Derby began the 2000/01 season by scoring goals for fun but they were also conceding at an alarming rate and found themselves in big trouble early on, particularly once the scoring dried up.

November 18 arrived and they were still without a win after 13 Premiership games, but they finally got off the mark by beating Bradford City 2-0.

To say they never looked back would be generous, as the spectre of relegation was always hanging over their shoulder, but Derby's form did pick up from that point.

Taribo West

Another astute signing by Jim Smith, Nigerian centre-half Taribo West, helped add experience and quality to the defensive ranks and his presence played a crucial role in developing Derby-born teenager Chris Riggott alongside him.

Riggott went on to claim the player of the year award in his first season but it wasn't until the penultimate game that safety was assured.

The task that day was immense - Manchester United at Old Trafford, already crowned as runaway Premiership champions.

But Malcolm Christie's superb first-half goal was enough to give the Rams all three points, and keep them in the top-flight for another season.

Malcolm Christie celebrates his goal at Old Trafford

The prestige of full international football came Pride Park's way in May 2001 when England took on Mexico in front of a then-stadium record crowd.

Goals from David Beckham, Robbie Fowler, Paul Scholes and Teddy Sheringham earned a star-studded Three Lions side a 4-0 win in a game that also saw former Rams favourite Chris Powell appear as a half-time substitute, to a great reception.

It was, and still is, one of the stadium's most memorable occasions.

Paul Scholes (obscured) fires England in front at Pride Park

Italian superstar Fabrizio Ravanelli arrived from Serie A giants Lazio in the summer of 2001 and scored on his debut, an opening-day win against Blackburn Rovers, but by the time another win arrived in November a lot had changed.

Jim Smith, so inspirational in winning promotion at the first attempt and the man behind a great few years, had moved on after declining a role as director of football.

In his place was Colin Todd, a legend as a player from the 70s, who had already been in place as Smith's assistant.

Colin Todd is unveiled after taking over as manager from Jim Smith

But Todd's Derby won only four games and he too was soon gone, sacked in January after a bad run of results that also included the indignity of a 3-1 home defeat by Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup.

It was the first time a Third Division side had beaten a Premiership club away from home in the FA Cup since the leagues were changed in 1992.

Todd's replacement was another former club hero, John Gregory, who had played a starring midfield role in the 1980s revival.

Gregory oversaw three wins and a draw from his opening six games, raising hope of survival, but after winning 3-1 at Bolton Wanderers on March 16 it all went wrong.

That proved to be the Rams' last top-flight win and seven successive defeats later they were relegated, though their fate had been on the cards for a long time.

Trudging off after relegation is confirmed at Liverpool in April 2002

An eighth defeat followed, though they did at least ensure they didn't go out of the Premiership on a losing note thanks to a 1-1 draw at Sunderland on the final day - Marvin Robinson with their last top-flight goal.

The Rams wave goodbye to the Premiership on the last day of the 2001/02 season

Hopes of an immediate return the following season were raised on the opening day by a 3-0 thrashing of Reading in front of an almost-capacity crowd, but it was one of many false dawns.

Most of the big-money signings of recent years stayed at the club, including Ravanelli, but Premiership outgoings on a Football League incoming were always going to be impossible to sustain.

Many of the high earners were moved elsewhere during January - the first such transfer window for Premiership and international clubs - and with very little freedom in the market Gregory was forced to rely on some promising youngsters coming through.

One of those was winger Lee Holmes, who became the club's youngest-ever player on Boxing Day at the age of 15 years and 268 days.

Nine days later he achieved the same fate in the FA Cup as the competition's most youthful star.

Another 15-year-old, midfielder Tom Huddlestone, had already been among the substitutes for league games but was not used.

But throwing in the kids to a difficult situation is never preferable, and a run of nine games without a win - seven defeats - from February into March saw Derby in danger of another relegation.

Gregory was suspended in March over allegations of "serious misconduct", plunging the club into even more turmoil with off-field financial difficulties really starting to bite.

In came George Burley as interim manager with a simple brief of keeping Derby in the division during the final seven games of the season.

George Burley

Three wins were enough to achieve that aim, and they were enough to get Burley the job on a permanent basis when Gregory was sacked in the summer of 2003.

Gregory launched an appeal but the matter was ultimately settled out of court.

The 2003/04 season opened up in desperate style, a 3-0 home defeat to Stoke City, and by the end of October only three wins were on the board.

'The board' also turned into a key phrase during October as the Rams were taken over by a three-man consortium of businessmen in a surprise deal.

The club went into temporary receivership, allowing the deal to take place, but the financial problems were worsening and fans were becoming concerned about what the future held.

New chairman John Sleightholme takes his place in the stand after the takeover

A long winter was shaping up on the field and it was clear the team was in a major relegation struggle.

Loan players came and went, with only Everton midfielder Leon Osman a real success, though some smart late-season signings of experienced players helped the cause.

One of those men, striker Paul Peschisolido, made an immediate impact and scored twice in a famous 4-2 win over local rivals Nottingham Forest - thanks to the legendary coffee cup incident.

Forest keeper Barry Roche lined up a feet-only clearance after a back-pass but the ball bounced up off a rogue coffee cup sat on the pitch in front of him, Roche's clearance looped up into the air and Pesch gleefully tapped it in to an empty net.

Paul Peschisolido stabs home his 'coffee cup' goal against Forest

Safety was finally secured on the penultimate day of the season though the Rams ended up just a solitary point above the relegation zone.

One positive was the emergence of Huddlestone, who appeared in all but three of the season's games - despite not turning 17 until late December 2003.

In stark contrast, 2004/05 proved to be a memorable campaign for all of the right reasons - and it almost had a dream ending.

George Burley raided the continental market to bring in Spanish midfielder Inigo Idiakez and Danish midfielder Morten Bisgaard, and domestically he snapped up former England U21 striker Tommy Smith and experienced Coventry centre-half Mo Konjic.

Konjic's season was disrupted by injury but the other three proved inspired captures, as did Polish international striker Grzegorz Rasiak upon his September arrival.

Rasiak went on to score 17 goals in all competitions and Idiakez showed all of his class from 300 games in La Liga as the Rams equalled their club record 12 away league wins.

Grzegorz Rasiak celebrates in the 3-0 win over Forest in December 2004

Along the way they secured a memorable Boxing Day success at Wigan Athletic, who went on to win promotion to the Premiership, along with a 3-0 Pride Park destruction of Nottingham Forest - who went on to be relegated to League 1.

That helped them to fourth in the newly-formed Coca-Cola Championship, and a place in the play-offs, where they came up against Preston North End.

But without Rasiak and Idiakez for the first leg they went down 2-0 at Deepdale, and although the pair returned - but were clearly not fit - for the return, Derby were up against it.

Rasiak missed a late penalty in a heartbreaking 0-0 draw that saw Preston go through to Cardiff, where they lost to West Ham, while the Rams' dreams were shattered in cruel fashion.

Grzegorz Rasiak strikes a post from the penalty spot in the 2005 play-off semi-final against Preston

That was Burley's last game in charge as he left soon afterwards, so once again Derby County were at a time of change despite having enjoyed a successful season.

It was a season that also saw the passing of the club's most legendary boss of all-time, Brian Clough.

Nigel Clough and family at the Brian Clough memorial service

The man who guided Derby to their first league championship in 1972 sadly passed away after illness in September 2004, which sparked emotional scenes as tributes were left in abundance at Pride Park.

The stadium also hosted Clough's memorial service which was attended by thousands of fans, and friends and family of the great man.

Tributes at the Brian Clough memorial service

Gone but never forgotten - and the A52, which links Derby and Nottingham, has since been renamed Brian Clough Way in his honour.

On the field but not football-related was the stadium's first concert in July 2005 when the legendary Rod Stewart performed to thousands of delighted fans.

Next into the hot-seat after a summer of speculation was former Bolton Wanderers assistant boss Phil Brown.

It was his first managerial role but after a promising start things quickly turned sour.

An abysmal away record coupled with home form that wasn't much better, along with some less than successful loan signings, meant Brown's Derby were soon in trouble.

They were drawing too many games for comfort, but following two humiliating defeats - 6-1 at Coventry City and 3-1 at League 1 side Colchester United in the FA Cup - Brown's time was up, just seven months after taking over.

The board turned to Academy manager Terry Westley, who had helped nurture the club's young stars of recent years.

Teenage defender Lewin Nyatanga had already made his senior breakthrough earlier on in the season and was about to become a record-breaking Welsh international, while one of Westley's first decisions was to throw in 17-year-old Giles Barnes for a full debut in his first game in charge.

Lewin Nyatanga makes his record-breaking debut for Wales in March 2006

Barnes's emergence was a key factor in the club managing to stay just above the relegation zone, though fears of the drop hung over Pride Park until safety was secured with three games left.

By that time director of football Murdo Mackay had left, as had chairman John Sleightholme, and the club was in the midst of a takeover battle.

The battle was eventually won by a consortium of local businessmen, all Derby County fans, who completed the deal in time to be welcomed by the crowd before the final day of the season.

Their arrival ushered yet another new era in, but their immediate impact was felt more off the field as the club's financial status - which had been worsening by the month - was secured, and Pride Park Stadium returned to local ownership.

The Derby County board (back, l-r): Mel Morris, John Kirkland, Don Amott, Peter Marples. Front (l-r): Peter Gadsby, Jill Marples, Mike Horton.

The managerial position was once again up for grabs and this time the club managed to secure the services of Preston North End's Billy Davies, who had been a target of the previous administration 12 months back.

Before he and the players returned for pre-season training the stadium once more became a gig venue as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, one of the world's biggest bands, rocked to well over 20,000 revellers.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers performed to thousands of fans at Pride Park in July 2006

Back to football and Davies - who had guided Preston to two successive play-offs and was in charge when they beat the Rams in 2005 - set about his rebuilding task.

He began to re-shape the squad, bringing in his own players, and made an impressive start to his tenure.

By December he had guided the Rams to second in the Championship, their highest position since falling out of the Premiership in 2002, and six wins from six in November earned him the manager of the month award.

Davies also oversaw the club's first win at Leeds United since November 1974, which went down particularly well with the fans, and by the halfway point of the season they were still sitting in the top two.

Billy Davies displays his November 2006 manager of the month award

It got even better after Christmas for the Rams as they hit the top of the table on the back of a run of eight successive victories in all competitions, including six in the league for the second time during the season.

Davies was rewarded as January's manager of the month as he continued to keep the Rams right in the hunt for promotion as the season went on.

Indeed, at the start of February, following a 1-0 win at Southampton they opened up a six-point advantage at the top of the Championship.

But it was never going to be straightforward in the race for the Premiership.

Birmingham City were hot on Derby's tails and with Sunderland getting up a head of steam while on a remarkable run, the heat was on.

Defeats away to both in the space of a fortnight at the end of February and the start of March meant that Derby sat second with nine games to go.

A run of five games without defeat after the Birmingham reverse kept the Rams back in the hunt though they would ultimately rue four dropped points over Easter thanks to draws with Leicester and Coventry.

Giles Barnes displays his Powerade Player of the Month award for March

Along the way it was announced that teenage ace Giles Barnes was the Powerade Coca-Cola Championship Player of the Month for March after an outstanding run of games.

Sunderland and Birmingham took advantage of games in hand to move ahead at the top and when they both won over the final weekend of April, Davies's side knew they had to pick up three points of their own at Crystal Palace to keep the automatic promotion race alive.

They went down 2-0 in the Sunday afternoon kick-off, sending the top two up to the Premiership, but that was the beginning of the story.

Derby were already guaranteed third place in the Championship by the time they beat Leeds United 2-0 at Pride Park on the final day of the season, and results elsewhere meant they would face Southampton in the play-off semi-final.

Steve Howard was the catalyst for victory in the first leg at the St Mary's Stadium.

The big number nine, Derby's newly-crowned Player of the Year, netted with a superb header and a composed penalty to turn things around after the Saints took an early lead.

Derby had the advantage going into the second leg, at Pride Park, and when Darren Moore scored after just 102 seconds it looked as though they were well on their way to Wembley.

But Southampton had other ideas. Jhon Viafara equalised almost immediately, and he levelled the aggregate score early in the second half.

Leon Best's own-goal swung the tie back Derby's way again and they were 90 seconds from victory when Polish striker Grzegorz Rasiak came back to haunt his old club, making it 3-2 on the night and 4-4 overall.

Extra-time came and went, and with the rain pouring down penalties were required to separate the two sides.

Best missed the first, and after the Rams scored their first four it was down to ex-Derby ace Inigo Idiakez to keep Southampton in the competition.

The Spaniard is normally deadly from set-pieces but stepped up and blazed his kick high over the bar, sending Derby to Wembley and sparking off great celebrations at Pride Park.

The Rams celebrate reaching Wembley after a dramatic penalty shoot-out win against Southampton. Empics

That meant a trip to the new national stadium, behind schedule and over budget but ultimately worth the wait.

Dubbed the richest game in football, due to a reported £60m for the winners due to increased TV rights and other spin-offs, the Championship play-off final would be between Derby County and West Bromwich Albion for a place in the Premiership.

Derby had beaten West Brom at Pride Park, West Brom had beaten Derby at the Hawthorns, and despite finishing eight points adrift of the Rams it was Tony Mowbray's Baggies who were the favourites.

They perhaps had the better of the game in front of a near-75,000 crowd, but they reckoned without Derby's grit and resilience that had taken them to the brink of the Premiership.

The crucial moment came just after the hour when January signing Stephen Pearson broke into the box to slide home the only goal of the game from Giles Barnes's low cross.

Steve Howard helps Steven Pearson celebrate the promotion-winning goal. Empics

It was the perfect time for the Scotsman to score his first goal in a Derby shirt and crown his return after being sidelined by a foot injury.

Derby held firm and when the final whistle blew, the scenes were like few ever witnessed in the long and distinguished history of the club.

Team skipper Matt Oakley and club captain Michael Johnson climbed the steps to jointly lift the play-off final trophy and signify Derby's return to the top-flight after five years away.

Matt Oakley and Michael Johnson get their hands on the trophy. Empics

The celebrations continued over the next few days with as many as 20,000 supporters lining the streets of the city and cramming on to the Pride Park pitch to greet their heroes a day later.

Click here for a full list of links to reports, photo galleries, videos, reaction and much more from the play-off final.

Derby broke their transfer record over the summer of 2007 when they splashed £3.5 on Welsh international striker Robert Earnshaw, who arrived from Norwich City.

But it was skipper Matt Oakley who scored the opening goal of the season, three minutes in to the first game at home to Portsmouth, with a fine finish from the edge of the box.

And a Derby-born son of a Rams legend later equalised to earn a point on his debut - Andy Todd, whose father Colin won two championships in the 1970s, dived in to head home and secure a 2-2 draw.

The first win of the season came in September as new signing Kenny Miller marked his debut with a spectacular strike to see off Newcastle United, but by the end of October it was still the only victory thus far.

And there had been a number of changes in the boardroom over recent months.

Jill and Peter Marples left during the summer, at the same time as Trevor Birch was appointed as chief executive having held similar roles at Everton, Chelsea and Leeds United.

Birch departed in October and by the end of the month there was a change at the top with former Hull City owner Adam Pearson taking over as executive chairman, with previous incumbent Peter Gadsby remaining on the board of directors.

The difficult time continued on the field and there was another change in the managerial hotseat at the end of November.

Billy Davies left his position following a meeting with Adam Pearson, where it was decided that it was "mutually in the best interests of both parties" for Davies to depart.

The hot-seat wasn't vacant for long however as just two days later, in came former Bradford City, Sheffield Wednesday and Wigan Athletic boss Paul Jewell.

Jewell took unfancied Bradford and Wigan to the Premier League and kept them there, while also guiding Wigan to the Carling Cup final.

His first game in charge was a gut-wrenching 1-0 defeat at Sunderland, thanks to a stoppage-time winner for the hosts, and two months into his tenure Jewell hadn't tasted a Premier League victory.

That two-month mark was recognised with another change at the top - and it was possibly the most dramatic in the club's history.

In came United States-based General Sports and Entertainment as the club's new owners after agreeing an investment partnership that aims to establish the Rams as a Premier League force of the future.

The cash and management expertise invested in the club was in the form of cash, not debt, and the financial future of the club was under-pinned.

Roger Faulkner, Paul Jewell, Andy Appleby, Adam Pearson and Tom Glick. Picture by Action Images/Matthew Childs

It all meant a new look to the board made up of Andy Appleby (chairman of GSE and club chairman), Lionel Margolick (vice-chairman of GSE and club vice-chairman), Tom Glick (club president and chief executive), Adam Pearson (chairman of football), Martin Ridgeway (company secretary and vice-president, finance), John Vicars (vice-president, operations), Timothy Hinchey (vice-president, commercial), and non-executive directors Peter Gadsby, Don Amott and Roger Faulkner.

But a miraculous escape couldn't be pulled off and the Rams' relegation was finally confirmed on March 29, following a 2-2 draw at home to Fulham coupled with Birmingham City's 3-1 win over Manchester City.

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