Originally Posted by
Andy_Faber
Lets move forward to 1983. Derby were on the slide, and languished in division 2 whilst rivals Forest crushed all before them, Brian Clough's loss of bottle in returning to Derby meaning that what could have been an all conquering Rams team instead ran out in red and rampaged twice through the weakest European opposition in history. Then came the FA Cup third round draw. By then estranged, who knows what the former Morecambe and Wise of football, Clough and Taylor, REALLY thought about the match-up, scheduled for January 8th. Both towns were buzzing, tickets were in high demand. It was bloody freezing on the day, and I had blagged a ticket in the pop side. The pitch was the traditional mudbath, and from minute 1 it was clear it was going to be a big leveller - Forests silky skills didn't translate well onto mud, Derby's artisan team were at least used to it. The crowd was in a feisty mood, the Pop Side was as mobile as ever and not for the faint hearted - a senior manager where I worked, a big round jolly man, stood near me at the start, but last time I saw him he was on his back, eyes full of fear, and just being hoyed around by the ebb and flow of the crowd, on top of which he had his pocket picked.
From that first minute, I was never in any doubt we'd win, just one of those days where it was just a matter of time. Mid-second half, Archie Gemmill curled a free kick round the wall for goal one, and the icing on the cake came when Derby's finest slaphead Scottish midfielder of the 80's, Mick Brolly, slipped one through for Andy Hill to score. On balance, Derby played just above their current shocking standard, Forest well below theirs, and apart from the result I recall the game for it being Archie Gemmill's last great game - his legs had gone by then, but from somewhere, for just that game, he managed to summon up the drive he had in the mid-70s
Regretably, this was no new dawn for The Rams, there was a long way to fall yet