Historical Football Kits

 

Derby County

Formed 1884

Founder member of the Football League 1888

Kit History

1884 o q

circa 1890 a o q

1893 q

1894-1896 j n p

1896-1897 j

1897-1899 j n o

1904-1905 n

1907-1909 b

1914-1915 k

1919-1920 n

1922-1923 n

1925-1926 n

1928-1930 c o

1930-1931 o

1938-1939 h

1945-1956 g

1956-1960 u

1962-1968 d

1968-1971 g

April 1971 g

1971-1973 d

Umbro

1973-1974 s

Umbro

1974-1975 d s

Umbro

1975-1976 d s

Umbro

1976-1978 d

Le Coq Sportif

1978-1980 d

Le Coq Sportif

1980-1981 d

Patrick

1981-1984 d l t

Admiral

1984-1985 d t

Osca

1985-1986 n t

Osca

1986-1987 e t

Umbro

1987-1989 d m t

Umbro

1989-1991 d t

Umbro

1991-1993 d m

Bukta

1993-1994 d m

Rams Prowear

1994-1995 d m

January 1995 d

1995-1997 d m

1997-1998 d m t

1998-1999 d m t

1999-2001 d m

2001-2003 f

2003-2005 a

2005-2006 a

2006-2007 a r t

2007-2008 a

 

Background

In 1884 attendances at Derby County Cricket Club were falling: a Midland Railway clerk named William Morley discussed the formation of a senior football team for Derby with his father William senior who happened to be a committee member of the county cricket club. When William senior officially proposed the idea the committee embraced the possibility of boosting the ailing cricket club’s finances. The county FA objected to the new club being called Derbyshire County FC so Derby County was settled on as a compromise. Fans generally refer to the club as "Derby" or "The Rams," since "County" is associated with their Nottingham rivals, Notts County. For a period they wore the amber, chocolate and light blue colours of their parent club.

On Saturday 14th November 1885 Derby County came of age when they defeated the mighty Aston Villa in the second round of the English Cup, establishing themselves as one of the country's leading clubs. When the Football League was formed four years later, The Rams were invited to become founder members. It was not until sometime in the 1890s that the ubiquitous white shirts were adopted.

Derby found competiton at this higher level a struggle: they successfully sought re-election in 1889 and 1891 and in 1895 they survived a test match to avoid relegation to Division Two. There followed a period of stability until they were relegated in 1907. In 1912 the club won the Second Division championship only to be relegated in 1914, returning to the top flight the following season as Division Two champions for the second time.

In 1921, The Rams were back in Division Two once more but in 1926 they returned to Division One. Here they remained until 1952 when they were relegated again, winding up in Division Three (North) in 1955. From this nadir, they recovered in 1957 when they returned to Division Two as Third Division (North) champions. The club settled into mid-table mediocrity until Brian Clough and Peter Taylor arrived in 1967 and transformed the club.

Having guided these perrenial underachievers back into the top flight as Division Two champions in 1969, Clough and Taylor created a side that won the League championship in 1972 and narrowly missed reaching the European Cup Final the following year. When this extraordinary duo left to manage Brighton, Dave Mackay took over the side and guided them to a second championship in 1975. It was Clough, incidentally who introduced the dark blue shorts in place of the traditional black in a conscious effort to emulate the national team, a radical departure for a club that had played in a virtually unchanged strip for more than 70 years.

In the summer of 1978 Derby signed the first shirt sponsorhip deal in the Football League with Saab, whose name appeared in red on players' shirts in the pre-season photo-shoot. The League would not sanction sponsorship at the time so these shirts never appeared in competitive matches. It fell to Liverpool the following season to carry the first shirt sponsorship in England (Hibernian were the first senior club in the UK to sport sponsored shirts in 1977-78.)

The 1980s saw a dramatic decline in fortune that took Derby into Division Three by 1984 followed by successive promotions in 1986 and 1987 that brought them back to the top flight. During this period they were backed by self styled socialist millionaire, Robert Maxwell whose various publishing companies appeared on team shirts in addition to his own moniker. When Maxwell fell into disgrace and then off his yacht in November 1991, the money dried up and Derby dropped into Division Two. After several seasons in or near the play off places, Derby were promoted to Division One once more in 1996. The club became established in what became the Premiership as a mid table side until 2002 when they were once again relegated. After struggling to maintain a place in the second flight for several seasons, Derby returned to the Premier League in 2007.

Sources