Derby County’s promotion-winning 1995/96 campaign under Jim Smith is one which still ranks highly amongst the club’s supporters some 24 years on.
In his first season in the hotseat, Smith guided the Rams to the top-flight in what proved to be an action-packed season.
The affectionately known Bald Eagle, with a mixture of new signings and players inherited from the Arthur Cox and Roy McFarland eras, brought together a side which had the fans on the edge of their seats.
Not only was it a season which was memorable for the club’s supporters, but also those that played their part in it.
One of the players Smith inherited was Dean Yates, a strong and cultured defender who had joined the Rams from Notts County midway through the previous season.
While the likes of Dean Sturridge, Marco Gabbiadini, Igor Stimac, Ron Willems, Paul Simpson and Robin Van Der Laan invariably attracted the headlines during the season, Yates was a hugely influential figure.
With 38 appearances to his name from 46 league matches, only goalkeeper Russell Hoult and skipper Van Der Laan racked up more appearances than Yates in the campaign.
In fact, Yates’ displays were so impressive that the Derby supporters voted him as their 1995/96 Player of the Season.
Yates made 74 appearances in total for Derby, leaving the club in the summer of 1998 to join Watford, and he fondly looks back on his days with the Rams in one of the club’s most exciting periods in recent history.
“It’s hard to believe it’s so long ago; a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then,” Yates told dcfc.co.uk back in 2015.
“The time has flown by, but those moments remain vivid in the memory of what we achieved and I’m proud of what we did during my spell with Derby County.
“My time at Derby ranks very highly in my career because of what we achieved in those few years. I started my career at Notts County and had a fantastic time there and they will always be in the heart.
“I loved every minute of my three-and-a-half years at Derby County as well; I had an amazing time and so much happened in those years.
“We had the promotion in 1996, playing in the Premier League and also moving to Pride Park as well. It was an amazing time for me.”
Yates’ move across the East Midlands came in the early months of 1995.
He had been on Notts County’s books for 10 years, racking up almost 400 appearances and recovering from a serious knee injury.
A time for a change came and when Roy McFarland came calling to move to the Baseball Ground, Yates felt it was an opportunity he simply couldn’t turn down.
McFarland, who was a key member of Derby’s glory years in the late 1960s and early 1970s as well as a senior England international, was someone who Yates clearly had a great deal of admiration for.
“Roy McFarland was the manager that signed me for Derby and at the time he invited me over to the Baseball Ground for a chat,” Yates explained.
“Roy really wanted me to sign and the fee the club paid was agreed at a tribunal.
“He was great for me. When he played he was a top centre-half, so to learn off someone like that and want me to sign was great.
“I had been at Notts County for a long time and a fresh challenge was what I needed. It was a no-brainer to play under a former England defender.”
Yates, however, recalls a less than ideal start to his time with Derby.
He was sat the boardroom at the Baseball Ground negotiating his move to the Rams, but a car alarm burst into life and prompted him to head outside.
He recalled: “I remember actually while we were in the boardroom a car alarm was going off so myself and Roy went outside to find out what was going on.
“As we got out there, a youth was trying to get into my car and take the stereo.
“I think my fitness test was running down the side of the Baseball Ground trying to get my stereo back!”
Yates did, despite the theft of his car stereo, put pen-to-paper with Derby.
He marked his home debut at the Baseball Ground with a goal in the Rams’ 2-1 home victory over Bolton Wanderers and quickly became a regular in the side.
Derby missed out on a place in the play-offs at the end of the season, which resulted in McFarland departing at the end of the campaign with his contract due to come to an end.
Jim Smith was confirmed as his replacement in the summer of 1995 and it would be fair to describe the opening months of his time in charge as underwhelming.
Derby won four of their first 15 matches and found themselves in the lower reaches of mid-table in the First Division.
However, a dramatic turn of form was just around the corner.
“The season never really got off and running in the first few months, it was a sticky time for us,” Yates admitted.
“Jim Smith was an experienced manager and he knew what was needed to bring into the side to move us up the table and, to be fair, it didn’t take long for things to click.
“He brought in some fantastic players and developed a number of the lads he inherited as well, so it wasn’t as if we just signed players to get promoted.
“Jim and Steve McClaren worked well as a management team and it was a perfect partnership. Jim would come on the training ground occasionally and Steve’s training sessions and methods were great. You used to look forward to coming in to training and he mixed things up; it was fun but hard work at the same time.”
A 5-1 thrashing at Tranmere Rovers, in Derby’s 15th game of the campaign, proved to be a turning point.
By this time, Croatian defender Igor Stimac had joined the Rams and Smith was preparing to adopt a new-look formation with three central defenders.
From 11th November until 5th March, Derby embarked on a run of 20 league games unbeaten and they soared up the league.
Ten wins and a draw from 11 matches, between mid-November and the halfway point of January, saw Derby quickly become automatic promotion contenders.
Yates recalls the change in shape as being perfectly timed and ideal for the players that were on the books.
He said: “The defeat at Tranmere was quite a day, losing 5-1. Igor Stimac made his debut in that game and you did not need to be a rocket scientist to work out that he wasn’t a marker or a proper central defender.
“Jim recognised that, and we went to three at the back. Gary Rowett and I were the markers and Igor had a free role.
“That way of playing allowed Igor to express himself and go into midfield when he needed to, with the knowledge myself and Gary were still there. On the other side, he could help tidy things up for us as well.
“It worked perfectly for us and we had a fantastic defensive record during the season. Everything came together when we changed to that formation and I really enjoyed playing in that system. You have to have the right players to do it, and we had that.”
Looking back, Yates admits the confidence increased as the Rams fired themselves into the promotion race.
He recalls a 1-0 win at Huddersfield Town on Boxing Day, secured thanks to a solitary goal from Dutchman Ron Willems, as one of the standout moments during that time.
“As the season came to Christmas time we were on a great run and we started believe,” he explained.
“We had been on a brilliant run of form and I think we recognised we were in a good place.
“The 1-0 win at Huddersfield on Boxing Day sticks in the memory and results like that, at an important time, helped lift our confidence and make others sit up and take notice.”
Derby, strangely, only won back-to-back league games twice in the second half of the season and Yates added: “We had a wobble as the pressure started to hit us a bit.
“Teams made it hard for us at the Baseball Ground, but we knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
Yates played 38 successive games in the league between mid-September and the end of April.
However, he missed the most important game of the season as Derby went on to secure promotion on a emotion-fuelled afternoon at the Baseball Ground.
The defender had to watch on from the stands as goals from Dean Sturridge and Robin Van Der Laan helped the Rams defeat Crystal Palace 2-1 in a tense encounter.
A knee injury, which would later require surgery, was sustained in training in the days leading up to the big match.
Yates admits there were a few tears in his eyes as he failed a fitness test on the morning of the game.
He describes the day as a one with a rollercoaster of emotions; missing the fixture, being named as Player of the Season and then the elation of promotion being secured.
“I think there were a few tears, I won’t deny that,” Yates admitted.
“We had been on a training camp in Leeds during the week ahead of the Crystal Palace match and I felt something during my knee in one of the sessions.
“I had treatment during the week and I was desperate to be fit for the game on the Sunday as we knew a win would see us get promoted.
“I had a fitness test on the pitch on the morning of the Palace game and I was desperate to be part of it. During the test I realised that I was not going to help things if I played because I just wasn’t right.
“It was a big call on a rollercoaster of a day for me personally. I was an emotional person and it was difficult situation to take.
“Before kick-off I was recognised as the Player of the Year by the supporters and that gave me a lift, but I was gutted not to play in the game at the same time.”
He added: “It was horrific sitting and watching the game. We came through it and got the win we needed; I was gutted playing through almost all the season but we made it and celebrated long into the night.
“The memories are still there and I know if I had played I wouldn’t have done myself or the club justice.”