# 1969–70 Derby County F.C. season

The 1969–70 season was Derby County's 70th in the Football League and their 1st season in the First Division since being relegated in 1953.

## Season summary

In his fourth season as chairman, Sam Longson and his third season manager Brian Clough appointed Jimmy Gordon as new trainer arriving from Blackburn Rovers and transferred in Welsh Central-back Terry Hennessey in February 1970 for a fee of £100,000. The squad finished the league season on a decent 4th spot (its best outcome since the 1948-49 season), including a sequence of 6 consecutive wins, which would have claimed the club its first ever European campaign as entrants in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup but a joint FA and League disciplinary panel found the club guilty of 'gross negligence' after an unexplained gap of £3,000 in season-ticket income and payment of fees to Dave Mackay outside of the terms of his contract. The fine of £10,000 and a one-year ban from European competition saw the club bring in Preston North End secretary Stuart Webb into the club to help its administrative efficiency off the pitch match the playing efficiency on it. After the club was banned from Continental competitions, they were invited to the inaugural Watney Cup.
Meanwhile, the team advanced to the FA Cup quarterfinals stage only to be eliminated by Manchester United on replay. The squad reached the eightfinals of the Football League Cup losing the match against Queen's Park Rangers.

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ENG | Colin Boulton |
| — | GK | ENG | Les Green |
| — | DF | ENG | Ron Webster |
| — | DF | ENG | Tony Rhodes |
| — | DF | ENG | Peter Daniel |
| — | DF | ENG | Roy McFarland |
| — | DF | WAL | Terry Hennessey |
| — | DF | ENG | John Richardson |
| — | DF | ENG | John Robson |
| — | DF | ENG | Pat Wright |
| — | DF | ENG | Jim Walker |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | SCO | Dave Mackay (Captain) |
| — | MF | ENG | Willie Carlin |
| — | MF | WAL | Alan Durban |
| — | MF | SCO | John McGovern |
| — | MF | ENG | Alan Hinton |
| — | MF | NIR | Arthur Stewart |
| — | FW | ENG | Kevin Hector |
| — | FW | SCO | John O'Hare |
| — | FW | ENG | Frank Wignall |
| — | FW | ENG | Barry Butlin |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| DF | Terry Hennessey | Nottingham Forest | £100,000 |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| DF | Pat Wright | Southend United | |
| FW | Barry Butlin | Notts County | loan |

## Competitions
### First Division
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 2 | Leeds United | 42 | 21 | 15 | 6 | 84 | 49 | 1.714 | 57 | Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 3 | Chelsea | 42 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 70 | 50 | 1.400 | 55 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 4 | Derby County | 42 | 22 | 9 | 11 | 64 | 37 | 1.730 | 53 | Qualification for the Watney Cup |
| 5 | Liverpool | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 65 | 42 | 1.548 | 51 | Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 6 | Coventry City | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 58 | 48 | 1.208 | 49 | Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
* ↑ Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1969–70 FA Cup winners.
* ↑ Derby County and Manchester United qualified for the Watney Cup as the two teams with the most goals that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A |
| Result | D | W | D | W | D | D | W | W | W | W | W | L | W | L | D | L | L | W | L | W | L | L | W | W | L | L | W | L | W | L | D | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | D |
| Position | 9 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
Derby County originally qualified for the Fairs Cup by finishing 4th in the 1969–70 Football League. However, a disciplinary commission found the team guilty of administrative and financial irregularities. As a result, Derby County was not allowed to compete in the Fairs Cup. Newcastle United, the next best team not qualified for international competition, took its place.

#### Matches

* source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/derby-county/tab/matches/season/1970/

### FA Cup
## Statistics
### Players statistics

    Substitute appearances indicated in brackets
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | First Division | First Division | League Cup | League Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ENG | Les Green | 52 | -37 | 42 | -37 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Ron Webster | 47 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Dave Mackay | 49 | 2 | 39 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Roy McFarland | 48 | 6 | 38 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | John Robson | 48 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | John McGovern | 43 | 4 | 32+1 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | WAL | Alan Durban | 51 | 13 | 41 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| | MF | ENG | Willie Carlin | 50 | 8 | 40 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Alan Hinton | 52 | 10 | 42 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Kevin Hector | 51 | 16 | 41 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| | FW | SCO | John O'Hare | 49 | 16 | 41 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| | GK | ENG | Colin Boulton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | WAL | Terry Hennessey | 12 | 2 | 12 | 2 |
| | DF | ENG | Peter Daniel | 10 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Frank Wignall | 15 | 2 | 5+6 | 2 | 0+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | John Richardson | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Jim Walker | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | NIR | Arthur Stewart | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Tony Rhodes | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Barry Butlin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Pat Wright |
* Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/derby-county/tab/players/season/1970/