Just like the Old Days

A week or so ago, I went to see my beloved Derby County play Barnsley at Pride Park stadium with my Dad. Now, whilst I’ve been to Pride park before – even sang there – it was the first time we’d sat together for a match since the heady days of the early 70’s, witnessing the magic that Brian Clough and Peter Taylor brought to the club. The venue was different then, of course – not a shiny modern stadium, but the intimacy of the old Baseball Ground, almost on top of the treacherous pitch, daunting for the opposition.

To sit with Dad again felt like completing the circle. After all, Brian’s sons appointment as Manager and my football education through my Father prompted me to write “Derby Pride”. Fast forward several years since that song and Nigel’s appointment, and we’ve witnessed everything- hard times, spectacular falls from grace, a shining period of sublime total football, followed swiftly by total collapse. The phrase “no-one said it was going to be easy” hardly seems to cover it. If we didn’t know it before, we know now – Nigel Clough has a long hard road ahead.  Watching the game with Dad, I saw some reasons to be optimistic. We kept a clean sheet, loanee Jamie Ward looked an industrious lad, but we were making too many unforced errors, almost beating oursleves, as it were. Nevertheless, at the time of writing, we’d managed to grind out a massively important win this weekend against high-flying Swansea.  This club will rise again, but it will take longer than some can stomach. But then, supporting Derby County was never for the faint-hearted.

What it is for though, is Fathers and Sons.*

* View/12YO – AND daughters!! 😉

Kev Moore