“The Past is a foreign country :they do things differently there.”L.P.Hartley
Our fixture against Derby County will always be a special one for me. Having gone to Teacher Training College between 1972-76, I was there during Derby’s glory days and also at the beginning of their long decline. The daughter of Bob Paisley was at college with me , which meant that ,when we played football for the college teams, we played in old Liverpool shirts. Old Big Head used to drop off a student ,who used a wheelchair, at Mickleover from time to time. Once he warned us not to say anything. He did a lot to help people but avoided publicity for it like the plague. We respected him enormously and Derby fans loved him. And well they might. As students we could get into the Baseball Ground really cheaply. One week we saw double winning Arsenal destroyed 5-0. Derby were some team and I have been saddened by their struggles in recent years.
Matches at their old ground were a mixed blessing. Watching one game against Everton I was the coldest I have ever been. When the final whistle blew I couldn’t move. My trainers were stuck to the freezing concrete. Later of course I got to see United play there a few times. I remember Robbie Cooke missing a couple of sitters in one of them. Standing at the Away End was always a bit of a trial, since Derby fans in the upper tier delighted in pouring coffee and worse on the fans below, particularly when we were winning. Who can forget the two games we played against Derby the season after we sold Alan Biley to them because he’d fallen out with John Docherty? We won both games 3-0. Whoda’ thought it ? Alan was the best player I ever saw in a United shirt. To beat Derby twice like we did was sweet revenge for his desertion. He should really have played for England but one dreadful tackle from Jim Holton put paid to that. He was never quite the same player afterwards.
Another important link with Derby was Roy Macfarland, a truly great centre half. In fact he’s probably better than young Maguire is now. When my son was mascot for us at Notts County, Roy was wonderful with him and made him feel really important. Roy was like that. He did well for us but more than that, he was an absolute gentleman. One of the best. Great people never get above themselves. In later years I came across Brian Clough in a newsagents in Bramcote and then years later in West Bridgford. He had time for everyone and, unlike some of our current politicians, no trace of an idea of being better than the rest of us. Derby have now appointed a really promising young manager from Rotherham and will be keen to impress him. United seemingly have kept Mark Bonner and should be even keener than usual to impress him. It has all the hallmarks of a great game. Note to city council…Derby had their own railway station next to the Baseball Ground for use on matchdays. What about one for us at Barnwell Junction perhaps?
Up the U’s!
Andrew Stephen
