• Article |
• Discussion |
• View source |
• History

IN the late 1950s, any Derby County player wanting to know why he had not been picked for the team had first to get past Billy, the fierce-looking dog who sat guard outside the door of manager Harry Storer, writes Anton Rippon.

A former Rams and England player, Storer also played cricket for Derbyshire.

Indeed, in 1936, he became the only serving Football League manager (he was in charge of Coventry City at the time) to play in a County Championship-winning side, when Derbyshire won the title.

Storer’s father and grandfather had also played for Derbyshire, his grandad appearing for the Rams. Harry also managed Birmingham City to the Second Division championship in 1947-8, returning to Derby County as manager in 1955 and taking them to the Third Division North title in his second season.

He was a mentor to future Derby managers, Brian Clough and Peter Taylor; whenever their Middlesbrough team played the Rams, they would seek out Storer and sit listening to him until the small hours.

Harry Storer retired as Rams’ manager in 1962. He died in Derby in September 1967, a few weeks after Clough took over at the Baseball Ground.

TIPS

• To view comments about this article click 'discussion.'

• To join the discussion click 'discussion' and then 'add comment.'

County:  Derbyshire
what Links Here

This article is from the Derby Evening Telegraph and is reproduced online here.