GuiseleyRam

Or Guiseley. At, er... Guiseley. 

Or Guiseley. At, er... Guiseley. 

Interesting reading this thread back only a few weeks later.
I'm not sure which goal technically qualifies as the one that took us up. As it was without reply, presumably Birdy's? 
But what I am sure about are the important contributions of several players, not least of whom is Sonny Bradley, with two goals previously and the all important assist for Collins to put the final game beyond doubt.
Adams didn't score, but ran the match.
You can see from the subsequent celebrations how together this team is, as demonstrated by Mendez Laing busting a gut to try and get the ball back to Collins for his 20th goal late in the game instead of going for glory himself.
I know we are a tier below, but given the circumstances I hope that these players will live in our hearts and memories just as much as van der Laan. 
Happy days!
 

Here's part 2 of the interview with Robin van der Laan. Be prepared to watch some goals you haven't seen in a while. 
https://ramstrust.org.uk/wp/ramstrust-meets-robin-van-der-laan-part-2/

Tony Dorigo. Happy retirement! 

Really conflicting emotions but the overriding one is Derby should never play third tier football ever again.
From an away day perspective, it was brilliant. I've never been to so many away grounds & travelled all over the country - great days out discovering the decent local boozers, chatting with mostly friendly home fans & of course, packing out every away end. Memories that will last for a long time - going absolutely mental when Osula scored after Accrington missed 2 penalties in 5 minutes, Waggy's hat-trick at Peterborough, sneaking into the home end at Leyton Orient, hungover to hell for a lunchtime KO away at Fleetwood, a fantastic match up away at Pompey in the worse weather imaginable contrasting with a beautiful summer day away at Carlisle last September. Craziest has to be the Tuesday night trip to Exeter - 550 mile round trip & a megabus that didn't turn up at 3am meaning I had to traipse round Derby City Centre in the dead of night in the rain until the first morning train back up North. Just as well we bloody won! All part of football's rich tapestry below the sanitised top level.
By contrast, I increasingly found the home games more & more depressing. I think it properly hit last September when we played Fleetwood - 80 away fans one side & 25,000 Derby fans the other. It just felt wrong & much though I admired the tiny sides of League One coming to mix it, the constant Cup Final feeling started to really jar.
Must echo the sentiments of a few here about the standard of football - surprisingly good overall & a lot of teams were able to play some good stuff. Physicality & gamemanship was no worse than you see in the division above & funnily enough, the worst team for it was Ipswich last season. Also enjoyed the 3pm Saturday routine & that is one thing I will miss when we inevitably get the Sky treatment next season as one of the big boys in the division above. It did however feel like 2 years completely out of the media spotlight & that saddened me ultimately - I want us to be relevant nationally & I want us to be the best version of ourselves. Thank you League One, it was a blast but we got out at just the right time.

Your stats are indeed correct & proves what we already knew about the respective supporter base of both clubs.
I wanted to expand the idea a little further to the crowd numbers in the third tier for any team matching the 'what on earth are they doing at that level' criteria, beginning with Manchester City who dropped into then Division 1 for 1998-99. It also makes a nice 25 year stint for comparison with the crowds Derby have averaged in our 2 year stint down here. Full table below which shows just how loyal this fanbase have been - only Sunderland & Man City pip us on average crowds and of course, City were only down at this level for one season, we've had two.
I think it also starkly illustrates the gap in support between Derby & our local competition. When the going got really tough, we showed up in far greater numbers - true measure of support, true measure of loyalty.
 

A day i will treasure for the rest of my life. Train down from Leeds was absolutely teeming with West Yorkshire based Rams, plenty of beers & laughs on board. Then a few beers pre-match in the Alex before heading down to PP via that amazing new mural by the underpass courtesy of Popside Fanatics.
Atmosphere was every bit as electric as I'd expected & brilliant to get that early goal. What a way for Max to sign off his career here. Ok Carlisle played some neat stuff thereafter but was never seriously worried. As soon as we scored our second & we heard Bolton were losing, we knew we were up. Pitch invasion was absolute magic, scenes that will stay with me forever.
After the humiliations this club has suffered in recent years, we deserved today. But a massive thank you to Paul Warne, the players & the coaching staff...heroes the lot of you. Biggest thank you though goes to the man who deseevedly got his minutes applause...David Clowes, you took this club from the grip of extinction & restored its pride. You deserve the freedom of this city.
P.s. was brilliant seeing the club's tribute to B4...his legend will always live on. Hope you enjoyed looking down today pal 👍
Absolutely love you Derby County. My club 🖤

Definitely need more. Living in Leeds, I see quite a bit of street art with regards to their football team. A lot of the telephone exchange boxes are painted by someone. I think they call him/her the Kirkstall Banksy. 

Deon Burton 

Deon Burton 

Deon Burton 

Brian Launders. Don't know why I remember him! 

I know we like to reminisce, so here is a new interview with Robin Van der Laan, who scored the goal that last won us automatic promotion. 
It's a real opportunity for one of our current players to step up and earn their own place in DCFC history by doing similar over the next few games. Who would you put your money on scoring the goal that takes us up? 

Listing the stadium as an  asset of community value (ACV) isn't perfect (as we found out when MM sold the stadium to himself!) but it is a safeguard for the future.
We are very pleased that the Club has supported our application. 
We are in good hands with our current owner (but we might not always be!) 

Excellent performance, excellent result & with results elsewhere, a brillant day.
Whilst its fair to say we didn't trouble the keeper too much first 45 mins, I was really pleased with the display. Got the ball down & played some smart stuff, Bristol were very much second best even though the ref was allowing them snidey little trips & then responding to any home crowd noise with decisions their way. The offside goal was a fantastic move, such a shame Gayle (?) strayed slightly. Sibley & Ward again made the 3-4-3 very potent...I enjoyed the football.
Second half we reverted to our typical away style as they picked up the tempo & we just picked them off. 0-3 probably flattered them given the chances we missed. That front 3 of Barkhuizen, Mendez-Laing & Gayle looks so dangerous on the counter and some great decision making/finishing from all 3. Good subs as well, Korey Smith added a measure of control as they were building up a head of steam & Waghorn kept up the forward press intensity. Well done all.
Massive 2 games coming up but keep that line up & level of intensity and we won't go far wrong. COYR 💪

If any of you reminiscing guys are interested, RamsTrust has recently published an exclusive two-part interview with Stuart Webb on the website: 
HERE  and HERE.
We also have some copies of his autobiography, "Clough, Maxwell and Me" available to buy on there. Link is at the end of the article.
Thanks.
 

Massive 3 points that, felt a bit pivotal dare i say.
Had resigned myself to a goalless draw & it was a hard watch for most of it...the team line up just didnt work with too many defenders on the park & lack of a forward out ball. We desperately need a forward option from the free agent ranks if Collins is out for the foreseeable, we just didnt look a threat at all during large swathes of the game.
Credit to the team for digging that result out though & shout out also to South Stand second half who woke up & changed the feel of the place. Intensity of our play definitely improved with crowd behind us & joyous scenes at the end. Another massive test next week, onto Barnsley...COYR 💪

Never have I been so pleased to see a set of cheating players, haranguing management team and arrogant fans go home with absolutely nothing!

Just uploaded the latest article to the Derby County Memories website - the Rams in the Channel Islands. For those who have not seen the website before, we write about memories of the Rams through history and memorabilia.
https://www.derbycountymemories.co.uk/the-rams-in-the-channel-islands
I have heard that in the St Martin's friendly in Jersey in May 2001, their goalkeeper may have scored directly from a kick out of his hands. Did anyone go who can confirm this?

Just uploaded the latest article to the Derby County Memories website - the Rams in the Channel Islands. For those who have not seen the website before, we write about memories of the Rams through history and memorabilia.
https://www.derbycountymemories.co.uk/the-rams-in-the-channel-islands
I have heard that in the St Martin's friendly in Jersey in May 2001, their goalkeeper may have scored directly from a kick out of his hands. Did anyone go who can confirm this?

Thanks for all the work you have put into this, really enjoyed reading this thread every day. 

Gary Rowett! 

Gary Rowett! 

Thanks for all the work you have put into this, really enjoyed reading this thread every day.