT John Robson ?

You're right, all Five foot eight of him,  lol

Think it is Les Green in between Roy Mac and Alan Durban NOT John Robson ?

I know DEL he`s a
DOUBLE FAN !

The thing with DEL is he actually does all these things.. No b*******, travels everywhere with DCFC and England.
Top lad by the way.. You do the gardening, I will carry his bags 

He must have a decent job to afford all the away trips he goes on and a good boss with the time off. Unless he's self employed I suppose

Yeah great day what s--t football we had to watch (but at the time we didn`t care)
I remember last match of the season We lost 3-0
I was on that terrace
Gordon Guthrie tried to keep the fans OFF the pitch 
And we were already relegated to Division THREE BEFORE K.O I believe !

Few well known faces on this picture. Shrewsbury away 80s. 
Great day!!

Is that home park F A cup quarter final 1984 ?
I remember 5 of us going on a football special to that !
 Blimey Happy memories !!!!
(football special was a train just for fans) For the younger ones