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Derby County
2006–07 season
Chairman	Peter Gadsby
Manager	Billy Davies
Stadium	Pride Park Stadium
Championship	3rd (qualified for play-offs)
Play-offs	Winners
FA Cup	Fifth round
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Steve Howard (16); All: Steve Howard (19)
Highest home attendance	31,920 (vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers, 26 December 2006)
Lowest home attendance	21,295 (vs. Barnsley, 1 November 2006)
Average home league attendance	25,944
	← 2005–06 2007–08 →

During the 2006–07 English football season, Derby County competed in the Football League Championship.

Season summary

Derby County finished the season in third place in the Championship, four points behind champions Sunderland and two points behind runners-up Birmingham City. With new ownership, Derby had been able to compete in the transfer market for the first time in a number of years, with Luton Town's Steve Howard becoming the club's first £1 million signing since François Grenet six years previously and, alongside captures from Premiership clubs such as West Ham United's Stephen Bywater and Fulham's Dean Leacock, manager Billy Davies began shaping a side capable of competing at the right end of the table. This wasn't apparent from the off, however, and a return of just five points from the club's opening six fixtures did not hint at instant success for Davies, leaving influential and creative players such as Tommy Smith and Iñigo Idiakez to depart the club prior to the closing of the August transfer window. However, a 1–0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on 12 September proved a catalyst as the club lost only four of its next 27 fixtures (a run which included winning all six league fixtures in November and an eight-match winning streak of six league and two FA Cup games from 30 December to 10 February). After a 2–2 draw at home to Hull City on 10 February, Derby were six points clear at the top of the table^[3] and had strengthened for the promotion run-in with the signing of Tyrone Mears, Jay McEveley, Gary Teale, David Jones, Craig Fagan, Stephen Pearson and Jon Macken for a combined £5 million. However, a 2–0 defeat away to Plymouth Argyle in the fifth round preceded a notable wobble in results and the club recorded a return of just six points from the next five games, conceding top spot to Birmingham City after a 1–0 defeat at St. Andrews on 9 March.^[4] A resounding 5–1 win against Colchester United (by far the biggest win of a campaign which saw victory by a two-goal margin or greater on just six occasions) looked to have put the club back on track, but, after taking just 12 points from the next ten fixtures, the club slipped out of the automatic promotion places altogether and a 2–0 defeat at Crystal Palace in the penultimate game of the season confirmed a 3rd-placed finish and entry into the 2006–07 Championship playoffs.

Derby defeated West Bromwich Albion 1–0 in the play-off final with a goal from Stephen Pearson to return Derby to the top flight of English football for the first time in five seasons.

Striker Steve Howard, who was also Derby's top scorer that season, was awarded the Jack Stamps Trophy as Derby's player of the season. Defender Darren Moore was named in the PFA's Championship Team of the Year.

Kit

Spanish company Joma remained Derby's kits manufacturers, and introduced a new home kit for the season, the first time since 1998 that Derby had not used the same kit for two seasons running. The Derbyshire Building Society continued sponsoring the kits.^[5]

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Sunderland (C, P)	46	27	7	12	76	47	+29	88	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Birmingham City (P)	46	26	8	12	67	42	+25	86	Promotion to the Premier League
3	Derby County (O, P)	46	25	9	12	62	46	+16	84	Qualification for Championship play-offs
4	West Bromwich Albion	46	22	10	14	81	55	+26	76
5	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	22	10	14	59	56	+3	76

Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (F) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Results

Derby County's score comes first^[6]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League Championship

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
6 August 2006	Southampton	H	2–2	21,939	S Johnson, Peschisolido
8 August 2006	Stoke City	A	0–2	20,013
12 August 2006	Hull City	A	2–1	15,261	Oakley, Smith (pen)
19 August 2006	Norwich City	H	0–0	22,196
26 August 2006	Colchester United	A	3–4	4,574	Lupoli (2), Peschisolido
9 September 2006	Sunderland	H	1–2	26,502	Oakley
12 September 2006	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–0	21,546	Howard
16 September 2006	Preston North End	H	1–1	22,220	Howard (pen)
23 September 2006	Sheffield Wednesday	A	2–1	23,659	Peschisolido, Howard
30 September 2006	Southend United	H	3–0	22,395	Lupoli (2), M Johnson
15 October 2006	Plymouth Argyle	A	1–3	13,622	Lupoli
17 October 2006	Queens Park Rangers	A	2–1	10,882	Bisgaard, Howard
21 October 2006	Birmingham City	H	0–1	25,673
28 October 2006	Cardiff City	A	2–2	17,371	Howard, Barnes
1 November 2006	Barnsley	H	2–1	21,295	Barnes (2)
4 November 2006	West Bromwich Albion	H	2–1	25,342	Oakley, Barnes
11 November 2006	Coventry City	A	2–1	19,701	Stead, Howard
18 November 2006	Luton Town	A	2–0	9,708	Stead, Howard
25 November 2006	Leicester City	H	1–0	28,315	Stead
29 November 2006	Ipswich Town	H	2–1	22,606	Howard, Lupoli
2 December 2006	West Bromwich Albion	A	0–1	20,494
9 December 2006	Leeds United	A	1–0	20,087	Barnes
16 December 2006	Crystal Palace	H	1–0	23,875	Jones
23 December 2006	Burnley	A	0–0	12,825
26 December 2006	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–2	31,920
30 December 2006	Plymouth Argyle	H	1–0	25,775	Bisgaard
1 January 2007	Preston North End	A	2–1	19,204	Howard (2, 1 pen)
13 January 2007	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–0	28,936	Jones
20 January 2007	Southend United	A	1–0	10,745	Howard
30 January 2007	Burnley	H	1–0	23,122	Howard
3 February 2007	Southampton	A	1–0	27,656	Howard
10 February 2007	Hull City	H	2–2	28,140	Teale, Moore
21 February 2007	Stoke City	H	0–2	24,897
24 February 2007	Sunderland	A	1–2	36,049	Barnes
2 March 2007	Colchester United	H	5–1	26,704	Jones, Lupoli, Barnes, Howard (pen), Barker (own goal)
6 March 2007	Norwich City	A	2–1	23,462	Jones (2)
9 March 2007	Birmingham City	A	0–1	20,962
13 March 2007	Queens Park Rangers	H	1–1	27,567	Moore
17 March 2007	Cardiff City	H	3–1	27,689	Howard (2, 1 pen), Barnes
31 March 2007	Barnsley	A	2–1	17,059	Jones, Oakley
6 April 2007	Leicester City	A	1–1	24,704	Fagan
9 April 2007	Coventry City	H	1–1	29,940	Oakley
14 April 2007	Ipswich Town	A	1–2	24,319	Oakley
20 April 2007	Luton Town	H	1–0	28,499	Nyatanga
29 April 2007	Crystal Palace	A	0–2	19,545
6 May 2007	Leeds United	H	2–0	31,183	Currie, Mears

Championship play-offs


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SF 1st Leg	12 May 2007	Southampton	A	2–1	30,602	Howard (2, 1 pen)
SF 2nd Leg	15 May 2007	Southampton	H	2–3 (won 4–3 on pens)	31,569	Moore, Best (own goal)
F	28 May 2007	West Bromwich Albion	N	1–0	74,993	Pearson

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	6 January 2007	Wrexham	H	3–1	15,609	Lupoli (3)
R4	27 January 2007	Bristol Rovers	H	1–0	25,033	Peschisolido
R5	17 February 2007	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–2	18,026

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	22 August 2006	Stockport County	A	1–0	3,394	M Johnson
R2	20 September 2006	Doncaster Rovers	A	3–3 (lost 7–8 on pens)	5,598	Howard, Moore, Lupoli

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ENG	Lee Camp^{[notes 1]}
2	DF	ENG	Marc Edworthy
3	DF	GUI	Mo Camara
4	DF	SCO	Jay McEveley^{[notes 2]}
5	DF	ENG	Dean Leacock
6	DF	JAM	Michael Johnson^{[notes 3]}
7	MF	ENG	David Jones
8	MF	DEN	Morten Bisgaard
9	FW	ENG	Steve Howard^{[notes 4]}
10	FW	ENG	Craig Fagan
11	FW	CAN	Paul Peschisolido
12	FW	IRL	Jon Macken^{[notes 5]}
13	GK	ENG	Lee Grant
14	DF	ENG	Richard Jackson
15	MF	ENG	Ryan Smith
16	FW	ITA	Arturo Lupoli (on loan from Arsenal)
17	DF	ENG	Paul Boertien


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	MF	ENG	Seth Johnson
19	MF	ENG	Darren Currie (on loan from Ipswich Town)
20	FW	ENG	Lee Holmes
21	DF	SCO	Bob Malcolm
22	MF	ENG	Matt Oakley (captain)
23	DF	JAM	Darren Moore^{[notes 6]}
24	DF	ENG	Tyrone Mears^{[notes 7]} (on loan from West Ham United)
25	MF	SCO	Stephen Pearson
27	MF	SCO	Gary Teale
28	FW	ENG	Giles Barnes^{[notes 8]}
29	FW	ENG	Lionel Ainsworth
30	DF	WAL	Lewin Nyatanga^{[notes 9]}
31	DF	AUS	James Meredith
32	MF	ENG	Tom Cumberworth
34	MF	BEL	Jeremy Bossekota
35	GK	WAL	Steven Cann^{[notes 10]}
43	GK	ENG	Stephen Bywater

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
4	MF	ENG	Adam Bolder (to Queens Park Rangers)
7	FW	ENG	Tommy Smith (to Watford)
10	FW	ENG	Jon Stead (on loan from Sunderland)
12	MF	ENG	Paul Thirlwell (to Carlisle United)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
19	MF	ENG	Nathan Doyle (to Hull City)
27	FW	ESP	Iñigo Idiakez (to Southampton)
33	DF	ENG	Theo Streete (to Rotherham United)

Notes

^ Camp was born in Derby, England, and represented them at U-21 level, but also qualifies to represent Northern Ireland internationally and would make his full international debut for Northern Ireland in March 2011.
^ McEveley was born in Liverpool, England, and represented them at U-20 and U-21 level, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and represented them at B level before making his international debut for Scotland in August 2007.
^ Johnson was born in Nottingham, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in 1999.
^ Howard was born in Durham, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and would later represent them at B level.
^ Macken was born in Blackley, England, and represented them at U-20 level, but also qualifies to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in August 2004.
^ Moore was born in Birmingham, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally through his parents and made his international debut for Jamaica in 1999.
^ Mears was born in Chadderton, England, but represented Jamaica in February 2009, apparently qualifying through his father. It was later discovered that his father was actually from Sierra Leone and Mears was ineligible to represent Jamaica.
^ Barnes was born in Barking and Dagenham, England, and represented them at U-19 level, but also qualifies to represent Jamaica internationally through his paternal grandparents and would make his international debut for Jamaica in May 2015.
^ Nyatanga was born in Burton upon Trent, England, but also qualifies to represent Wales internationally through his mother and Zimbabwe through his father, and represented Wales at U-17 and U-21 level before making his international debut for Wales in March 2006.
^ Cann was born in South Africa, but also qualifies to represent both Wales and England internationally, and has represented Wales at U-17, U-19, and semi-professional level.