Derby County: Stranger than fiction

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Ahead of all the drama and excitement of the football World Cup in Germany next summer, a new book by YesterdayToday correspondent Peter Seddon looks at some of the most memorable and bizarre happenings from previous tournaments, including those featuring famous names in the history of Derby County.

IF past history is anything to go by, the upcoming 2006 World Cup is guaranteed to deliver all the excitement, drama, controversy and sometimes sheer madness that has come to be expected from the tournament dubbed “the greatest show on earth”.

Someone who knows this better than most is YesterdayToday correspondent and local author Peter Seddon, who has been busy revisiting some of the most memorable and unusual incidents in the competition’s history.

Now his findings have been published by Robson Books as the latest addition to their best-selling “Strangest” series. The result is one of those books which football fans will love, especially those with an eye for the odd and amusing incidents which make the game so unpredictable.

The World Cup's Strangest Moments also includes plenty of local interest, as a number of incidents feature personalities well-known to fans of Derby County. One of the most infamous moments in the tournament’s history occurred at Mexico ’86 in the quarter-final game between England and Argentina.

Early in the second half, with the game goalless, the brilliant but controversial Argentinean Diego Maradona jumped for a “header” only to fist the ball into the net.

Argentina won the game 2-1, and Maradona later told the Press that the blatantly illegal goal came courtesy of “The Hand of God”.

Although the officials inexplicably failed to spot the offence, England’s goalkeeper Peter Shilton saw exactly what happened and was justifiably incensed as England crashed out: “Maradona is only short,” he said, “and as I came out my fist was always going to get to the ball first. When he got the vital touch, I knew straight away he had used his hand.”

Shilton was then with Southampton, but left the club for Derby County a year later.

Shilton isn’t the only Derby County goalkeeper to figure in the book. Mart Poom was with Flora Tallinn when he starred in Estonia’s notable 0-0 draw with Scotland in a 1997 qualifying game played on neutral territory in Monaco. But what made that fixture significant was that it was a “replay” of a bizarre match in Tallinn several months earlier.

On that occasion Mart Poom didn’t keep goal for Estonia – in fact nobody did. On account of a dispute over kick-off times, the Estonian side simply didn’t turn up, leaving the Scotland XI to kick-off against invisible opposition before the referee abandoned the “phantom match” after just three seconds.

Scotland crop up regularly in Peter’s book, some familiar names featuring in the cast of sundry hilarious farces which the long-suffering Tartan Army have become accustomed to.

The Scots first graced the World Cup finals at Switzerland ’54, contriving disaster right from the off by failing to score a single goal and crashing out in the opening phase.

Most humiliating of all was an absolute thrashing at the hands of Uruguay, not least because it enjoyed the then revolutionary novelty of being relayed live for Scottish television viewers.

Playing wing-half was Tommy Docherty, later to manage Derby County so disastrously, who explained the defeat as only he could: “It was all down to the shirts. We wore thick old-fashioned jerseys, but the Uruguayans had short-sleeved T-shirts. The Scottish FA thought that because Switzerland had mountains it must be cold. But it was 100 degrees that day in Basle. Talk about the opposition melting away – no wonder we lost 7-0!”

A Scottish moment memorable for better reasons came in their game against Holland at Argentina ’78, courtesy of the former Derby County legend Archie Gemmill. Although Gemmill was then enjoying a brief spell with Nottingham Forest, all right-thinking Rams’ fans know that it was on the Baseball Ground mud that the midfielder truly honed his craft.

At the end of an amazing dribble, Gemmill finished with aplomb to register one of the greatest goals in World Cup history. So memorable, in fact, that it became the subject of a poem, a stage play, a contemporary dance piece, and even featured in the cult film Trainspotting.

As far as England tales are concerned, Derby County players could have featured in Peter’s book so much more famously if only Alf Ramsey’s men had qualified for West Germany ’74. As it was, they were eliminated by a qualifying defeat against Poland at Wembley in October 1973, a game Peter features because it entered World Cup folklore courtesy of one Brian Clough.

Cloughie was absolutely confident England would win, labelling the Polish goalkeeper a “circus clown in gloves”. Of course the clown had a brilliant game and England were the fall guys, even though Derby County’s Kevin Hector, brought on as a late substitute, almost headed the goal that would have sent England to the finals.

Peter's book contains well over 100 very entertaining stories taken from the tournament’s history since it began in 1930.

They involve all manner of goings-on, including record wins, streakers, murder, suicide, betting scandals, outrageous refereeing decisions, commentating highs and lows, and the team who contrived to lose 31-0!

It would be hard to find a better stocking-filler for the football fan with a sense of humour: something that Derby County followers have long been famous for.

The World Cup’s Strangest Moments (ISBN 1 861065 869 1) is on sale now priced £8.99.

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