This era saw Derby County F.C. become one of the original twelve founder member of the Football League, finish League Runners-Up on three occasions, reach four FA Cup Finals, winning one, and record the club record for the longest continued presence in the top tier of the English football league system, spending 27 years (and 20 seasons) there between 1926 and 1953. A sharp decline towards the end of the era saw Derby lose their status as full league members for the only time in their history with relegation to the Third Division North in 1955 before they returned at settled in the Second Tier for much of the next 15 years.