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Barbara Robinson, great grand-daughter of the former Derby County captain John Goodall, displays the red and white shirt he wore to lead the Rams side in the 1893-94 season.

Rams captain Dave Mackay leads his side at Millwall in April 1969 - a couple of weeks later the 'super reds' were Second Division champions.

Surely everybody knows that Derby County play in white shirts and that the colour red is strictly reserved for a certain nameless team just down the A52.

But it wasn't always so, for in their early days the Rams too experimented with that dangerous hue.

In 1890-91 Derby decided to ditch their white shirts in favour of 'cardinal and black' - that's bright red shirts and black shorts - the name 'cardinal' being derived from the colour of the vestments associated with the Catholic church. After a season in which no major trophies were won they reverted to white.

But in 1893-94 they were again fatally drawn to red, this time choosing red and white halves for their shirts. It had been assumed until recently - from monochrome photographs - that the colours were in fact black and white, but that was until one of the original shirts turned up in the hands of Barbara Goodall from Spondon.

Barbara is the great grand daughter of the former Rams captain John Goodall. His shirt had survived for over 100 years in pristine condition - except for a century old grass-stain which gave it that extra touch of authenticity. Barbara is pictured here displaying the shirt. Again the team failed to win a major honour and ditched the red after a single season.

Yet once more they were fatally lured to it as a temporary measure just a decade later. At the 1903 FA Cup Final against Bury there was a colour clash - both sides normally wore white shirts. So Derby played in red tops - and by the end of the game their faces matched their shirts - they were thrashed 6-0, the biggest ever defeat in an FA Cup Final.

After that debacle they really did ditch red for good - at least by choice - for they were 'forced' to wear red shirts on one more occasion. On 12 April 1969 the Rams travelled to Millwall with their usual white shirts only to realise on arrival that they faced a colour clash. With no spares on board there was nothing for it but to borrow Millwall's red away shirts complete with the Millwall badge. And at last the jinx was ended - a goal from Willie Carlin gave Derby a 1-0 away win. Two games later Brian Clough's memorable side were promoted to the top flight as champions of the Second Division.

What chance the club colours being changed to red for good? All letters to the editor please!

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County:  Derbyshire

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