# 1967–68 Derby County F.C. season

The 1967–68 season was Derby County's 68th in the Football League and their 10th consecutive season in the Second Division.

## Season summary

In his second season as chairman, Sam Longson appointed Brian Clough as the club new manager, who was coaching Fourth Division club Hartlepools United with relative success. Clough, arrived with assistant manager former Middlesbrough's Goalkeeper Peter Taylor and both parties agreed to a £5,000 annual salary for Clough and made available £70,000 to fund player transfers. On 25 August 1967 Tranmere Rovers Central-back Roy McFarland arrived to the club. Also, Scottish Forward John O'Hare was transferred in from Sunderland for £20,000 being an ideal partner for Kevin Hector.
During September 1967 Nottingham Forest Left-winger Alan Hinton was then signed by Brian Clough for £30,000. Northern Irish winger Arthur Stewart signed to the club in December 1967 from Glentoran F.C.
After a good start of season reaching a 4th place, the team collapsed during winter and finished its 10th consecutive Second Division campaign at 18th spot. In League Cup first ever notable run, the squad advanced to the semifinals stage only to lose the two legs of the series against Leeds United which also, eliminated The Rams on FA Cup 3rd round. The season also saw Reg Matthews set the club record of 246 appearances by a goalkeeper, as he surpassed Harry Maskrey's previous record of 222.

## 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 | Reg Matthews |
| — | DF | ENG | Peter Daniel |
| — | DF | ENG | Mick Hopkinson |
| — | DF | ENG | Roy McFarland |
| — | DF | ENG | John Richardson |
| — | DF | ENG | Bobby Saxton |
| — | DF | ENG | Ron Webster |
| — | DF | ENG | Tony Rhodes |
| — | DF | ENG | Jim Walker |
| — | DF | ENG | John Robson |
| — | DF | ENG | Pat Wright |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | NIR | Arthur Stewart |
| — | MF | WAL | Alan Durban (Captain) |
| — | MF | ENG | Alan Hinton |
| — | MF | ENG | Gordon Hughes |
| — | MF | ENG | Phil Waller |
| — | FW | ENG | Kevin Hector |
| — | FW | SCO | John O'Hare |
| — | FW | SCO | Billy Hodgson |
| — | FW | ENG | Ian Buxton |
| — | FW | ENG | Richie Barker |
| — | FW | ENG | Barry Butlin |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| MF | Alan Hinton | Nottingham Forest | £30,000 |
| DF | Roy McFarland | Tranmere Rovers | |
| FW | John O'Hare | Sunderland | £20,000 |
| DF | Jim Walker | Northwich Victoria F.C. | |
| DF | Pat Wright | Shrewsbury Town F.C. | |
| FW | Barry Butlin | Youth team | |
| DF | John Robson | Youth team | |
| FW | Richie Barker | Burton Albion F.C. | |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To |
| MF | Derek Draper | Bradford Park Avenue A.F.C. |
| DF | Billy Cholerton | |
| MF | Nigel Cleevely | |
| DF | Ron Metcalfe | |
| MF | Frank Upton | |
| FW | Eddie Thomas | Leyton Orient |
| FW | Ian Buxton | Luton Town |

#### Winter

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| MF | Arthur Stewart | Glentoran F.C. | |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| MF | Phil Waller | Mansfield Town | |
| FW | Billy Hodgson | Rotherham United | |

## Competitions
### Second Division
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 16 | Aston Villa | 42 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 54 | 64 | 0.844 | 37 |
| 17 | Hull City | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 58 | 73 | 0.795 | 37 |
| 18 | Derby County | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 71 | 78 | 0.910 | 36 |
| 19 | Bristol City | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 48 | 62 | 0.774 | 36 |
| 20 | Preston North End | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 43 | 65 | 0.662 | 35 |

#### 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 | A | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | L | W | W | L | W | W | W | W | L | D | L | W | L | D | L | L | L | L | D | W | D | L | D | L | W | L | L | W | D | L | D | L | W | L | W | D | L | D | L | D | L |
| Position | 2 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 15 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 18 |

#### Matches

* source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/derby-county/tab/matches/season/1968/

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

    Substitute appearances indicated in brackets
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Football League Second Division | Football League Second Division | FA Cup | FA Cup | Football League Cup | Football League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ENG | Matthews | 45 | -2 | 37 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 7 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Richardson | 36 | 1 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Webster | 47 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | McFarland | 41 | 2 | 40 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Hopkinson | 25 | 1 | 20+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| | MF | NIR | Stewart | 27 | 2 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| | MF | WAL | Durban | 46 | 11 | 39 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| | MF | ENG | Hughes | 35 | 3 | 27 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| | MF | ENG | Hinton | 26 | 6 | 24+1 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Hector | 49 | 24 | 41 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
| | FW | SCO | O'Hare | 50 | 18 | 42 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 6 |
| | GK | ENG | Boulton | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Barker | 27 | 12 | 19+4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| | DF | ENG | Saxton | 27 | 1 | 19+1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Daniel | 22 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Wright | 12 | 0 | 11+1 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Hodgson | 9 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | MF | ENG | Waller | 11 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Robson | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| | DF | ENG | Rhodes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Walker | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Buxton | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Butlin | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Thomas | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
* Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/derby-county/tab/players/season/1968/