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2007–08 Derby County F.C. season

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Derby County F.C.
2007–08 season
ChairmanPeter Gadsby (until October)
Adam Pearson (until January)
Andrew Appleby
ManagerBilly Davies (until 26 November)
Paul Jewell
Premier League20th (relegated)
FA CupFourth round
League CupSecond round
Top goalscorerLeague: Kenny Miller (4)
All: Kenny Miller (6)
Highest home attendance33,087 (vs. Reading, 11 May 2008)
Lowest home attendance30,048 (vs. Blackburn Rovers, 30 December 2007)
Average home league attendance32,432

The 2007–08 season was Derby County's 109th season in the Football League, their 65th season in the top division of English football and their first season in the top flight since the 2001–02 season. They were promoted after beating West Bromwich Albion 1–0 in the 2007 Championship play-off final.

After a very poor start to the season, manager Billy Davies left the club on 26 November 2007 after winning only one game to be replaced by former Wigan Athletic manager Paul Jewell. Jewell failed to turn things around for Derby and the club spent most of the season at the foot of the table, recording a club and top-flight record run of 32 league games without a win.

Derby were officially relegated on 29 March 2008 after their 2–2 home draw with fellow strugglers Fulham and Birmingham City's 3–1 victory over Manchester City left them 19 points away from safety with only 6 games left. This made Derby the first club in Premiership history to be relegated in March and the first since Sheffield United in 1975-76 to go down from the top flight from that month, at the time only the second time it had ever happened in post-war English Football league history, before Huddersfield Town were relegated in March 2019.[1] They also accumulated the league's lowest points total since the introduction of 3 points for a win with just 11 points, as well as the record for the fewest wins in a Premier League season with just one victory in 38 games; also most defeats (29), fewest goals scored (20), most goals conceded in a 38-game season (89);[2] the latter record has since been broken by Sheffield United (2023-24).

Review

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Derby's season began with a 2–2 draw against Portsmouth on the opening day of the season, followed by a narrow 1–0 defeat away to Sven-Göran Eriksson's Manchester City (the only two games which Derby spent outside the bottom three), but then conceded a total of 12 goals in three successive defeats. Following their 6–0 defeat to Liverpool on 1 September 2007, Irish bookmakers Paddy Power decided to pay out on the club to be relegated after just five games of the new season.[3] The poor start saw fans accuse Gadsby and the board of failing to invest properly in players for the club. The repercussions of this saw Trevor Birch leave his position as Chief Executive on 19 October 2007[4] and, on 29 October 2007, Gadsby stepped down as chairman to be replaced by former Hull City owner Adam Pearson.[5]

Meanwhile, results on the pitch were not improving, with another poor performance away to Aston Villa followed up by a 5–0 home defeat against a West Ham United side ravaged by injuries. After taking just 6 points from 14 matches, including their only win of the season with a 1-0 victory against Newcastle United, Davies left by mutual consent after a meeting with Adam Pearson, taking nearly all of his newly assembled backroom staff with him.[6] The club had just been beaten 2–0 at home to Chelsea and were rooted to the bottom of the table. After the game, Davies had publicly criticised Derby's board for a lack of investment. Some critics believed that Davies was a victim of his own success after overachieving in his first season at Pride Park,[7] while others cited his apparent tactical inefficiencies at top flight level, poor big money signings (including £3m Claude Davis[8]) and suggested Davies had engineered his own departure, in the form of an outspoken rant against the board[9] so as to avoid having a relegation on his CV.

Within two days of Davies's dismissal, on 26 November 2007, Derby appointed highly rated former Wigan Athletic manager Paul Jewell.[10] He initially appointed Stan Ternent as his assistant but, when Ternent left to become Huddersfield Town manager in April, Jewell moved to appoint Chris Hutchings[11] who had been his assistant at both Bradford City and Wigan. Jewell's first match in charge was a 1–0 defeat away at Sunderland on 1 December 2007, the winning goal coming in stoppage time. Although performances improved under Jewell, results didn't. The team developed a habit of conceding late goals and following the defeat to Sunderland, Derby conceded late winners or equalisers in seven games between late December 2007 and late January 2008, dropping seven points from games they had been winning or drawing. Many at the club had in fact already accepted relegation by the end of December 2007.[citation needed]

Jewell was busy in the January 2008 transfer window, selling several players and bringing eight new players in, namely Everton defender Alan Stubbs,[12] Argentine striker Emanuel Villa,[13] ex-England international defender Danny Mills on loan from Manchester City, Blackburn midfielder Robbie Savage,[14] French winger Laurent Robert, Tottenham's Egyptian midfielder Hossam Ghaly on loan,[15] Gençlerbirliği's Mile Sterjovski[16] and Rangers goalkeeper Roy Carroll.[17]

On 28 January 2008, it was announced that Derby had been purchased by American group General Sports and Entertainment, with Tom Glick taking the role of new President and Chief Executive.[18] Derby's relegation was confirmed on 29 March, the first time a club had been relegated from the division before April[1] and sealing the club's first immediate relegation following promotion in its history. Poor results continued: a 6–0 home defeat at the hands of Aston Villa on 12 April 2008 is the biggest defeat at Pride Park and, by the season's end, Derby had recorded the Premier League's lowest points total[19] and equalled Loughborough's 108-year Football League record of going through an entire season with only one win. Their final game of the season was a 4–0 home defeat to Reading, who were also relegated.

League table

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Main article: 2007–08 Premier League

Manchester United were Premier League Champions in the 2007/2008 Season.

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
16 Bolton Wanderers 38 9 10 19 36 54 −18 37
17 Fulham 38 8 12 18 38 60 −22 36
18 Reading (R) 38 10 6 22 41 66 −25 36 Relegation to Football League Championship
19 Birmingham City (R) 38 8 11 19 46 62 −16 35
20 Derby County (R) 38 1 8 29 20 89 −69 11
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
For further information on European qualification see Premier League – Competition
(R) Relegated

Playing squad

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Squad at end of season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Wales WAL Lewis Price
2 DF England ENG Marc Edworthy
4 DF Scotland SCO Jay McEveley
5 DF England ENG Dean Leacock
6 DF Jamaica JAM Michael Johnson
7 MF England ENG David Jones
8 DF England ENG Alan Stubbs
9 FW Argentina ARG Emanuel Villa
10 FW Wales WAL Robert Earnshaw
14 FW Scotland SCO Kenny Miller
15 MF United States USA Eddie Lewis
16 MF Scotland SCO Gary Teale
17 DF England ENG Andy Todd
19 DF Jamaica JAM Claude Davis
20 MF England ENG Lee Holmes
21 MF Australia AUS Mile Sterjovski
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 MF United States USA Benny Feilhaber
23 DF Jamaica JAM Darren Moore
24 DF Jamaica JAM Tyrone Mears
25 MF Scotland SCO Stephen Pearson
28 MF Jamaica JAM Giles Barnes
29 GK England ENG Ben Hinchliffe
30 DF Wales WAL Lewin Nyatanga
31 GK Northern Ireland NIR Roy Carroll
32 DF England ENG Miles Addison
33 DF England ENG Mitchell Hanson
34 MF England ENG Matthew Richards
35 DF England ENG Jason Beardsley
40 MF Egypt EGY Hossam Ghaly (on loan from Tottenham)
41 FW England ENG Paris Simmons
44 MF Wales WAL Robbie Savage (captain)
— MF Australia AUS Ruben Zadkovich

Left club during season

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
3 DF Guinea GUI Mo Camara (on loan to Norwich City)
8 MF England ENG Matt Oakley (to Leicester City)
9 FW Scotland SCO Steve Howard[notes 1] (to Leicester City)
11 MF England ENG Craig Fagan (on loan to Hull City)
12 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Jon Macken[notes 2] (to Barnsley)
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 DF England ENG Andy Griffin (to Stoke City)
21 DF Scotland SCO Bob Malcolm (to Motherwell)
26 MF France FRA Laurent Robert (to Toronto FC)
27 DF England ENG Danny Mills (on loan from Manchester City)
43 GK England ENG Stephen Bywater (on loan to Ipswich Town)

Transfers

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Summer 2007 transfer window

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In

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Out

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January 2008 transfer window

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In

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Out

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Results

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Premier League

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Win Draw Loss
Date Opponents Venue Result[notes 3] Scorers Attendance Position
11 August 2007 Portsmouth H 2–2 Oakley 5' Todd 84' 32,176 7th
15 August 2007 Manchester City A 0–1 43,620 14th
18 August 2007 Tottenham Hotspur A 0–4 35,600 19th
25 August 2007 Birmingham City H 1–2 Oakley 51' 31,117 20th
1 September 2007 Liverpool A 0–6 44,076 20th
17 September 2007 Newcastle United H 1–0 Miller 39' 33,016 19th
22 September 2007 Arsenal A 0–5 60,122 19th
29 September 2007 Bolton Wanderers H 1–1 Miller 19' 31,503 20th
7 October 2007 Reading A 0–1 23,091 20th
20 October 2007 Fulham A 0–0 22,576 19th
28 October 2007 Everton H 0–2 33,048 20th
3 November 2007 Aston Villa A 0–2 40,938 20th
10 November 2007 West Ham United H 0–5 32,440 20th
24 November 2007 Chelsea H 0–2 32,789 20th
1 December 2007 Sunderland A 0–1 42,380 20th
8 December 2007 Manchester United A 1–4 Howard 76' 75,725 20th
15 December 2007 Middlesbrough H 0–1 32,676 20th
23 December 2007 Newcastle United A 2–2 Barnes 6' Miller 52' 51,386 20th
26 December 2007 Liverpool H 1–2 McEveley 67' 33,029 20th
30 December 2007 Blackburn Rovers H 1–2 Oakley 27' 30,048 20th
2 January 2008 Bolton Wanderers A 0–1 17,014 20th
12 January 2008 Wigan Athletic H 0–1 31,658 20th
19 January 2008 Portsmouth A 1–3 Nyatanga 4' 19,401 20th
30 January 2008 Manchester City H 1–1 Sun Jihai 46' (o.g.) 31,368 20th
2 February 2008 Birmingham City A 1–1 Villa 89' 25,924 20th
9 February 2008 Tottenham Hotspur H 0–3 33,058 20th
23 February 2008 Wigan Athletic A 0–2 20,176 20th
1 March 2008 Sunderland H 0–0 33,058 20th
12 March 2008 Chelsea A 1–6 Jones 72' 39,447 20th
15 March 2008 Manchester United H 0–1 33,072 20th
22 March 2008 Middlesbrough A 0–1 25,649 20th
29 March 2008 Fulham H 2–2 Villa 10', 80' 33,034 20th [R]
6 April 2008 Everton A 0–1 36,017 20th
12 April 2008 Aston Villa H 0–6 33,036 20th
19 April 2008 West Ham United A 1–2 Mears 65' 34,612 20th
28 April 2008 Arsenal H 2–6 McEveley 31' Earnshaw 77' 33,003 20th
3 May 2008 Blackburn Rovers A 1–3 Miller 18' 26,110 20th
11 May 2008 Reading H 0–4 33,087 20th

FA Cup

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Win Draw Loss
Date Round Opponents Venue Result[notes 3] Scorers Attendance
6 January 2008 Round 3 Sheffield Wednesday H 2–2 Miller 38' Barnes 45' 20,612
22 January 2008 Round 3 replay Sheffield Wednesday A 1–1 (a.e.t.)
(4–2p) 		Miller 47' 18,020
26 January 2008 Round 4 Preston North End H 1–4 Earnshaw 55' 17,344

Football League Cup

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Win Draw Loss
Date Round Opponents Venue Result[notes 3] Scorers Attendance
28 August 2007 Round 2 Blackpool H 2–2 (a.e.t.)
(6–7p) 		Camara 63', Fagan 101' 8,658

Squad statistics

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Appearances, goals and cards

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No. Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total Discipline
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK Wales Lewis Price 6 0 3 0 0 0 9 0 0 0
2 DF England Marc Edworthy 7/2 0 2 0 0 0 9/2 0 0 0
3 DF Guinea Mohammed Camara 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 0 0
4 DF Scotland Jay McEveley 21/8 2 0 0 1 0 22/8 2 6 0
5 DF England Dean Leacock 22/4 0 1 0 1 0 24/4 0 4 0
6 DF Jamaica Michael Johnson 1/2 0 0/1 0 0 0 1/3 0 0 0
7 MF England David Jones 11/3 1 0 0 1 0 12/3 1 4 0
8 MF England Matt Oakley 19 3 1 0 0 0 20 3 3 0
8 DF England Alan Stubbs 8 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 3 0
9 FW Scotland Steve Howard 14/6 1 0 0 0/1 0 14/7 1 3 0
9 FW Argentina Emanuel Villa 9/7 3 1 0 0 0 10/7 3 2 0
10 FW Wales Robert Earnshaw 7/15 1 0/2 1 1 0 8/17 2 0 0
11 MF England Craig Fagan 17/5 0 2 0 1 1 20/5 1 6 0
12 FW Republic of Ireland Jon Macken 0/3 0 0/1 0 0 0 0/4 0 0 0
14 FW Scotland Kenny Miller 30 4 3 2 0 0 33 6 4 0
15 MF United States Eddie Lewis 22/2 0 2/1 0 0 0 24/3 0 3 0
16 MF Scotland Gary Teale 9/9 0 2/1 0 1 0 12/10 0 1 0
17 DF England Andy Todd 14/5 1 3 0 0/1 0 17/6 1 3 0
18 DF England Andy Griffin 13/2 0 0 0 0 0 13/2 0 4 0
19 DF Jamaica Claude Davis 19 0 2 0 0 0 21 0 3 1
20 MF England Lee Holmes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
21 DF Scotland Bob Malcolm 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0
21 MF Australia Mile Sterjovski 9/3 0 0 0 0 0 9/3 0 0 0
22 MF United States Benny Feilhaber 1/9 0 0 0 0 0 1/9 0 1 0
23 DF Jamaica Darren Moore 29/2 0 1/1 0 1 0 31/3 0 5 0
24 DF England Tyrone Mears 22/3 3 1 0 0 0 23/3 1 2 0
25 MF Scotland Stephen Pearson 23/1 0 2 0 0/1 0 25/2 0 1 0
26 MF France Laurent Robert 0 0 3 0 1 0 3/1 0 1 0
27 DF England Danny Mills 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 1 0
28 MF England Giles Barnes 14/7 2 2/1 1 0 0 16/8 3 0 0
29 GK England Ben Hinchliffe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
30 DF Wales Lewin Nyatanga 2 1 2 0 0 0 4 1 1 0
31 GK Northern Ireland Roy Carroll 14 0 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 0
32 DF England Miles Addison 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
33 DF England Mitchell Hanson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
34 MF England Matthew Richards 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
35 DF England Jason Beardsley 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
40 MF Egypt Hossam Ghaly 13/2 0 1 0 0 0 14/2 0 2 0
41 FW England Paris Simmons 0/1 0 0 0 0 0 0/1 0 0 0
43 GK England Stephen Bywater 18 0 0 0 1 0 19 0 1 0
44 MF Wales Robbie Savage 16 0 1 0 0 0 17 0 4 0

Notes

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  1. ^ Howard was born in Durham, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and represented them at B level.
  2. ^ Macken was born in Blackley, England, and represented them at U-20 level, but also qualifies to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in August 2004.
  3. ^ a b c Derby County's score shown first

References

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  1. ^ a b McNulty, Phil (29 March 2008). "Derby 2–2 Fulham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 March 2008.
  2. ^ November 2017, Chris Flanagan 13 (13 November 2017). "Derby County's shocking 2007/08 revisited: the Premier League's worst ever season, told by those who were there". fourfourtwo.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Langdon, Mark (1 September 2007). "Power ready to pay out on Rams falling". Racing Post. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  4. ^ Birch leaves Derby chief exec job BBC Sport Online
  5. ^ New Derby chairman backs Davies BBC Sport Online
  6. ^ Bily Davies leaves Derby by mutual consent Times online
  7. ^ "Billy Davies leaves Derby County". BBC Sport. 27 November 2007. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
  8. ^ "Gerald Mortimer: No sad farewell to Davis". therams.co.uk. 2 September 2009. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  9. ^ Jackson, Jamie (25 November 2007). "Davies rages at Derby dilemma". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  10. ^ Paul Jewell appointed Derby manager Telegraph
  11. ^ "Hutchings set to take Derby role". BBC Sport. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2008.
  12. ^ a b "Stubbs Brings Steel". dcfc.co.uk. 31 January 2008. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  13. ^ a b "Rams sign Argentine striker Villa". BBC Sport. 4 January 2008.
  14. ^ a b "Savage completes switch to Derby". BBC Sport. 9 January 2008.
  15. ^ a b Jacob, Gary; Lansley, Peter; Szczepanik, Nick (1 November 2007). "Hossam Ghaly recruited for Derby's rescue effort". London: Timesonline.co.uk.[dead link]
  16. ^ a b "Derby complete Sterjovski signing". BBC Sport. 24 January 2007.
  17. ^ "Carroll Extends Derby Stay". BBC Sport. 22 February 2008.
  18. ^ "New owners reveal Derby ambition". 28 January 2008 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  19. ^ "Dismal Derby take Cats' sad place in the record books". Sunderland Echo. 29 March 2008. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  20. ^ "Derby sign £3.5m striker Earnshaw". BBC Sport. BBC. 29 June 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  21. ^ "Derby complete signing of Mears". BBC Sport. 4 July 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  22. ^ "Todd joins Derby". lancashiretelegraph.co.uk. 7 July 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  23. ^ "County tie up Todd swoop". football.co.uk. 10 July 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  24. ^ "Davis agrees £3m switch to Derby", BBC Sport, 6 July 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  25. ^ "Price completes transfer to Derby". BBC Sport. 27 July 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  26. ^ "Derby complete capture of Griffin". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 5 May 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
  27. ^ "U.S. midfielder Benny Feilhaber gets work permit to play for Derby County". USA Today. Associated Press. 9 August 2007. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  28. ^ "Eddie Lewis Is A Ram". dcfc.co.uk. 20 August 2007. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  29. ^ "Jewell demands fair Miller price". BBC Sport. 6 March 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  30. ^ a b c d e f g "Experienced pair to leave Derby". BBC Sport. 1 June 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  31. ^ "Millwall tie up Rams winger Smith". BBC Sport. 5 July 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  32. ^ "Camp pens deal". Queens Park Rangers F.C. 27 July 2007. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  33. ^ "Sligo Rovers announce new signings". Sligo Rovers F.C. 31 July 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  34. ^ "Luton sign ex-Derby man Jackson". BBC. 8 August 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  35. ^ "Danny Mills joins Derby on loan". The Daily Telegraph. 4 January 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  36. ^ "Derby confirm signing of Robert". BBC Sport. 11 January 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  37. ^ "Derby capture goalkeeper Carroll". BBC Sport website. 31 January 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  38. ^ "Derby complete Zadkovich signing". BBC. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  39. ^ "Leicester confirm deal for Howard". BBC Sport. 1 January 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  40. ^ "Griffin ties up Potters transfer". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 11 January 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  41. ^ "Oakley secures Leicester switch". BBC. 11 January 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  42. ^ "Barnsley capture Macken from Rams". BBC Sport. 28 January 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  43. ^ a b "Nyatanga and Malcolm head out". Derby County official website. 31 January 2008. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  44. ^ "Magpies seal Rams raid". Sky Sports. 29 February 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  45. ^ "Robert leaves Derby for Toronto". BBC Sport. 2 April 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
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