Derby County Football Club was formed in 1884 by members of Derbyshire Cricket Club and were original members of the Football League in 1888.

The Rams were formidable opponents in the FA Cup and enjoyed a fine record in that competition without managing to get their hands on the trophy. They were semi finalists in 1896 and 1897 before reaching the final in each of the next two seasons.

In 1898 Derby went down to a 3-1 defeat against Nottingham Forest despite a goal from the incredible Steve Bloomer. I'm not sure if the rivalry between the sides was as great then as it is today but if it was then that was a bad day for the Rams. In 1899 there was a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Sheffield United.

The club reached another final in 1903 only to suffer a record defeat in the FA Cup final, 6-0 to Bury. Shaken and stirred.

In 1907 the Rams slipped into Division Two for the first time, reclaiming a first division place in 1912 after winning the second division championship. Although the club suffered relegation again in 1914 they immediately won the Division Two title in 1915 to ensure that they were a first division outfit as football went into limbo because of the First World War.

Derby were relegated in 1921 but after another promotion in 1926 the club maintained a first division place up to the Second World War.

When football resumed after the war Derby collected their first major trophy by lifting the FA Cup. The Rams were convincing throughout this cup run and although they were taken to extra time in the final by Charlton Athletic they eventually ran out 4-1 winners with two goals from Jackie Stamps, another from Peter Doherty and an own goal.

This was an ageing side in general, however, and Derby dropped two divisions in four seasons in the mid 1950's, sliding into Division Three North in 1955.

County won promotion back to Division Two in 1957 but had to wait until 1969 to return to the first division after they claimed the Division Two title.

The Rams were buoyant under the brash young manager Brian Clough and enjoyed a magnificent spell which saw them claim the league championship in both 1972 and 1975.

In 1972 the Rams sneaked home ahead of Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester City, keeping their nerve as their rivals all faltered at the death.

Clough left the club in controversial circumstances in 1973 but Dave Mackay was able to carry on his good work and led his side to the 1975 title ahead of Liverpool and Ipswich Town.

1976 was a disappointing year as Derby fell to a 2-0 FA Cup semi final defeat against Manchester United and also crashed out of the European Cup to Real Madrid despite winning the first leg at the Baseball Ground 4-1.

This was also the year Mackay left the club and subsequent managers were a pale shadow of their predecessors and standards slipped noticably as a wonderful squad began to age. Defensive kingpins Roy McFarland and Colin Todd along with the main goalscorer Kevin Hector were especially hard acts to follow.

Derby were relegated to Division Two in 1980 and slipped into Division Three in 1984. The Rams then stabilized under Arthur Cox who remained in charge of the club for almost a decade.

The Rams returned to Division Two after promotion in 1986 and did so in style, winning the second division championship at the first attempt to return to the top flight.

In 1991, however, Derby were well adrift when finishing bottom of the first division and despite a solid season back in Division Two lost out in the play off semi finals to Blackburn Rovers.

1996 saw the club reach the Premier League for the first time after claiming runners up spot behind Sunderland and the Rams enjoyed three seasons of mid table security before the going began to get tough.

Relegation in 2002 saw the club plunged into financial turmoil as a huge wage bill played havoc back in the league structure.

The Rams did well to reach last seasons' play offs after two seasons of struggle but lost out in the semi finals to Preston North End before then losing their manager George Burley and several key players as money again became a factor.

Indeed Derby at present look a club in transition. Surely at some stage, with an excellent new stadium and solid fan base, the Rams will again challenge for a regular place in the top flight.

The clubs best effort in the League Cup came in 1968 when they made it through to the semi finals. The Rams put paid to Hartlepool, Birmingham City, Lincoln City and Darlington before losing out on a 4-2 aggregate to Leeds United.

In 1972 the club had the dubious honour of lifting the Texaco Cup and were also runners up in the Anglo Italian Cup in 1993.

Kevin Hector holds the Rams record for appearances with 486 but he could not compete with Steve Bloomer's goalscoring record. Bloomer managed 292 in his two spells with Derby, Hector could only muster a measly 155.