SamUltraRam

League game 12 from 1985/86 was a home victory over York City which took us to 22 points after 12 games - 2 points ahead of our current total.
This was our 4th league win in a row and moved us up to 4th position in the league
After an injury to Trevor Christie in the 1st half, 19 year old Andy Garner came on to score both Derby goals.
The match report mentions another rule which I'd forgotten about - teams were allowed to pass back to their goalkeepers and apparently York did it 40 times in the game !!
( Game 12 in 1984/85 was a 0 - 0 away draw at Walsall which took us to 18 points )


 
 

5) August 1992 - the pass back rule was introduced whereby players were no longer allowed to kick the ball to their goalkeepers for him to pick it up
I have memories of Alan Hansen & Mark Lawrenson doing this a lot for Liverpool, passing back to Bruce Grobbelaar
(for a bit of trivia, Grobbelaar grew up in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and has said that he grew up as a Derby County supporter)

Game number 10 from 1985/86 was a resounding victory over Swansea which took us to 16 points after 10 games - still 1 point behind our current total.
One disappointment was the midweek home attendance of less than 10,000
( Game 10 1984/85 was a 3 - 1 home win over Plymouth which took us to 14 points )
 

And I'll beat it with Charlie Palmer as a milkman
 

How's this ?
 

He played against Ipswich Town the game after this in the Milk Cup, which obviously raised their interest, then the next league game against Plymouth he broke his arm and didn't play for us again until 2 games at Christmas before moving to Ipswich Town for £200k (i think) which was big money in those days and it was used to buy Gary Micklewhite & Trevor Christie
Here are Arthur Cox's programme notes
 

A few significant changes that have happened to English football since 1985/86
1) The play-offs were first introduced to the English Football League in 1987 and have been staged at the conclusion of every season since.
2) The number of substitutes usable in a competitive match has increased from zero, meaning that teams were reduced if players' injuries could not allow them to play on, to one in 1958; to two out of a possible five in 1988. With the later increases in substitutions allowed, the number of potential substitute players increased to seven. The number of substitutes increased to two plus one (injured goalkeeper) in 1994, to three in 1995; and most recently temporarily increased to five substitutes in 2020 due to Covid and permanently to five in 2022/23.
3) Relegation from Div 4 of the Football League through re-election - No club was voted out in the eight seasons until 1986, after which the system was abandoned in favour of direct promotion between the Football League and the Football Conference
4) In 1992/93 the Premier League was introduced and since then, all common sense in the domestic English football world is disappearing bit by bit
 

I thought i'd show a comparison to our promotion season from this division in 1985/86 for a bit of fun. I'll try to do it game by game if there's any interest to read it.
Game number 9 was a 2 - 0 away win at Cardiff City & took us to 13 points - so we're ahead of that. Attendance was just 3,435 at Ninian Park
We'd just beaten Div 1 Leicester City 2 - 0 in the 1st leg of the Milk Cup
It appears that you could only name 1 substitute then as well which surprised me
Starting lineup:
Goalkeeper Mark Wallington
Right back Charlie Palmer
Central defender Rob Hindmarch
Central Defender Ross Maclaren
Left back Steve Buckley
Midfielder Steve McClaren
Winger/Midfielder Gary Micklewhite
Midfielder Geraint Williams
Forward Trevor Christie
Forward Bobby Davison
Winger/Midfielder Jeff Chandler
Substitutions: Paul Blades for Steve McClaren
 

I thought i'd show a comparison to our promotion season from this division in 1985/86 for a bit of fun. I'll try to do it game by game if there's any interest to read it.
Game number 9 was a 2 - 0 away win at Cardiff City & took us to 13 points - so we're ahead of that. Attendance was just 3,435 at Ninian Park
We'd just beaten Div 1 Leicester City 2 - 0 in the 1st leg of the Milk Cup
It appears that you could only name 1 substitute then as well which surprised me
Starting lineup:
Goalkeeper Mark Wallington
Right back Charlie Palmer
Central defender Rob Hindmarch
Central Defender Ross Maclaren
Left back Steve Buckley
Midfielder Steve McClaren
Winger/Midfielder Gary Micklewhite
Midfielder Geraint Williams
Forward Trevor Christie
Forward Bobby Davison
Winger/Midfielder Jeff Chandler
Substitutions: Paul Blades for Steve McClaren
 

League game 12 from 1985/86 was a home victory over York City which took us to 22 points after 12 games - 2 points ahead of our current total.
This was our 4th league win in a row and moved us up to 4th position in the league
After an injury to Trevor Christie in the 1st half, 19 year old Andy Garner came on to score both Derby goals.
The match report mentions another rule which I'd forgotten about - teams were allowed to pass back to their goalkeepers and apparently York did it 40 times in the game !!
( Game 12 in 1984/85 was a 0 - 0 away draw at Walsall which took us to 18 points )


 
 

League game 12 from 1985/86 was a home victory over York City which took us to 22 points after 12 games - 2 points ahead of our current total.
This was our 4th league win in a row and moved us up to 4th position in the league
After an injury to Trevor Christie in the 1st half, 19 year old Andy Garner came on to score both Derby goals.
The match report mentions another rule which I'd forgotten about - teams were allowed to pass back to their goalkeepers and apparently York did it 40 times in the game !!
( Game 12 in 1984/85 was a 0 - 0 away draw at Walsall which took us to 18 points )


 
 

Nice one GoC. You do the charts, i'll do the other stuff. 
1955/56 finished 2nd (regionalised - only Champions promoted - we got the adjusted equivalent of 91 points and we scored 110 goals). There wasn't a Division 4 until 1959, just Div 3 North & Div 3 South
1956/57 finished 1st
1984/85 finished 7th
1985/86 finished 3rd
So we need to make top 6 this season to avoid our lowest ever finish in our history
 

I’ll be one of the first to admit I wasn’t exactly enthralled by the idea of having Wildsmith as a number 1 when he signed. I’m sure many others will be in the same position.
I was expecting and hoping another keeper to come in and that Wildsmith would be a good back up, but obviously that never happened.
I think he’s been excellent this season and is yet to really make a glaring error. For a keeper that’s spent most of his career as a substitute, I think he’s stepped up brilliantly.
He’s been one of our better additions this summer, I feel like he deserves some recognition for how he’s started his time here with us.

I thought i'd show a comparison to our promotion season from this division in 1985/86 for a bit of fun. I'll try to do it game by game if there's any interest to read it.
Game number 9 was a 2 - 0 away win at Cardiff City & took us to 13 points - so we're ahead of that. Attendance was just 3,435 at Ninian Park
We'd just beaten Div 1 Leicester City 2 - 0 in the 1st leg of the Milk Cup
It appears that you could only name 1 substitute then as well which surprised me
Starting lineup:
Goalkeeper Mark Wallington
Right back Charlie Palmer
Central defender Rob Hindmarch
Central Defender Ross Maclaren
Left back Steve Buckley
Midfielder Steve McClaren
Winger/Midfielder Gary Micklewhite
Midfielder Geraint Williams
Forward Trevor Christie
Forward Bobby Davison
Winger/Midfielder Jeff Chandler
Substitutions: Paul Blades for Steve McClaren
 

Points tally compared to other seasons in the 3rd Division (adjusted to 3 points per win):

League game 12 from 1985/86 was a home victory over York City which took us to 22 points after 12 games - 2 points ahead of our current total.
This was our 4th league win in a row and moved us up to 4th position in the league
After an injury to Trevor Christie in the 1st half, 19 year old Andy Garner came on to score both Derby goals.
The match report mentions another rule which I'd forgotten about - teams were allowed to pass back to their goalkeepers and apparently York did it 40 times in the game !!
( Game 12 in 1984/85 was a 0 - 0 away draw at Walsall which took us to 18 points )


 
 

League game 12 from 1985/86 was a home victory over York City which took us to 22 points after 12 games - 2 points ahead of our current total.
This was our 4th league win in a row and moved us up to 4th position in the league
After an injury to Trevor Christie in the 1st half, 19 year old Andy Garner came on to score both Derby goals.
The match report mentions another rule which I'd forgotten about - teams were allowed to pass back to their goalkeepers and apparently York did it 40 times in the game !!
( Game 12 in 1984/85 was a 0 - 0 away draw at Walsall which took us to 18 points )


 
 

5) August 1992 - the pass back rule was introduced whereby players were no longer allowed to kick the ball to their goalkeepers for him to pick it up
I have memories of Alan Hansen & Mark Lawrenson doing this a lot for Liverpool, passing back to Bruce Grobbelaar
(for a bit of trivia, Grobbelaar grew up in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and has said that he grew up as a Derby County supporter)

League game 12 from 1985/86 was a home victory over York City which took us to 22 points after 12 games - 2 points ahead of our current total.
This was our 4th league win in a row and moved us up to 4th position in the league
After an injury to Trevor Christie in the 1st half, 19 year old Andy Garner came on to score both Derby goals.
The match report mentions another rule which I'd forgotten about - teams were allowed to pass back to their goalkeepers and apparently York did it 40 times in the game !!
( Game 12 in 1984/85 was a 0 - 0 away draw at Walsall which took us to 18 points )


 
 

League game 12 from 1985/86 was a home victory over York City which took us to 22 points after 12 games - 2 points ahead of our current total.
This was our 4th league win in a row and moved us up to 4th position in the league
After an injury to Trevor Christie in the 1st half, 19 year old Andy Garner came on to score both Derby goals.
The match report mentions another rule which I'd forgotten about - teams were allowed to pass back to their goalkeepers and apparently York did it 40 times in the game !!
( Game 12 in 1984/85 was a 0 - 0 away draw at Walsall which took us to 18 points )


 
 

Our next game was a significant one - 2nd leg of the Milk Cup away to Leicester who were in the top league.
The 1st leg resulted in a 2 - 0 victory for the Rams & don't forget, both the FA Cup & Milk Cup were taken very seriously in those days, none of the weakened teams we see in todays game.
The game finished 1 - 1 putting Derby through to the next round but what made the headlines was the action outside the ground.
I was there & I remember it getting proper nasty in the streets.
5,000 Derby fans in a crowd of just over 10,000

I thought i'd show a comparison to our promotion season from this division in 1985/86 for a bit of fun. I'll try to do it game by game if there's any interest to read it.
Game number 9 was a 2 - 0 away win at Cardiff City & took us to 13 points - so we're ahead of that. Attendance was just 3,435 at Ninian Park
We'd just beaten Div 1 Leicester City 2 - 0 in the 1st leg of the Milk Cup
It appears that you could only name 1 substitute then as well which surprised me
Starting lineup:
Goalkeeper Mark Wallington
Right back Charlie Palmer
Central defender Rob Hindmarch
Central Defender Ross Maclaren
Left back Steve Buckley
Midfielder Steve McClaren
Winger/Midfielder Gary Micklewhite
Midfielder Geraint Williams
Forward Trevor Christie
Forward Bobby Davison
Winger/Midfielder Jeff Chandler
Substitutions: Paul Blades for Steve McClaren
 

Game 11 was a home win over Notts County - the Rams third league win in a row.
This gave us 19 points - 2 ahead of our current total
The crowd of over 14,000 was impressive, for example in Div 1 (premier league) Forest had their 2nd consecutive Saturday home crowd of just over 12,000
( In 1984/85, Derby had a 3-1 home win over Hull City putting us on 17 points )

For comparison with the first season in the 3rd division, games 8 and 9 brought back to back away defeats at Millwall & Bristol Rovers putting us on 11 points