"It was Twenty Years ago today!"
article published 16th August, 2017, but first written in 1997 by the late Brian Judson

Full Record of Derby County -v- Spurs

Premier       Pl   W   D   L   For-Ag  Pts

Home           1   0   1   0     1-1    1
Away           1   0   0   1     2-4    0
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Total (Prem)   2   0   1   1     3-5    1
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Football Lge
Home (Div 1)  24  13   4   7    41-25  31
Away (Div 1)  24   3   8  13    29-60  16
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Total (Div 1) 48  16  12  20    70-85  47
=========================================
Football Lge
Home (Div 2)   1   0   1   0     0-0    1
Away (Div 2)   1   0   1   0     1-1    1
=========================================
Total (Div 2)  2   0   2   0     1-1    2
=========================================
Total (Prem)   2   0   1   1     3-5    1
Total (Div 1) 48  16  12  20    70-85  47
Total (Div 2)  2   0   2   0     1-1    2
=========================================
Grand Total   52  16  15  21    74-91  50
=========================================

Spurs return to League action against Derby County in a match they must win if they are not to be embroiled in a season long struggle against relegation. They will need the fillip of a win before their next two matches, which will be against teams they have struggled to beat in recent seasons.

Derby County made a successful return to the top tier last season and took four of the six points available from Tottenham. At Tottenham, Sheringham had scored from a twice-taken free-kick in the first half only to see Dailly head an equaliser seconds from the end of the game. At Derby, the Spurs defence had failed to deal with a throw-in by Carsley. John Scales' clearance from deep within his penalty area fell to Robin van der Laan, and the Derby captain's shot was crisp and accurate, sneaking inside Walker's right-hand post.

Twelve minutes later Derby had made it 2-0. It was as classic a counter- attacking move as they come, so much so that Walker was decisively unprotected. The ball broke, after a sustained and ineffectual Spurs attack, to Chris Powell. He sprinted down the left wing and released Paul Trollope, who was not troubled by the pressure of being one-on-one with Walker, and slotted the ball past him very neatly.

It was Tottenham who found the net next, when Dean Austin's cross was headed on by Teddy Sheringham and Ronny Rosenthal volleyed on the turn past Martin Taylor in goal.

When Tottenham drew level five minutes into the second half through Jason Dozzell, it looked ominous for Derby. But they took the lead again in the 67th minute, Sturridge picking his spot with an eerie calm, and a minute later Ashley Ward pounced on a ball knocked down by Christian Dailly from Asanovic's corner kick to make it 4-2.

Spurs had not played Derby since 1990-91. No one who saw the home game will have forgotten Gazza's classic hat-trick against them on September 8th 1990. Gazza was in formidable form that Autumn and often put on one-man shows that won Spurs games without the rest seemingly breaking into a sweat. Gazza often called for the ball in improbable situations yet managed to keep control of the ball as if he had applied superglue to the tip of his boots. The return game saw Lineker grab the only goal of the match.

Derby's best days were in the early to mid 1970s when they won the championship twice. Under Brian Clough, they won the League with an aplomb and arrogance that made the fans applaud them. With players like John McGovern, Roy McFarland, John O'Hare and Kevin Hector, Derby played their matches with a smile on their face.

Their second championship came after Clough's acriminous departure from the Baseball Ground. With Dave Mackay at the helm and largely the same personnel, the team withstood heavy pressure from Liverpool to win the League a second time. But in the wake of that championship, the team quickly broke up as many of them made the short journey down the road to join Clough who, by now, was manager at Nottingham Forest.

Of the two sides, I think the Clough championship side was the better one. If only they had had a stadium to match the team and the fans, who is to say what might have happened.

This, of course, was the era of Chivers, Gilzean, Peters and company. Spurs finished sixth in the League in 1971-72, largely because they had so many other things on their mind. But it certainly didn't help their cause that they dropped three of the four points on offer to Derby, drawing 2-2 at the Baseball Ground and losing 0-1 at home.

It is hard to recall now that once Brian Clough was a young, fresh-faced track suited manager. Clough was very arrogant and was quick to put big-headed players in their place. There was no room for two big-heads in the Derby County dressing room with Clough already there!

So what can we expect? We have hardly any form to read the runes on as far as Derby are concerned as their home game with Wimbledon was abandoned after a floodlit failure. But it is certain to be a difficult game now the lively Dean Sturridge has put his differences behind him. Sol Campbell, assuming he is fit, is likely to have a very busy afternoon.

I think, though, Spurs are capable of winning this game, possibly by 3-1, always assuming, of course, the crowd get behind them.

Cheers, Brian

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