# 1973–74 Derby County F.C. season

During the 1973–74 English football season, Derby County F.C. competed in the Division One, the FA Cup and the League Cup.

## Season summary

During summer the club transferred in Defender Rod Thomas and Midfielder Henry Newton. In his seventh season as manager, Brian Clough took the Rams to the 3rd spot through Autumn, however, he left the club after a turmoil against Chairman Sam Longson. Therefore, the Club Executive Board appointed former player (1968–71) Dave Mackay as its new manager. The Scottish ex-full back changed the Derby' style of play from a solid defense with Clough to a more offensive deployment including the arrival of Midfielder Bruce Rioch replacing McGovern and O'Hare as starters since February.
After a 9th spot on Winter, the squad recovered the form and finishing the League table on a decent 3rd spot classifying to the next UEFA Cup. Meanwhile, the club was eliminated early by Sunderland in the League Cup second round phase. Also, in the FA Cup Fourth round stage the team lost against Coventry City after one replay.

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules, some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ENG | Colin Boulton |
| — | GK | ENG | Graham Moseley |
| — | DF | ENG | Ron Webster |
| — | DF | ENG | Roy McFarland (c) |
| — | DF | ENG | Colin Todd |
| — | DF | ENG | David Nish |
| — | DF | WAL | Rod Thomas |
| — | DF | ENG | Jim Walker |
| — | DF | ENG | Peter Daniel |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Henry Newton |
| — | MF | SCO | John McGovern |
| — | MF | ENG | Steve Powell |
| — | MF | SCO | Archie Gemmill |
| — | MF | ENG | Alan Hinton |
| — | MF | ENG | Jeff Bourne |
| — | MF | SCO | Bruce Rioch |
| — | FW | ENG | Roger Davies |
| — | FW | ENG | Kevin Hector |
| — | FW | SCO | John O'Hare |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| DF | Rod Thomas | Swindon Town | £100,000 |
| MF | Henry Newton | Everton F.C. | |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| DF | Terry Hennessey | Tamworth F.C. | |
| MF | Alan Durban | Shrewsbury Town F.C. | |
| DF | Tony Parry | Mansfield Town | loan |
| FW | John Sims | | |
| FW | Barry Butlin | Luton Town F.C. | |

#### Winter

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| MF | Bruce Rioch | Aston Villa | |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| DF | Alan Lewis | Peterborough United F.C. | loan |

## Results
### Division One
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Leeds United (C) | 42 | 24 | 14 | 4 | 66 | 31 | 2.129 | 62 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Liverpool | 42 | 22 | 13 | 7 | 52 | 31 | 1.677 | 57 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Derby County | 42 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 52 | 42 | 1.238 | 48 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Ipswich Town | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 67 | 58 | 1.155 | 47 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Stoke City | 42 | 15 | 16 | 11 | 54 | 42 | 1.286 | 46 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
* ↑ Liverpool qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1973-74 FA Cup winners.

#### 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 | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | H | A | H |
| Result | W | W | D | L | W | W | D | L | W | L | D | W | W | D | L | L | L | D | D | W | W | D | L | D | W | D | W | L | D | W | D | D | D | W | W | D | L | L | W | W | L | W |
| Position | 4 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |

#### Matches

* .- Source:https://www.11v11.com/teams/derby-county/tab/matches/season/1974/

### FA Cup
#### Third Round
#### Fourth Round
## Statistics
### Squad statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Football League Division One | Football League Division One | FA Cup | FA Cup | Football League Cup | Football League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ENG | Colin Boulton | 49 | -52 | 42 | -42 | 4 | -3 | 3 | -7 |
| | DF | ENG | Ron Webster | 45 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Roy McFarland | 44 | 4 | 38 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Colin Todd | 47 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | David Nish | 46 | 3 | 40 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| | MF | SCO | Bruce Rioch | 18 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Steve Powell | 34 | 1 | 29+1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Archie Gemmill | 45 | 5 | 38 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| | MF | ENG | Alan Hinton | 36 | 5 | 25+4 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Roger Davies | 37 | 10 | 32+1 | 9 | 0+1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| | FW | ENG | Kevin Hector | 49 | 19 | 42 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | GK | ENG | Graham Moseley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | John McGovern | 29 | 2 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Henry Newton | 28 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Jeff Bourne | 23 | 9 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| | DF | ENG | Peter Daniel | 10 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | John O'Hare | 10 | 0 | 7+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| | DF | WAL | Rod Thomas | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Jim Walker | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
* Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/derby-county/tab/players/season/1974/comp/56/