The 2007–08 season was Derby County's 7th season in the Premier League, their 65th season in the top division of English football and their first season in the top flight since the 2001–02 season. They were promoted after beating West Bromwich Albion 1–0 in the 2007 Championship play-off final.
After a very poor start to the season, manager Billy Davies left the club on 26 November 2007 after winning only one game to be replaced by former Wigan Athletic manager Paul Jewell. Jewell failed to turn things around for Derby, and the club spent most of the season at the foot of the table, recording a club and top-flight record run of 32 league games without a win.
Derby were officially relegated on 29 March 2008 after their 2–2 home draw with fellow strugglers Fulham and Birmingham City's 3–1 victory over Manchester City left them 19 points away from safety with only 6 games left. This made Derby the first club in Premier League history to be relegated in March, the earliest team to be relegated in terms of date, and the first since Sheffield United in 1975–76 to go down from the top flight from that month, at the time only the second time it had ever happened in post-war English Football league history, before Huddersfield Town were relegated in March 2019; this record was subsequently broken by Southampton in 2025. They also accumulated the league's lowest points total since the introduction of 3 points for a win with just 11 points, as well as the record for the fewest wins in a Premier League season with just one victory in 38 games; also most defeats (29 - a record subsequently broken by Southampton F.C.), fewest goals scored (20 - a record subsequently equalled by Sheffield United), most goals conceded in a 38-game season (89 - subsequently broken by Sheffield United)
Review Derby's season began with a 2–2 draw against Portsmouth on the opening day of the season, followed by a narrow 1–0 defeat away to Sven-Göran Eriksson's Manchester City (the only two games which Derby spent outside the bottom three), but then conceded a total of 12 goals in three successive defeats. Following their 6–0 defeat to Liverpool on 1 September 2007, Irish bookmakers Paddy Power decided to pay out on the club to be relegated after just five games of the new season. The poor start saw fans accuse Gadsby and the board of failing to invest properly in players for the club. The repercussions of this saw Trevor Birch leave his position as Chief Executive on 19 October 2007Birch leaves Derby chief exec job BBC Sport Online and, on 29 October 2007, Gadsby stepped down as chairman to be replaced by former Hull City owner Adam Pearson.New Derby chairman backs Davies BBC Sport Online
Meanwhile, results on the pitch were not improving, with another poor performance away to Aston Villa followed up by a 5–0 home defeat against a West Ham United side ravaged by injuries. After taking just 6 points from 14 matches, including their only win of the season with a 1–0 victory against Newcastle United, Davies left by mutual consent after a meeting with Adam Pearson, taking nearly all of his newly assembled backroom staff with him.Bily Davies leaves Derby by mutual consent Times online The club had just been beaten 2–0 at home to Chelsea and were rooted to the bottom of the table. After the game, Davies had publicly criticised Derby's board for a lack of investment. Some critics believed that Davies was a victim of his own success after overachieving in his first season at Pride Park, while others cited his apparent tactical inefficiencies at top flight level, poor big money signings (including £3m Claude Davis) and suggested Davies had engineered his own departure, in the form of an outspoken rant against the board so as to avoid having a relegation on his CV.
Within two days of Davies's dismissal, on 26 November 2007, Derby appointed highly rated former Wigan Athletic manager Paul Jewell.Paul Jewell appointed Derby manager Telegraph He initially appointed Stan Ternent as his assistant but, when Ternent left to become Huddersfield Town manager in April, Jewell moved to appoint Chris Hutchings who had been his assistant at both Bradford City and Wigan. Jewell's first match in charge was a 1–0 defeat away at Sunderland on 1 December 2007, the winning goal coming in stoppage time. Although performances improved under Jewell, results didn't. The team developed a habit of conceding late goals and following the defeat to Sunderland, Derby conceded late winners or equalisers in seven games between late December 2007 and late January 2008, dropping seven points from games they had been winning or drawing. Many at the club had in fact already accepted relegation by the end of December 2007.
Jewell was busy in the January 2008 transfer window, selling several players and bringing eight new players in, namely Everton defender Alan Stubbs, Argentine striker Emanuel Villa, ex-England international defender Danny Mills on loan from Manchester City, Blackburn midfielder Robbie Savage, French winger Laurent Robert, Tottenham's Egyptian midfielder Hossam Ghaly on loan, Gençlerbirliği's Mile Sterjovski and Rangers goalkeeper Roy Carroll.
On 28 January 2008, it was announced that Derby had been purchased by American group General Sports and Entertainment, with Tom Glick taking the role of new President and Chief Executive. Derby's relegation was confirmed on 29 March, the first time a club had been relegated from the division before April and sealing the club's first immediate relegation following promotion in its history. Poor results continued: a 6–0 home defeat at the hands of Aston Villa on 12 April 2008 is the biggest defeat at Pride Park and, by the season's end, Derby had recorded the Premier League's lowest points total and equalled Loughborough's 108-year Football League record of going through an entire season with only one win. Their final game of the season was a 4–0 home defeat to Reading, who were also relegated.
League table
Playing squad Squad at end of season
Left club during season
Transfers Summer 2007 transfer window In 29 June 2007 – Robert Earnshaw – £3.5m, from Norwich City 4 July 2007 – Tyrone Mears – £1m, from West Ham United 7 July 2007 – Andy Todd – £750k, from Blackburn Rovers 10 July 2007 – Ben Hinchliffe – free transfer 25 July 2007 – Claude Davis – £3m, from Sheffield United"Davis agrees £3m switch to Derby", BBC Sport, 6 July 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2012. 26 July 2007 – Lewis Price – undisclosed, from Ipswich Town 1 August 2007 – Andy Griffin – free transfer from Portsmouth 10 August 2007 – Benny Feilhaber – undisclosed, from Hamburg 20 August 2007 – Eddie Lewis – undisclosed, from Leeds United 31 August 2007 – Kenny Miller – £2.25m, from Celtic
Out 31 May 2007 – Seth Johnson – retirement 31 May 2007 – Lionel Ainsworth – released 31 May 2007 – Morten Bisgaard – released 31 May 2007 – Paul Boertien – released 31 May 2007 – Steven Cann – released 31 May 2007 – Tom Cumberworth – released 31 May 2007 – Lee Grant – released 5 July 2007 – Ryan Smith – £150k, to Millwall 27 July 2007 – Lee Camp – £200k, to Queens Park Rangers 31 July 2007 – James Meredith – free transfer to Sligo Rovers 8 August 2007 – Richard Jackson – free transfer to Luton Town
January 2008 transfer window
In 4 January 2008 – Danny Mills – on loan from Manchester City 4 January 2008 – Emanuel Villa – £2m, from Estudiantes Tecos 9 January 2008 – Laurent Robert – free transfer 9 January 2008 – Robbie Savage – £1.5m, from Blackburn Rovers 11 January 2008 – Hossam Ghaly – on loan from Tottenham Hotspur 31 January 2008 – Roy Carroll – free transfer from Rangers 31 January 2008 – Mile Sterjovski – undisclosed, from Gençlerbirliği 31 January 2008 – Alan Stubbs – free transfer from Everton 11 April 2008 – Ruben Zadkovich – free transfer from Sydney FC
Out 3 January 2008 – Steve Howard – £1.25m, to Leicester City 11 January 2008 – Andy Griffin – £300k, to Stoke City 11 January 2008 – Matt Oakley – £500k, to Leicester City 28 January 2008 – Jon Macken – £200k, to Barnsley 31 January 2008 – Bob Malcolm – contract terminated 31 January 2008 – Lewin Nyatanga – loan to Barnsley 29 February 2008 – Michael Johnson – loan to Notts County 2 April 2008 – Laurent Robert – free transfer to Toronto FC
Results Premier League WinDrawLoss +DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendancePosition11 August 2007PortsmouthH2–2Oakley Todd 32,1767th15 August 2007Manchester CityA0–143,62014th18 August 2007Tottenham HotspurA0–435,60019th25 August 2007Birmingham CityH1–2Oakley 31,11720th1 September 2007LiverpoolA0–644,07620th17 September 2007Newcastle UnitedH1–0Miller 33,01619th22 September 2007ArsenalA0–560,12219th29 September 2007Bolton WanderersH1–1Miller 31,50320th7 October 2007ReadingA0–123,09120th20 October 2007FulhamA0–022,57619th28 October 2007EvertonH0–233,04820th3 November 2007Aston VillaA0–240,93820th10 November 2007West Ham UnitedH0–532,44020th24 November 2007ChelseaH0–232,78920th1 December 2007SunderlandA0–142,38020th8 December 2007Manchester UnitedA1–4Howard 75,72520th15 December 2007MiddlesbroughH0–132,67620th23 December 2007Newcastle UnitedA2–2Barnes Miller 51,38620th26 December 2007LiverpoolH1–2McEveley 33,02920th30 December 2007Blackburn RoversH1–2Oakley 30,04820th2 January 2008Bolton WanderersA0–117,01420th12 January 2008Wigan AthleticH0–131,65820th19 January 2008PortsmouthA1–3Nyatanga 19,40120th30 January 2008Manchester CityH1–1Sun Jihai 31,36820th2 February 2008Birmingham CityA1–1 Villa 25,92420th9 February 2008Tottenham HotspurH0–333,05820th23 February 2008Wigan AthleticA0–220,17620th1 March 2008SunderlandH0–033,05820th12 March 2008ChelseaA1–6Jones 39,44720th15 March 2008Manchester UnitedH0–133,07220th22 March 2008MiddlesbroughA0–125,64920th29 March 2008FulhamH2–2 Villa 33,03420th [R]6 April 2008EvertonA0–136,01720th12 April 2008Aston VillaH0–633,03620th19 April 2008West Ham UnitedA1–2 Mears 34,61220th28 April 2008ArsenalH2–6McEveley Earnshaw 33,00320th3 May 2008Blackburn RoversA1–3Miller 26,11020th11 May 2008ReadingH0–433,08720th
FA Cup WinDrawLoss +DateRoundOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendance6 January 2008Round 3Sheffield WednesdayH 2–2Miller Barnes 20,61222 January 2008Round 3 replaySheffield WednesdayA1–1 (4–2p)Miller 18,02026 January 2008Round 4Preston North EndH1–4Earnshaw 17,344
Football League Cup WinDrawLoss +DateRoundOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendance28 August 2007Round 2BlackpoolH2–2 (6–7p) Camara , Fagan 8,658
Squad statistics
Appearances, goals and cards No.Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalDisciplineAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals1GK Lewis Price60300090002DF Marc Edworthy7/2020009/20003DF Mohammed Camara10001121004DF Jay McEveley21/82001022/82605DF Dean Leacock22/40101024/40406DF Michael Johnson1/200/10001/30007MF David Jones11/31001012/31408MF Matt Oakley1931000203308DF Alan Stubbs80000080309FW Steve Howard14/61000/1014/71309FW Emanuel Villa9/73100010/732010FW Robert Earnshaw7/1510/21108/1720011MF Craig Fagan17/50201120/516012FW Jon Macken0/300/10000/400014FW Kenny Miller30432003364015MF Eddie Lewis22/202/100024/303016MF Gary Teale9/902/101012/1001017DF Andy Todd14/51300/1017/613018DF Andy Griffin13/20000013/204019DF Claude Davis19020002103120MF Lee Holmes000000000021DF Bob Malcolm100010200021MF Mile Sterjovski9/3000009/300022MF Benny Feilhaber1/9000001/901023DF Darren Moore29/201/101031/305024DF Tyrone Mears22/31100023/312025MF Stephen Pearson23/10200/1025/201026MF Laurent Robert0030103/101027DF Danny Mills201000301028MF Giles Barnes14/722/110016/830029GK Ben Hinchliffe000000000030DF Lewin Nyatanga212000411031GK Roy Carroll14000001400032DF Miles Addison100000100033DF Mitchell Hanson000000000034MF Matthew Richards000000000035DF Jason Beardsley000010101040MF Hossam Ghaly13/20100014/202041FW Paris Simmons0/1000000/100043GK Stephen Bywater18000101901044MF Robbie Savage160100017040
Notes
References
External links Derby County FC official site Derby County FC on Soccerbase