by Peter Scherer

You have to go back to the era of Rams manager Harry Storer to find the beginning of Mick Hopkinson’s Derby County career.

He was signed from West End Boys Juniors and became professional aged 17 in 1959. Primarily a full back but he could play elsewhere, and became a regular after Tim Ward had become manager.

When Brian Clough and Peter Taylor arrived for the 67/68 season, Hopkinson held his place initially, but left at the end of the year after nine years, 131 appearances and six gals.

He moved a few miles north to join Mansfield Town for £5,500 and had a couple of seasons at Field Mill, scoring one goal for the Third Division side from his 56 appearances.

Next stop was Port Vale, again in the Third Division, but after only one season he was released in 1971 after 15 games.

He went on to play for Boston United and Belper Town, becoming coach and manager at Belper, before joining Burton Albion where he had a spell as coach and assistant manager.

by Peter Scherer

It’s impossible to count the number of honours gained by John Mcgovern on one hand, but although Scottish born it all began at Hartlepool.

McGovern signed for Hartlepool as a 16 year old to come under the guidance of the up and coming managerial partnership of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor.

He was initially a winger but was converted to midfield, and had almost three years at the Victoria Ground. He was part of their promotion winning team in 1967/68, but when Clough and Taylor moved on, McGovern soon followed, after 76 appearances and seven goals.

Still only 18, he had to work to get into the Derby County first team, but was he made it he became a regular.

At the end of the 68/69 season he was promoted with the Rams to Division One and had made the record of playing in all four divisions of the football league by the age of 19.

During his stay at the Baseball Ground he saw the Division One title claimed in 71/72 an also reached the semi-finals of the League and European Cups.

But after six years 239 games and 21 goals, Clough and Taylor had moved on and when they were engaged by Leeds United, McGovern joined them in 1974.

It was a disaster for all concerned at Elland Road, but when Clough became the new Nottingham Forest manager, McGovern was quick to rejoin him.

He had eight years at the City Ground and was steam captain through their mist successful period in the clubs history.

He won another Division One league title, the League Cup, Charity Shield and two European Cup’s. But in 1982 he decided to move on with 334 games under his belt and 11 goals.

It was his first forray into management as player manager at Bolton Wanders. He made 16 playing appearances but stayed on as manager for 2  ½ years, before a final fling at playing with Horwich RMI.

After a spell as assistant manager at Chorley and Plymouth Argyle, he was joint manager at Rotherham United with Archie Gemmill for a while, winning the Football League Trophy.

He managed Woking, was assistant at Hull City and finally managed Ilkeston Town, before becoming a Nottingham Forest ambassador, local radio pundit and after dinner speaker.

Despite his success, Scotland failed to recognise his attributes and only capped him twice at under 23 level.

by Peter Scherer

Ask someone to name a Derby County legend and they will probably say “Kevin Hector”.

He started his career as an 18 year with Bradford Park Avenue, as part of a formidable strike force with Bobby Ham. Rams manager Tim Ward was alleged to have gone to view Ham, but was impressed by Hector enough to sign him for a then record £40,000 fee in 1966.

During his time at Bradford he had scored 113 goals in 176 games, but became an instant success and fans favourite on his arrival at the Baseball Ground.

He was a Rams player for eight years, totalling well over 400 appearances well over 150 league goals. Despite not being the biggest of players, he was a prolific striker, with pace and agility.

He was part of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor’s team that won the 1968/69 Division 2 title and 1971/72 Division title, plus repeating the Division 1 success three years later under Dave Mackay.

As well reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup, European Cup and League Cup, he was the Rams player of the year in 72/73.

Among his goal scoring feats were six hattricks and an individual five goal spree against Finn Harps in the 1976 UEFA Cup.

He eventually was sold by Tommy Docherty to Vancouver Whitecaps, where he was an NASL title winner. But his off-season was spent back in England with loans at Boston United and Burton Albion.

Colin Addison then brought him back to Derby in 1980, adding another 56 games and eight goals to his tally over his two years back at the Baseball Ground.

After leaving Derby he played for Shepshed Charterhouse, Gresley Rovers, Belper Town, Eastwood Town, Heanor Town and finally Shardlow St James, before retiring at the age of 50.

His international career should have been far more than two token appearances, his 83^rd minute debut for England against Poland in 1993 almost kept in the World Cup qualifier.

He has made the made the most appearances for the Rams at 581/8 and is second in the all-time scorers, behind Steve Bloomer with 201.

by Peter Scherer

An accomplished international striker, Darren Bent came to Derby County fairly late in his career.

He was spotted by Ipswich Town in 1998 playing for Godmanchester Rovers, and signed professional at Portman Road in 2001, making his first team debut the same year in the UEFA Cup.

During his first season he made five Premiership starts and scored one goal, but the team were relegated to the First Division.

He was a first choice for the next three seasons and a top scorer, which brought him to the attention of Premiership Charlton Athletic.

A £2 ½ million move proved to be an instant success, as Bent scored twice on his debut. He stayed for two seasons and even though he netted 37 goals from his 79 games, it wasn’t enough to save Charlton from relegation.

For 2007/8 he was back in the Premiership though with Tottenham Hotspur. His two seasons at White Hart Lane saw another 17 goals from his 79 games, but there was stiff competition for places.

He continued to play his football in the Premiership, with two seasons at Sunderland, before joining Aston Villa for £18 million in 2011. At Sunderland he also scored on his debut and was player of the year. While at Villa he once again had a debut goal and was team captain for a while.

There were loan spells at Fulham, Brighton and Derby, before Villa released him at the end of 2014/15 after 72 games and 25 goals.

During his loan spell at Derby he scored 12 goals in 17 games, so the Rams decided to take sign him permanently. It was a difficult time for the Rams, with various managerial changes.

But Bent stayed on into a third season, making 84 appearances, with 28 goals, before going out on loan to Burton Albion and being released at Derby at the end of 2017/18. He retired at the end of that season.

He played for England at every level up to gaining his first full cap in 2006. From his 13 full England games he scored four times.

by Peter Scherer

Derby born bred Wayne Sutton joined Derby County to serve his apprenticeship and turn professional in 1992.

He made his debut in the 1995/96 promotion year, but wasn’t a regular member of the squad.

To gain more experience he went to Herford United on loan, but only played seven games in total and was then released by Jim Smith on his Rams return, having only made five starts and three appearances as a sub.

He joined Woking in 1997 and has a couple of games there, before joining Burton Albion a year later and then Hinckley United in 1999.

Having already listed Derby County and Burton Albion as his former clubs, he is more than qualified to play in the NHS Allstars game, as his final years of playing semi pro football was at Station Road, with Mickleover Sports, having joined in 2000.

by Peter Scherer

Republic of Ireland international midfielder Paul Green was well into his footballing career when he joined Derby County in 2008.

He was initially on Sheffield Wednesday’s books, but after being released as a sixteen year old, he began a long spell with Doncaster Rovers.

After debuting in 2001 when Doncaster were in the Conference, he stayed for seven years, working up through the Third Division to League One, making 279 appearances and scoring 34 goals.

He was a winner at the Conference Play-0ff, won the Third Division, the League One Play-off and the Football League Trophy, but decided to move on for 2008/9.

A regular first choice in the Derby line-up he spent four seasons with the Rams, but his 143 games and 13 goals would have been more if injuries hadn’t sidelined him on a few occasions.

His final year at Derby was 2011/12 after which he joined fellow Championship rivals Leeds United. During his first year there he was a regular starter, with 36 games and four goals. But in his second year he fell out of favour and had a loan spell at Ipswich.

He wasn’t retained at Leeds and moved on to Rotherham United, newly promoted to the Championship. Two seasons saw him play 65 times, scoring four goals, but he moved onto League One’s Oldham Athletic for 2016/17.

It was a one-year deal and despite playing 56 games, he moved on again to Crewe Alexandra in League Two, where he continues to be part of their squad.

Green also made 22 appearances for the Republic of Ireland and scored one goal, and was part of their squad at Euro 2012.

by Peter Scherer

A Derby born junior player beginning his football career at Derby County, Chris Palmer never managed to break into the Rams first team.

After two years he firstly had a one month loan at Hereford United, which gave him three games, before joining Notts County, where he quickly established himself as a first team regular.

He could play midfield or defence and had a couple of good seasons at Meadow Lane, making 61 appearances and scoring six goals.

But in 2006 he moved on to Wycombe Wanderers, where after a regular place in the starting line-up was broken by injury, he was loaned to Darlington and then moved to Walsall after 42 games in Wycombe’s colours.

He had a year at Walsall, played 48 times and scored one goal, but then joined League One Gillingham for a successful two season spell. With 38 games and five goals under his belt, his next stop was Burton in League Two.

50 appearances and five goals later he was on the move again in 2013, but this time to New Zealand, where he played for Waitakere United.

On his return to the UK he played for Ilkeston Town, Oxford City and Rainworth, before his final career stops in 2014 saw have spells with both Tamworth and Mickleover Sports.

by Peter Scherer

A big bustling old style centre forward Marvin Robinson spent almost five years with Derby County, but was unable to force his way into the regular starting line-up.

He played for England under 18’s while still at school, before becoming professional at Derby in June 1998, making his league debut the following year.

The following season he made eight Premier League starts, but went the out on loan to Stoke City in the Second Division for 2000/2001. He scored on his Potters debut, but after colliding the opposing goalkeeper in his third game, he had a long spell out with a broken leg.

He made two appearances in a Rams Shirt in 2001/2 and scored what was to be his only goal, when after a single appearance a year later and a loan spell at Tranmere, he left Derby having made only 12 first team appearances.

His next stop was Chesterfield, then a Second Division team. He spent a season with the Spireites, scoring seven goals in his 32 games. 

Over the next few years he was regularly on the move, taking in Notts County, Rushden & Diamonds, Walsall and Stockport County, before settling in 2005/6 with Lincoln City, where he scored 10 times in his 27 appearances.

After short spell at Macclesfield he joined Oxford United in the Conference, over his two seasons he played 30 games, scoring three times, as well as having a short loan spell with Cambridge United.

He also played for Kettering, Redditch, Nantwich, Brackley, and Oxford City.

But for 2014/15 he joined Hednesford for a second time, this time he stayed to make 55 appearances and score 11 goals. 

Further travels for Stafford Rangers and Indian side Sporting Khalsa followed before he came back to Hednesford again, first as a player, then coach and for a while assistant manager.