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Bamford Is Another Who Dared To Be Both A Red & Ram!

Born and bred in Nottingham, Patrick Bamford will run out for The Rams today to become another in a long line of turncoats to represent both clubs.

From Nottingham Forest school boy, to their local Academy, Bamford got his start in Red before having the good sense to move on to Chelsea.

To celebrate another player making his way over from the dark side - we look back at some other recent members of that divisive group, who did the unforgivable and dared to pull on one shirt, only to trade it for the other.


From a Red to a Ram - Nathan Tyson:

Tyson made the move across the A52 in the summer of 2011 after rejecting a contract offer to stay with Nottingham Forest. He wasn't a stranger to scoring in big East Midlands derbies, having scored in a few of these clashes whilst playing in red.

His time at Derby was blighted with injuries, forcing a long wait for a decent performance - let alone a goal. Some Derby fans never forgave him for the flag incident back in 2009.

Just as he finally found fitness and some form, he fell from favour with Clough (amidst claims Nigel ignored him in his final months) and was shipped off to Blackpool. He only managed 10 games for the Seasiders beforebeing loaned to Fleetwood Town and more recently Notts County.

Unfortunately for Nathan - not much to wave a flag about these days.


From a Ram to a Red - Lee Camp:

The Northern Ireland international was a product of Derby’s academy and made over 90 appearances between the sticks as a Rams player. After a few loan spells away from Pride Park and a spell at QPR, he moved to Forest. When on loan at Forest in 2008, he saved a Derby penalty from Nacer Barazite in a controversial 1-1 draw at Pride Park.

He went on to make 182 league appearances for Forest before joining West Brom on a free transfer last year, a move that unfortunately robbed us of a chance of seeing him going head to head with his former Derby team mate in Lee Grant.


From a Ram to a Red - Robert Earnshaw:

Derby unfortunately wasted £3.5 million on this so called striker back in 2007, having just won promotion to the Premier League. He scored just 2 goals in a Derby shirt and moved to the City Ground in 2008 for a fee of around for £2.65 million.

His only Premier League goal for the Rams came against Arsenal in a 2-6 loss to the Gunners.

His spell at Forest was a much more successful one where he scored 35 goals in 98 matches. Earnshaw moved on to play for Toronto FC but after one season in the MLS is now a free-agent, which pretty much sums up his value while playing for The Rams.


From a Red to a Ram - Kris Commons:

Commons was one of the more popular players who made the cross from Red to Ram. He moved to Derby in 2008, after turning down a contract offer from Forest, and that season scored a wonderful goal against The Reds in the FA Cup, to complete a comeback of 2-0 down and win the tie 3-2.

His strike against Manchester United in the League Cup Semi-Finals will live on in the memories of Rams fans for a many a year.

Despite proclaiming his love for Derby, as he did for Forest before us, moved on to play for SPL side Celtic after a move in January 2011.


I always thought it was a shame we didn't take Matt Derbyshire on loan when Forest had finished with him as, in name, he would have been an ironic candidate for such a move. Plus it would be a great marketing tool to sell a few shirts. Even if he left, your numbered shirt would always be current!

Today, Bamford will become another player who has dared to make the cross from darkness to light and one our foes should be wary of. His wonder-strikes have already stolen many points this season and it's games like this, where things like that so often happen. Something like the strike (below) against Sheffield Wednesday would do just fine!



So bring on the big match, a contest between two great rivals where any player on the pitch could be a potential traitor in years to come....

COYR!!




For more of Nathan's articles visit his blog at www.derbycountyfan.com and follow him @NathansRamsBlog on Twitter.



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