by Peter Scherer

Next in the line-up of ex Rams Stars supporting our NHS Charity match is Tommy Johnson. 

Nottingham born and a product of Notts County’s youth scheme, Johnson made his league debut for the Magpies in 1989.

He played 118 times scoring 47 goals and won promotion via the play-offs to both the second and first divisions, having the pleasure of scoring at Wembley too.

In 1992 though he moved to the Baseball Ground for £1.3 million, where he stayed for three years under Roy McFarland’s management.

He played in the losing play-off team for the Rams in 93-94 and after 98 games and 30 goals, he finally made it to the Premiership with a move to Aston Villa the following year.

A couple of years at Villa Park was followed by a four year stay at Celtic. But injuries and competition restricted him to only 35 games and 18 goals, but brought him winners medals in the Scottish League, Cup and League Cup.

He had a brief loan spell at Everton, but came back to England for a short stop at Sheffield Wednesday. After another short stay at Kilmarnock he joined Gillingham, where he stayed for two seasons, scoring seven more goals from his 49 games.

Sheffield Utd was his briefest stop, when after only one game he moved on to Scunthorpe. Injuries began to play their part and after a loan period at Tamworth, he made his stay permanent. But he was soon on the move again and ended his career at Rocester Town.

He also got international recognition being caped by England at under 21 level, scoring twice in his seven games.

by Peter Scherer

Irish International Rory Delap played for both Derby County and Burton Albion during his 19 year playing career, but it will be interesting to see if he still has his famous long throw to display at the Sports NHS Charity match.

Although born in the Midlands, Delap’s informative football years were spent at Carlisle. He made his league debut for the Cumbrian side in 1994 and went onto make 65 appearances with seven goals, before coming to Derby on trial.

He signed for Jim Smith in 1998 and went on to spend three years with the Rams.

His versatility would see him play mainly in defence or midfield, but even as a striker on occasions too. With his long throws coming into play, he became a key member of the line-up for three years, before moving to Southampton for £4 million, having made 106 appearances and scored 13 goals.

Five years were spent on the south coast playing in the Premiership, finally departing for Sunderland from the Saints in 2006. They went onto to be relegated as did his new club.

The following year after playing for Sunderland in the Championship, he had a loan spell with Stoke City, but broke his leg against Sunderland in only his second match.

The Stoke move became permanent and after winning promotion to the Premiership with the Potters, he spent seven years with them.

178 league games and eight goals later he finally left, after a loan spell at Barnsley there was a brief stop at Burton before retirement saw him return to the Derby Coaching staff. After a spell as Stoke’s caretaker manager, he now coaches there.

He played 11 times for the Republic of Ireland and also played in the 2010/11 FA Cup final for Stoke City.

by Peter Scherer

Record breaking goalkeeper Colin Boulton will be joining the Mickleover Sports NHS Allstars charity event.

Boulton made more appearances during his 13 years at the Baseball than any other goalkeeper in the clubs history.

He was originally spotted by manager Tim Ward playing for the Cheltenham Police and came to Derby as deputy for ex England International Reg Matthews.

Although he made his debut in 1964, his career highlights came some several years later.

Having taken over from Matthews, Boulton had started to establish himself as first choice, only to lose his place to Brian Clough’s new signing Les Green in 1968. 

His loyalty and patience were rewarded when he claimed the shirt back in the early seventies and was between the sticks for both of Derby’s Championship winning seasons in 71/72 and 74/75, keeping 23 clean sheets during the former and was ever-present in the second.

In his final seasons he vied for the number one spot with Graham Moseley, but when manager Dave Mackay was replaced by Tommy Docherty, his Derby career was over.

He had a brief loan spell at Southampton, but after 344 games in a Rams shirt, he headed to the US and had a couple of seasons with Tulsa Roughnecks and Lost Angeles Aztecs.

There was a brief return to the UK scene in 1980/81, when he joined Lincoln City. But a career ending injury in only his fourth game brought his 17 year career to an end.

by Peter Scherer

It’s not only ex footballers supporting Mickleover Sports NHS Charity match, former boxer Clifton Mitchell, cricketers Kevin Dean and Dominic Cork, antiques auctioneer Charles Hanson and Adult Film Star Keiran Lee have all pledged their support.

Mitchell, a heavyweight fought between 1991 and 96, winning 18 of his 20 professional bouts, with an 80% knock out rate.

His last fight was a defeat against Zelijko Mavrovic in November ’96, where he suffered a technical knockout in Garmisch- Partenkirchen, fighting for the EBU European title.

Since his retirement he has actively worked on training other boxers and general fitness as a gym proprietor.

Dean was a well-known fast bowler as well as useful batsman. He played for Derbyshire for 15 years, after debuting in 1996, retiring from the game in 2008.

In 2002 in was the joint highest wicket taker in the country and Derbyshire’s player of the year.

Fellow cricketer Dominic Cork spent 13 years in the Derbyshire team, after joining them in 1990 from his native Staffordshire. He also played for Lancashire and Hampshire. 

After making his test match debut for England against the West Indies in 1995, he went on to play in 37 test matches, scoring 874 runs and taking 131 wickets.

His highest score as a batsman was 200, but during his first class career of 321 matches, he score 10,114 runs taking 989 wickets.

Part of the Sky commentary team, Cork has also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing.

Not known for his sporting prowess, Hanson is a popular antiques auctioneer, having appeared on numerous BBC programmes, such as Bargain Hunt, Flog it and Antiques Road Trip.

He is a regular supporter of charitable funds and events, having made a rock version of Sleigh Ride with fellow auctioneers for Children in Need and is a supporter of the Stillbirth & Neonatal Death Society, for whom he completed the Great North Run.

Keiran Lee is also a charity supporter and a lifelong Derby County fan. He is one of the most successful Adult Film Stars in the World and although Derby born, now lives in the US.

He runs his own production company as well as being one of the stars, having won numerous awards. But in 2011 his love for football landing him in hospital, after breaking his jaw playing for Hollywood United FC.

by Peter Scherer

Roger Davies came to the Baseball Ground from non-league football, but made Derby is home. 

Davies had only made 10 appearances for Worcester City, when Brian Clough picked up for £12,000. 

Having started his career with Bridgnorth Town and Bedford Town before moving into the Southern League with Worcester, Davies was already finding his goal scoring touch, which was further developed during a title winning year with Derby County Reserves in 1972.

He had a couple of games for Preston North before making his way into the Derby County line-up, where his sometimes unpredictable turn of pace caught out many a seasoned defender.

Having played his part in the European Cup semi-finals against Juventus, he then got a League Division one winners medal in 1975, before venturing to Belgium a year later.

After one season with FC Bruges he came away with the Player of the Year Award and a Championship and Cup winners medal, after scoring 21 goals in 34 league games.

Returning to the UK he had two seasons at Leicester City, before being tempted to join former team mate Alan Hinton at Tulsa Roughnecks. 

He also played in the US for Seattle and Fort Lauderdale, but had the winter 79/80 back at Derby.

His Stateside career ended in 1983 and after brief spells at Burnley and Darlington, he saw out his career at Gresley Rovers and Stapenhill, where he was also player manager, finally retiring in 1987.

During his first spell at Derby he was also capped by England at under 23 level, but in later years had a spell as a pundit with Radio Derby.

by Peter Scherer

One of the players still regularly active is Jake Buxton. He joined his local team Mansfield Town as a youth and went on to make 151 league appearances for the Stags over his six years, plus a short loan period with Alfreton Town. 

But when they were relegated from the football league, Jake’s contract at Field Mill came to an end, and after a trial at Crewe Alexandra, he joined Nigel Clough at Burton Albion.

During his one season Brewers stay he was player of the year and they won the Conference title, but when Clough moved on to Derby County, it was only a matter of time before Buxton joined him.

He came to Derby in 2009 and was popular as a typical old school rock solid defender, wearing his heart on his sleeve for all to see and for a while appearing even more fearsome sporting a fine beard.

Injuries restricted his appearances and he often had to fight his way back into the reckoning. He stayed for seven years though and made 139 league appearances, scoring 11 goals too.

He finally left Pride Park to join newly promoted Wigan Athletic in July 2016. One season and 39 games later his contact was mutually terminated and he headed back to the Pirelli Stadium joining up with Nigel Clough again at Burton Albion.

Currently he is still a dependable part of the Burton squad.

by Peter Scherer

So who else have we got coming out to support the NHS? Michael Johnson, a strong dependable centre back, started his football career with his hometown club Notts County. 

His four years at Meadow Lane saw 107 appearances in the black and white stripes, including a spell in the old First Division.

After moving to Birmingham City for £230,000 he was part of a Blues team that came close to promotion to the Premiership on a number of occasions, before finally making it to the Premiership in 2001/2. 

After eight years 262 games and 12 goals he finally left St Andrews and joined Derby on a free transfer in 2003.

One of the highlight’s of his time at Derby was being part of the team that gained promotion to the Premiership, via the play-offs in 2006/7 and had also been club captain the year before.

He began to fall out of favour and after 138 appearances and four goals, his Derby career ended after loan spells at Sheffield Wednesday and Notts County.

His playing career came to an end after a final season back at Meadow Lane in 2008/9, after which he took his first steps into coaching with Notts County youth team.

As well as a long club career he played 13 times for the Jamaican National team. He also had a spell as one of Notts County’s many caretaker managers, before taking on the role of Guyana’s manager.

Michael now works with the England Under 21’s and is often on TV commenting in an ambassadorial role about both Derby and Notts County.

by Peter Scherer

Who’s the next former Derby County player we can expect to see at Mickleover Sports NHS Allstars match? Steve Howard made his reputation as a bustling striker, hailing from the North East.

Having started off as part timer with Tow Law Town, he joined Hartlepool and stayed for four years. After 145 appearances and 26 goals he moved on to Northampton Town, but it was his move to Luton Town really began to get him noticed.

He got a 2004/5 League One winners medal with the Hatters and it was during this time his prolific goal scoring came to the attention of bigger clubs. After 212 games and 96 goals his five year spell was up and he joined Derby County for £1 million in 2006.

For a while he struggled to fit in, but soon became a star. He played in 2006/7 season which took the Rams into the Premiership after a play-off victory against West Bromwich Albion.  But the move to the top flight didn’t take-off and after struggling to recreate his goalscoring form, he moved on to Leicester City.

He played for Derby 63 times, scoring 17 goals  and as well as being the clubs top scorer in the promotion year, he was also the Player of the Year.

Four more successful years followed at Leicester and he hit another 28 goals, before making his final move back to Hartlepool. He had his last season with them and also went on loan to Sheffield Wednesday and had the dubious distinction of being sent off in his final professional game at Hartlepool.

Although Durham born he qualified to play for Scotland, but despite being on the verge of the International Team during his Derby spell, his only game was with the Scots B team, scoring on his debut.