On This Day – 17th September
Derby beat Newcastle in the Premier League 1-0 at Pride Park on this day back in 2007, thanks to a debut goal from Kenny Miller. The victory took the home side off the bottom of the Premier League table but was to have bigger implications at the end of the season in a record-breaking season for the Rams.
The reason why the single goal victory was significant is because it would be Derby’s only league win over the whole season. They sat rooted to the bottom of the table for most of the season and were officially relegated two months before the end of the campaign. One win, eight draws and 29 defeats in 38 matches painted a sorry picture of their nightmare 2007/08 campaign.
A 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion in the first Championship play-off final at the new Wembley bought optimism to the club over the summer of 2007. Nine new players were brought in during the summer transfer window and The Rams fans were looking forward to their first season in the top flight in five years.
Derby’s league campaign started with a 2-2 draw at home to Portsmouth in front of a capacity crowd. This was followed by four defeats, three of them were hammerings. A 1-0 defeat at Manchester City was followed by a 4-0 defeat at Tottenham, 5-1 at home Birmingham City and a 6-0 defeat Liverpool at Anfield.
The victory over Newcastle on 17th September would be the last time that Derby would win a league game for almost a year. Their next win was a 2-1 win at home to Sheffield United on 14th September 2008, a full 362 days after the win against Newcastle United!
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