Derby County 1971-72: First Division Champions

DERBY COUNTY were still living off their 1946 FA Cup final success against Charlton Athletic when Alan Durban arrived at the Baseball Ground.

- Neil Fissler

The Rams had celebrated just a Division Three North title in 1957 since their thumping victory at the Twin Towers.

But that was about to change in May 1967 when a young manager confident in his own ability and his side-kick arrived.

Within two years, Brian Clough and Peter Taylor had led Derby to a Second Division title and three seasons after that they were champions of England.

Derby started the season like a house on fire and were unbeaten in their first 12 games, but Durban remembers that, even then, the title wasn’t a forgone conclusion.

“At the start of a season back then, any one of ten teams could win it. I think six or seven different sides had won it in the previous seasons.

“I thought we had a very good start. I felt the keeper had very little to do in those matches and we won very, very comfortably.

“I always felt we had enough. We could get goals without committing many people forward.

“The front three (Kevin Hector, John O’Hara and Alan Hinton) stayed up there and I was the first person to catch up. But nobody else needed to be bombing on,” he said.

The Rams plugged away and added the Texaco Cup to their trophy cabinet after seeing off Scottish side Airdrie 2-1 at the Baseball Ground after drawing 0-0 north of the border.

And they were flying in the FA Cup, as well, until being derailed by Arsenal in the fifth round following two replays, which Durban believes was a blessing in disguise.

A single goal from John McGovern that earned a 1-0 win over Liverpool in their last game meant they had one hand on the trophy.

But they had to wait a week for Liverpool, who needed a win at Arsenal, and Leeds, if they got a point at Wolves, to finish their fixtures.

All huddled around a telephone in Cala Millor on the east coast of Majorca, they listened on as Liverpool were held 0-0 and Leeds went down 2-1