3/1 To Win
Meetings between Derby County and Norwich City have been sporadic over the past few years, mainly due to the Canaries’ two spells in the Premier League.
Promotion under Paul Lambert in 2011 was followed by a Cameron Jerome-inspired play-off victory in 2015, where Derby’s latest striking addition bagged Norwich’s first ever Wembley goal.
What about the clashes between the two sides? There have been plenty of memorable moments, including a certain striker tapping home a late winner and Carrow Road, but we’ll come to that later…
The first game between the two came at the Baseball Ground in November 1960, and whilst Barry Hutchinson found the net for Derby, it was the visitors that secured a 4-1 victory in the League Cup.
A first league meeting took place just 12 days after Norwich had eliminated Derby from the competition, but there was less entertainment on offer as a goalless draw was played out.
Victories were exchanged for a number of years, before the Rams embarked on a nine-game unbeaten run that spanned six seasons from 1973 until 1978, although the Canaries were avoided as the First Division title was clinched under Dave Mackay.
After a 3-0 victory for Norwich in January 1967, Derby levelled up the scores in terms of FA Cup clashes 17 years later, as Bobby Davison and Archie Gemmill found the net to lead Roy McFarland’s side to the quarter-finals.
However, Norwich came back strong and from October 1988 until April 1990, they won four games in a row against Derby without conceding a goal.
Strangely, as in the 1970s, the two clubs avoided eachother at key periods in their history, and despite Derby and Norwich spending a significant part of the 1990s as a part of the newly-formed Premier League, they didn’t face eachother in the top flight.
The only three meetings during the opening decade of the Premier League came with home and away Division One ties during the 1995/96 season, and a League Cup fixture in November 2000, which the Rams won 3-0.
Rory Delap, Craig Burley and Malcolm Christie got the goals to knock out Bryan Hamilton’s side.
Norwich soon hit back under Nigel Worthington and during the season that they gained promotion to the Premier League, the Canaries beat Derby 4-0 at Pride Park to record the biggest victory between the two in the history of the fixture.
Two familiar faces began to have an impact on the fixture, starting in March 2007, as Chris Martin opened the scoring for a Norwich side that included Jason Shackell, but David Jones scored twice to give Derby the three points.
Martin struck again in December 2010 and this time his goal contributed to a Norwich victory, with Shaun Barker’s own goal helping the away side on their way.
Simeon Jackson bagged a hat-trick as Norwich completed the double later that season, as Paul Lambert guided the Canaries back to the Premier League for the 2011/12 season.
After relegation, it was Cameron Jerome’s turn to make a difference, and he started off by netting an equaliser at Pride Park against Derby in 2014.
Gary Rowett’s January signing repeated the trick at Carrow Road during the same season, but the game was memorable for Jamie Hanson’s contribution on his first team debut.
His inswinging corner was too much for John Ruddy to handle, and the current Wolves goalkeeper fumbled into his own net to allow Derby a point.
Bradley Johnson then scored against his old club when the sides met in the East Midlands during the 2016/17 season, but this season’s meeting is one that will live in the memory for Rams supporters.
David Nugent scored a stunner to give his side the lead, but after Norwich equalised, Sam Winnall stepped up to send the travelling support into raptures and make it three wins in a row for Rowett’s side.
