I agree with your views on the Derby fans reaction to a late defeat, the pitch invasion and vandalism was inexcusable. It is true to say this loss wasn't far off the feeling we all got at Wembley although that was a far more important game, but then again was it. As an octogenarian I can relate to times past beyond most of you, for instance just after the second world war when Forest where a third division side and Notts County were the big noises Trentside, however time has irreversibly changed that fact forever. Nowadays Forest are and always will be our biggest rivals and yet I remember a time when the fans weren't segregated and people did not square up for a fight on the terraces.
Once this was a fixture termed a 'local derby' but now it has morphed into something much more important, a contest between not just Derby and Nottingham but also Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. This fixture has become an eternal sell out and if both clubs grounds had a capacity of 40,000 they would still have a sell out because the rivalry between both counties is now enormous and led by the Nottingham East Midlands TV news has led to 'bragging rights'. Supporters now, by their own admission, do not get to sleep the night before this fixture and when you arrive at the ground you can virtually taste the atmosphere and the tension, why even Sky TV have suddenly woken up to the fact this game has become much more than your average local derby.
In years to come where will it end, I dread to think, but at least we will have the doubtful privilege of being outclassed in the Premiership and they won't. |  |
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