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· Last season's game - Derby County 0 Spurs 1, 03.10.98
· See the current injury list for all Premier League Teams
· All the Spurs Stats you could hope for here! THFC6061 Sports Stats
This preview was written by Brian Judson
Full Record of Derby County -v- Spurs
Premier Pl W D L For-Ag Pts
Home 3 1 2 0 3-2 5
Away 3 1 0 2 4-6 3
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Total (Prem) 6 2 2 2 7-8 8
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Football Lge
Home (Div 1) 24 13 4 7 41-25 31
Away (Div 1) 24 3 8 13 29-60 16
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Total (Div 1) 48 16 12 20 70-85 47
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Football Lge
Home (Div 2) 1 0 1 0 0-0 1
Away (Div 2) 1 0 1 0 1-1 1
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Total (Div 2) 2 0 2 0 1-1 2
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Total (Prem) 6 2 2 2 7-8 8
Total (Div 1) 48 16 12 20 70-85 47
Total (Div 2) 2 0 2 0 1-1 2
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Grand Total 56 18 16 22 78-94 57
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Probably the most important match that Spurs have ever played against
Derby County occurred in the very first season that Spurs played in the
Football League. As the final week of the 1908-09 season started, Bolton
Wanderers, Spurs and West Bromwich Albion were all hoping to win
promotion. By a freakish coincidence, all three had to play their final
game against Derby County. West Bromwich went to the Baseball Ground for
their final match of the season on the Monday night. The Spurs team spent the
weekend at Buxton and travelled to watch that match. Derby County won 2-1.
Spurs travelled to the Baseball Ground on the Wednesday night. They had
worked out the various permutations and knew that either a win or a 0-0 or
1-1 draw would probably be enough to secure promotion. Defeat or a 2-2
draw or higher scoring draw would probably keep them in the Second
Division for another year, particularly if, as generally expected, Bolton
beat Derby when they played them on the Saturday. Spurs grabbed their 1-1
draw, with Bobby Steel scoring the vital goal.
On the Saturday, Bolton beat Derby County 1-0, leaving the final position
as:
Pl W D L For-Ag Pts
1 Bolton 38 24 4 10 59-28 52
2 Spurs 38 20 11 7 67-32 51
3 West Brom 38 19 13 6 56-27 51
Spurs had a goal average of 2.09 against West Bromwich Albion's 2.07.
Spurs were only the fifth team to secure promotion to the First Division
in their first season in the League.
Over the years, Spurs have not played Derby as frequently as they have
other clubs. Derby and Spurs seldom seem to be in the same Division. When
Spurs were relegated in season 1927-28, Derby County finished 4th in the
table with 44 points, only six more than Spurs had in finishing with 38
points. Apart from two seasons in the mid-1930s, Spurs were not in top
flight football again until 1950-51 and within two seasons, Derby had been
relegated and were not to return to the top flight until 1969-70.
The 1970s were the best of times for Derby County as they won the League
twice in the space of a few years. They won the first of their titles
without actually playing as they had finished their programme and had to
wait for their rivals to conclude their seasons. Then, they repeated the
feat again a few years later. But, effectively, that was the last time a
small provincial club won the game's major domestic honour. Although
Nottingham Forest repeated the feat a few years later, they were able to
compete in the transfer market, something that Derby have never been able
to do so. Their biggest fee so far paid out was to Crewe for the services
of Seth Johnson .... £3M.
Derby have, in fact, succeeded in retaining top flight status by having
managers who wheel and deal and convert former no-hoper players into
players that are coveted by other richer clubs. Not for them a permanently
reserved seat at the Nou Camp or Sans Siro stadiums to view very expensive
discards. Their happy hunting grounds are in the Unibond and others of
the pyramid. Who, for instance, can forget one of their most stunning
discoveries, a certain Roger Davies, a tall, gangling, clumsy,
unco-ordinated player of the 1970s? Those who were at Tottenham on the
night of 7th February 1973 will recall with horror the events of that
night? The curious can email me to ask me to relive the dreadful nightmare
at the risk of my ending up gibbering in a padded cell .....
But there are happier memories of 8th September 1990 when a Gazza-inspired
performance saw Peter Shilton reduced to a gibbering wreck as Gazza took
pot shots at Shilton and scored a hat-trick. Two of the goals came from
free-kicks some 30 yards out ......... I must remember to look at the club
video of that match again some time ......
Spurs have never travelled well to Derby. The Baseball Ground was not one
of their happy hunting grounds. I remember very well the only visit I made
to that ground when Spurs were fortunate to escape with a draw on 3rd
February 1973. The pitch was a boggy morass that reminded me of
photographs of the terrain of the Somme and Passchendaele of the First
World War battles. Spurs were unable to play their usual game of football
and had to resort to route one football as the ball tended to stick in the
mud otherwise. Perhaps it would have been kinder for the sanity of the
Spurs fans if we had lost that day ......
Spurs have not had much to shout about at Derby although Sol Campbell's
goal secured us a rare win at Derby last season. The year before we lost
2-1 with Ruel Fox scoring our goal.
So what will happen this afternoon? I suspect that Spurs will be lucky to
escape with a draw. I'll be very surprised if we win. I'll settle for a
1-1 draw although Derby do tend to blow hot and cold and their goalkeeper,
Russell Hoult, in for the injured Mart Poom, has been making some terrible
blunders recently. But with Chris Armstrong likely to be our only striker
up front, it does not bode well for our chances of cashing in on any
blunders Hoult makes ......
Cheers, Brian
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