Ash takes his usual look back at a memorable match and players that have played for both Saturday's opponents Derby County and Queens Park Rangers.

Well after another disappointing draw at home and yet another FA Cup Third Round exit, Rangers head into a game this weekend hoping to avoid defeat to a team with the new manager feel good factor. This is not any particular feel good factor, no this one belongs to the Derby faithful and what they hope is the second coming of their greatest ever name. While it remains to be seen if whether Nigel Clough will indeed achieve an ounce of the success his father did at County, he’ll still be quietly confident of getting off to a good start against a QPR side struggling for form away from home when the two teams meet on Saturday.



It depends what way you look it for Paulo Sousa right now, on one side of the coin you could argue he’s only suffered two defeats, with just the one of them coming in the league since he was appointed manager or on the flipside Sousa has only tasted victory on three occasions, even if one of those was against the league leaders. In the last few weeks his continuous chopping and changing of the team has seen the R’s stumble to draws in really winnable games and questions are being asked of the Portuguese manager for the first time in his reign. A first away win over a struggling Derby County side, Nigel Clough included would be a good way to stop those beginning to doubt him.



Rangers got an absolute hammering on their first ever visit to Derby, losing 5-0 in a 1948 FA Cup tie. The also lost 4-0 in the first league meeting twenty years later. Last time the teams met two seasons ago, the R’s were heading for an impressive and vital away win thanks to Martin Rowlands goal until Darren Moore popped up late on to snatch a point for Billy Davies men. So let’s take a walk down the blue and white hooped path of memory lane and remember a thumbing win from Stan Bowles’ boys and two strikers who were quickly forgotten at Loftus Road …



Memorable Match

Derby County 1-5 QPR

23rd August 1975

Division One

From Vital QPR

Dave Sexton`s QPR travelled to the home of the champions after making a decent start to the 75-76 campaign. In their first two games of the season QPR had drawn against Villa and sensationally dispatched Liverpool who had finished as runners up the previous year. Midfielder Gerry Francis was in fine form, scoring two goals in the first two games, and what made a good start taste even sweeter was the fact that two of Rangers stalwart defenders were out with injury.



Frank McLintock and Dave Webb were missing and in their place came rookie defenders Ron Abbott and Tony Tagg. The young duo came straight off the production line and into the first team – their good start and the team’s fine form would face a stiff test at the Baseball Ground against the reigning champions.



Dave McKay`s men already had their first piece of silverware for the season, defeating West Ham United in the Charity Shield. Back to back away draws for the Rams against Sheffield United and Coventry City meant that they sat behind the R`s in the league standings going into the match. McKay`s men were back on home turf seeking their first win of the campaign.



Lining up with the potent force of Kevin Hector and Francis Lee, Derby could also boast a talented midfield with Bruce Rioch and Henry Newton flanked by Charlie George and Archie Gemmill. The formidable central defensive pairing of Colin Todd and skipper Roy McFarland would surely make it tough work for the R`s to break the deadlock.



Derby were boasting a lush new surface, but it was the R`s that used it to its full effect and ultimately it was the visitors who took the game by storm in sensational fashion. Stan Bowles was the hero of the moment in the R`s first away game of the campaign. The forward`s hat trick included a goal from the penalty spot as the visitors stunned the strong crowd at the Baseball Ground.



Defender and captain Roy McFarland got the Rams back into the game with a goal shortly before half time, but it was hardly a reflection on Derby`s performance as they played second fiddle to Rangers throughout the encounter. All they could muster was the inspired left boot of David Nish, with Phil Parkes at his best to deny the full back, tipping the ball round the post and over the bar to epitomise the Rangers’ sensational form.



Further goals after the break from winger Dave Thomas and full back Dave Clement really did provide one of the major shocks in the Division. But it was the R`s rookie rearguard that was singled out for praise. Defensive duo Ronnie Abbott and Tony Tagg - the latter making his full debut - did enough to keep the experienced Rams forward line at bay as Rangers fairly cantered to victory in surprising fashion.



Postscript: The Rams manager Dave McKay didn’t last much beyond the 1975-76 season, as the successor to Brian Clough gave way in November 1976 to Colin Murphy. Derby finished off the season in fourth place, six points behind runners up QPR.



Derby County: Bolton, Thomas, Nish, Rioch, McFarland, Todd, Newton , Gemmill, Lee (Hinton 50), Hector, George.



QPR: Parkes, Clement, Gillard, Leach, Abbott, Tagg, Thomas (Beck 63), Francis, Masson, Bowles, Givens.



Player Connections


Dean Sturridge

Derby County 1991-2001

QPR 2005-06

Ian Holloway did many good things as manager of QPR and he will always hold a special place in my heart for what he did for this club, but the signing of Dean Sturridge will not go down as one of his finest moments.


Born in Birmingham, Sturridge signed pro forms at Derby County in 1991 and made his debut a year later in a 1-0 defeat to Southend United. Still only a young man Sturridge had to bide his time to get a run in the County team, so spent time on loan at Torquay in 1994 - scoring five goals in just ten outings for the Gulls. Back at Derby he looked a more confident player and became the Rams first choice striker for the 1995-96 season. His twenty goals that year helped Derby to second place in the First Division and promotion to the Premier League for the first time. Sturridge and Derby made a strong Premier League debut the following campaign, with the Ram’s finishing a creditable twelfth and Sturridge netting 11 goals and impressing so much he was linked with a big money move to Arsenal. He stayed with the Rams in the top-flight for another five seasons, scoring 53 goals in all for Derby before manger Jim Smith left in 2001 and Dean found himself out of the first-team picture.

He joined Leicester City in a £350,000 deal however he couldn’t capture the same kind of goal scoring form at Filbert Street , dropping behind heavyweights Trevor Benjamin and Ade Akinbyi in the pecking order. Injuries meant he left after just ten months to join Wolves on initial loan deal. His four goals in just two outings led to a permanent move on Christmas Eve 2001.

Two successful seasons followed, where his goals helped the club to reach the play-offs in both campaigns, wining promotion the second time around with a 3-0 win over Sheffield United. The striker didn’t enjoy much of Wolves’ season in the top-flight though as injury and new signings limited him to just five appearances and he spent time on loan at Sheffield United. Sturridge never regained his place at Molineux and in March 2005 joined QPR on a free transfer.

Although injury had taken its toll on the player, Rangers manager Ian Holloway believed he had picked up a bargain who, if he got fit, could be a secret weapon in his team’s Championship campaign. However over the eight short months that Dean was at Loftus Road he spent more time in the treatment room than any other player in the history of the club. So much so that the injury column on this very website is named in Dean’s honour - link. He played just 11 games for the club without scoring before his contact was terminated – not before time. A subsequent interview by LFW with Gianni Paladini revealed that the medical tests done when Sturridge first joined the club were less than strenuous - link.

A short spell at Kidderminster followed before he retired last season to become a pundit on BBC Radio Derby. Now working on his coaching badges, with hopefully a physio on stand by.

Magic R’s moment: All I can think of was the goals he did score during a pre-season game against Coventry. That victory meant Rangers lifted the prestigious Ibiza Cup.



Mikkel Beck

Derby 1999

QPR 2000 (loan)

As I was writing this, a thread was started on the message board asking who the softest player to ever play for QPR was. And the only real memories I have of Mikkel Beck was him falling over if anyone so much as blew on the Danish striker so my vote would go to him!


Son of former Danish footballer Carl Beck, Mikkel started his career with hometown Kolding IF before spending a season in the Danish Superliga with B 1909. His big break though came with a move to German Second Division side Foutuna Koln. His goals for Koln earned him a call up to the Denmark squad and he celebrated his international recognition with three goals in his first six matches winning him the Danish Sports Talent of the year and a place in the country’s Euro 96 squad. Following that tournament Bryan Robson saw enough of the striker to off him the chance in the Premier League and signed for Middlesbrough.

Life at the Riverside started off well, with Beck netting on both his debut in the League Cup and first league start. But his nine further goals that season couldn’t prevent Boro from being relegated and losing both cup finals. The following campaign was arguably Beck’s best in England as his 15 goals led Boro back to the top-flight at the first attempt. However with Robson trying to assure Boro wouldn’t struggle again Beck found himself down the pecking order the following season and left halfway through the campaign to join Derby County.

Once at Pride Park though he found it difficult to ever get a consistent run in the team and loan spells followed first at Nottingham Forest then QPR. Beck played 11 times for Gerry Francis’ men in a three month stint scoring four goals but spent most of the time on the floor whenever a Championship defender went within a mile radius of him. A permanent transfer to W12 seem to be on the cards before Derby re-called the striker before eventually he eventually went back to Denmark with Aalborg. Beck finished his career with Lille in France before becoming a player agent.

Magic R’s moment: Scoring in a memorable 3-1 win at Manchester City.



Others:

Johnny Poppitt Derby 1945-50, QPR 1950-54. Now unknown.

Harry Brown QPR 1942-46 & 1951-56, Derby 1949-51. Now unknown

Leighton James Derby 1975-77, QPR 1977-78. Now a BBC radio pundit.

Gordon Hill Derby 1978-79, QPR 1979-81. Now owner of a youth team in Texas.

Gary Micklewhite QPR 1979-85, Derby 1985-93. Now unknown.

Don Masson QPR 1974-77, Derby 1977-78. Now runs hotels.

Steve Wicks Derby 1979, QPR 1979-81 & 1982-86. Now works at Chelsea.

John Burridge QPR 1980-82, Derby (loan) 1984. Now goalkeeping coach for Oman

John Gregory QPR 1981-85 & 2006-07 (Manager) Derby 1985-88 & 2002-03 (Manager). Now unemployed

Brett Angell Derby 1988, QPR 2002-03. Now a local radio pundit

Daniel Dichico QPR 1993-97, Derby (loan) 2003. Now at Toronto FC

Steve Hodge Derby 1994 (loan), QPR 1994-95. Now works at Chesterfield.

Ian Evatt Derby 1998-2003, QPR 2005-07. Now at Blackpool.

Paul Peschisolido QPR (loan) 2000, Derby 2001-07. Now assistant manager at St Patrick’s Athletc

Warren Barton Derby 2001-03, QPR 2003-04. Now works for Fox Sports and Sky Sports and U18 coach at LA Galaxy.

Lee Camp Derby 2000-07, QPR 2007-present.

Indio Idiakez Derby 2004-06, QPR 2007 (loan). Now free agent.

Dexter Blackstock Derby 2005 (loan), QPR 2006-present.

Adam Bolder Derby 2000-07, QPR 2007-present.

Bob Malcolm Derby 2006-08, QPR 2007 (loan). Now at Motherwell.



Fans’ Memories


A few days before Christmas 1990, an 11am kick off, Tilson’s and Peacock’s debut, the 1st time I had ever seen a team doing training on the pitch before a game thanks to our new coach Bobby Gould. Typical Rangers 1-0 up only to concede to a 90th minute Dean Saunders equaliser. -loftboy



2006/7 season when we went up there on a Tuesday night under Gregory. Winning 1-0 for the majority of the match, until they snatched a late, late equaliser. That result was the turning point in us staying up IMO, after that game we went on a mini run of good results which had us safe with a couple of fixtures to spare. -RBlockRanger



My first proper match as a QPR fan was in August 1975 when in the third game of the season we faced the defending champions in their first home game of the season. QPR were weakened by injuries to both centre backs, McLintock and Webb so we had to play two youngsters Abbott & Tagg. I got the train from Manchester to Derby to see my team for the first time and it was worth it as we won 1-5 with a hat-trick from Stan Bowles. That season we had six players in the England squad - Parkes, Clement, Gillard, G Francis, Thomas & Bowles, we had Masson in the Scotland squad and Don Givens in the Eire squad and they were all complemented by our outstanding veterans McLintock, Webb & Hollins. That is why is 21 home games that season we W17 D4 LO and away we W7 D7 L7 to finish runners up. The greatest Rs team ever. -Belgium Kenny



Remember going up there and winning 1-0, Paul Goddard nobbled Seaman early on, the erstwhile keeper could hardly walk, but the magnificent R's defence didn't let them near. Remember winning 2-0 up there, and Wayne Fereday scoring one hell of a goal. Remember going up there to find the game called off, getting a lock-in thanks to an affable landlord and having a day to remember!! -distortr



Belgium Kenny’s 1975 report spot on, l was at that match, Rangers were brilliant and Stan played in my opinion one of his best ever games for us.
Happy days. -LOFT67



I was there in 2006/07 and it was a great night with almost non stop singing. We were heading down and they were heading up but we were very good on the night. Furs added a second but it got disallowed unfairly and Lee Cook had one of his best games I've seen him ever play as he scared the hell out of there defence. Remember Idiakiez playing well that night for us against his old club. My mate still talks about how gutted he was when they scored on 87 and if I remember it was that big useless lump Darren Moore who was woeful all night. -Dixie



I was there in 1975 and going ballistic amongst the home supporters - I guess these days I'd have been thrown out! Also went there when we were 4-0 down at half time but played well the second half to make a slightly more respectable 4-2. I wrote about the lamentably poor Derby programme (The Ram! (no relation) in the next home QPR programme. -Old Nick



Fereday’s goal was quality, in off the post right in front of us. Mark Stein got the other... -carlosthebulb


Didn't Mark Stein score at the baseball ground (possibly twice?). The Tilson/Peacock debut was my favourite. -Fearless1




During the warm up for that game I was eating a burger on the terrace. Someone had a shot, Seaman parried it, and the ball knocked my burger out of my hand. Seaman saw it and just laughed. That was my tea! Bloody footballers in their ivory towers. -hamptonhillhoop



I went to the game when we won scoring 2 goals, not sure if Derby got one. I can still see the ball rifling past their keeper from a Mark Stein volley. -enfieldargh



Can't remember exact year 1981/82? we were 2 nil down with a few minutes left and scored an injury time equaliser. Pretty mental celebrations-Retrohoop



Remember that 2-0 well, Falco an Fereday with that stunner. There was also a right tear up on the terraces between two Rangers fans, no holds barred. Great entertainment. -Chubbs Peterson



To add your memories to this story you can e-mail us loftforwords@yahoo.co.uk, use the commenting facility below or post on the message board thread.

Photo: Action Images

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