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.

Photo: Action Images

premierclass added 00:03 - Mar 20 Alan Hinton is for me the most significant example of a player for both teams. There is no doubt we saw the best of him and he played a part in both of our Division One titles. Two others Henry Newton and Terry Henessey did the same and ended up with a Championship medal with us. Is there any rival for the biggest waste of space recruited from Forest than Tyson?
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pkay_brum added 10:56 - Mar 21 Yes, maybe Ian Storey-Moore was the biggest A52 transfer waste of space! Arguably of course, there wasn't a contract, as F*rest blocked the signing after the winger was famously and prematurely paraded around the Baseball Ground! Tyson was an astonishingly hapless 'marquee' signing...it indicates the kind of transfer market that DCFC had to move in, and Ty had a lucrative but unproductive time at Pride Park and in my view was a self-pitying passenger as had no form and fitness. Honourable mention to Terry Hennessey, too - yes a short stint blighted by injury, but he did exude class and authority in midfield and helped the club maintain success. I don't subscribe to any stereotypical criticism of Kris Commons; he was a match-winner and exciting to watch, in a mediocre team. DCFC did a good job on rehabilitating him - and he didn't cost a bean in actual transfer fees. I think he did *love* his time at Derby but with his talent, Derby's lack of ambition and lowly League performance, he deserved a bigger stage and more reward - as he's clearly demonstrated at Celtic (weak though the SPL is!) At the recent 'Sign-Up Sunday', in the midst of a large Pirelli Suite attendance, one character embarrassed himself and the Rams' fanbase by haranguing Messrs Rush, Appleby and Wilson in the forum by chastising them for 10minutes about letting Hulse and Commons go! With the audience shaking their heads and muttering 'get over it!', the Rams' board creditably handled him with great diplomacy. Simply - both players moved onto more ambitious clubs that could pay more and offer playing success. Like any good talent - they deservedly got better jobs! I spoke with Mr Rush and Colin Gibson at the event, and others came up and said the view was old news and not representative of what fans wanted to convey to the board nowadays. Common did have a great deal on the table (comparatively) at Derby - but that £14k per week offer was put in the shade by Celtic's £20k per week package; that's what managers and agents are for! The visibility Kris had playing with champions Celtic, perpetual European contenders also put him solidly in the Scottish international stakes - he would have been stupid, if very loyal - not to move! He now has on-field achievements, medals and a more lucrative package...it's not a crime.

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