There was no doubt a smug smile creep up on every Derby County fans’ face when Reading was revealed as the Rams’ first opponent of the 2020/21 Sky Bet Championship season.
Flashbacks were sure to have come rushing back of Tom Lawrence sprinting with outstretched arms towards the travelling fans, before being piled on by his team-mates, after scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory in added time at Madejski Stadium while Frank Lampard and his staff went wild in the dugout.
Two years on, it will be the Royals travelling to Pride Park Stadium for Derby County’s first opening day at home in four years when they drew 0-0 with Brighton and Hove Albion at the start of the 2016/17 season.
Opening days have been good Derby in recent years, last tasting defeat on the first game of the season in 2008, 12 years ago. Since then, the Rams have recorded six wins and six draws.
There certainly have been some opening days to remember over the years, and here, dcfc.co.uk, looks back on five of the most memorable.
Derby County 2-2 Manchester United
Baseball Ground, 14th August 1971
The 1971/72 season needs little introduction as Derby County claimed their first-ever league title with Brian Clough at the helm.
The fight and character the side possessed that season was apparent from the offset as they clawed their way back from a 2-0 deficit against Manchester United in the first game of the new season.
More than 35,000 fans packed in to the Baseball Ground to watch the Rams embark on a new season, however their hopes of a quick start out the blocks looked to be hampered as goals from Denis Law and Alan Growling gave United a 2-0 lead.
The Rams refused to give in, however, and a collision between Frank Wignall and United goalkeeper Alex Stepney saw the ball bounce to Kevin Hector to strike in and pull a goal back.
It was then Wignall who found the equaliser when he headed in from close range after an initial shot bounced off the crossbar.
Clough’s side then went on to open the season with an unbeaten run of five wins and seven draws on-route to lifting the First Division title.
Derby County 3-0 AFC Bournemouth
Baseball Ground, 17th August 1985
Arthur Cox was in his second season in charge of Derby County, having taken over the year before following the Rams’ relegation to the Third Division. The 1985/86 season saw the start of their rise back to the top tier.
It was the second consecutive season that Derby faced Bournemouth on the opening day, with Cox’s first ever game in charge of the Rams ending in a 1-0 defeat the year prior on the South Coast.
Twelve months later, however, his team were much elevated, and the tables had been turned.
The first game of the 1985/86 season handed debuts to a quartet of new Rams with Mark Wallington, Ross MacLaren, Steve McClaren and Jeff Chandler pulling on the black and white kit for the first time at the Baseball Ground.
It was a delightful debut for winger Chandler, whose brace added to Trevor Christie’s goal to ensure a 3-0 victory to send Bournemouth on their long trip home emptyhanded.
That win showed a glimpse of what was to come from Cox’s side who earned promotion to the Second Division with a third placed finish that season and backed that up in the next campaign by being crowned champions of the second tier.
Derby County 5-0 Sunderland
Baseball Ground – 14th August 1993
A five-star performance by the Rams on opening day in 1993 stunned Sunderland and got Arthur Cox’s side off to a tremendous start at the Baseball Ground.
The first goal of the new season came courtesy of a penalty after ten minutes, which was successfully nestled into the back of the net by Mark Pembridge. Marco Gabbiadini, who was awarded the penalty, was on hand to double the lead just before half-time against the club where he garnered his lethal reputation in front of goal.
Paul Kitson then teed up Pembridge on the edge of the box to rifle in his second of the game. The goals just kept on coming and a long run by Paul Simpson set up the fourth. His initial shot was palmed into the path of Kitson, who tapped in to add to his two assists.
Defender Craig Short got in on the action adding a fifth and final goal from a corner. That game set the groundwork for a season that saw the Rams reach the Play-Off Final under the guidance of Roy McFarland for the majority of the season after Cox was forced to retire.
After their sixth-placed finish, Derby defeated Millwall in the Play-Off Semi-Finals, which was overshadowed by the dramatic pitch invasion at The Den. Ultimately, McFarland’s side fell to a 2-1 loss to Leicester City at Wembley Stadium to miss out on promotion to the top tier.
Derby County 3-3 Leeds United
Baseball Ground – 17th August 1996
What better way to be introduced to the Premier League for Derby County than an opening day fixture against Leeds United?
Jim Smith had guided the Rams to their first year in the Premier League with a second-placed finish in the First Division the season before to earn promotion.
It wasn’t the dream start they had hoped for, however, as an own goal by Jacob Laursen gave Leeds the lead inside 20 minutes.
They looked certain to open with no points on the table as the Whites extended their lead in the 72nd minute through Ian Harte, but that goal was the beginning of a thrilling five-goal exchange in the final 18 minutes.
A brilliant strike by Dean Sturridge five minutes later brought the Rams right back in contention.
From the restart, Derby pressed for the equaliser, which Paul Simpson found a minute later. He chased the ball down as Leeds played the ball backwards and got there first to guide the ball home.
All that hard work to draw level looked to have been undone with an 85th-minute goal from Lee Bowyer but the Rams, and Sturridge, did it again. With his back to the goal, he eluded two defenders to turn and fire in from close range to earn a share of the points in a dramatic meeting.
Smith’s side went on to survive their maiden campaign in the Premier League with a 12th-placed finish.
Reading 1-2 Derby County
Madejski Stadium – 3rd August 2018
Derby County had whipped up a media frenzy in the off-season ahead of the 2018/19 campaign as English footballing legend Frank Lampard was unveiled as their new manager.
All eyes were on the Rams, and of course Lampard in his managerial bow, on a sweltering Friday evening to kick-start the Sky Bet Championship campaign two seasons ago.
The Sky Sports cameras, the league and more importantly, Derby fans were not disappointed as Lampard’s side provided the opening day fireworks that they greatly anticipated.
After a goalless first-half, in which the hosts had the better of the chances, it was the Royals who took the lead minutes into the second when Jon Dadi Bodvarsson headed in from a cross.
One of Derby’s trio of star loanee signings that season, Mason Mount, topped his debut off with the leveller on the hour mark when he rifled in a shot from outside the area which evaded the palms of Reading’s keeper and nestled into the corner.
The game looked certain to end in a point apiece, but Tom Lawrence had other ideas with an injury time goal that made the visiting dugout erupt and a pile-up of players in front of the ecstatic travelling fans.
The Welshman headed in from Mason Bennett’s cross to secure the three points and it was clear for all to see just what it meant for the manager.
Meanwhile, Lawrence seemingly loves a first day fixture, with his double last August securing a 2-1 victory over Huddersfield Town.