Derbyshire F.C., often referred to as Derby F.C., was an English

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

club, based at the Derbyshire County Cricket Ground in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

History

The Derbyshire club was founded in 1871 and was originally the representative side of the

Derbyshire Football Association The Derbyshire County Football Association, simply known as the Derbyshire FA, is the governing body of football in the county of Derbyshire, England. The Derbyshire FA runs a number of cups at different levels for teams all across Derbyshire. A ...

, representing a dozen Derbyshire sides and playing under

Sheffield rules The Sheffield Rules was a code of football devised and played in the English city of Sheffield between 1858 and 1877. The rules were initially created and revised by Sheffield Football Club, with responsibility for the laws passing to the S ...

as well as Association laws. Until 1878 the Derbyshire club was still claiming to have an available membership of 200, but as more sides arose in the county, and the Sheffield rules merged with Association rules, there was less need for a representative side; indeed the Derbyshire side failed to turn up for a fixture with the Sheffield FA in February 1878. By the 1878–79 season the club only had 30 members, suggesting it had become a "regular" club, using the Derbyshire name. The club first entered the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

after this transition, in 1880-81, playing

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is als ...

in the first round. At half-time Derby were 4–1 up, and although Notts scored twice in the second half, it appeared Derby had won through to the second round. However, with the score at 4–2, Notts claimed to have scored a goal, which the umpire disallowed as having previously allowed a Derby appeal that the ball had gone out of play. As the referee's decision was not final at the time, Notts appealed to the FA that the goal was a good one, and the

Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

allowed the appeal, thus ordering a replay. Notts won the replay 4–2, after 15 minutes of extra time, and Derby appealed the result on the basis that Derby had a goal disallowed during normal time that would have won them the match; this time the FA turned down the appeal.

Derby Town

Most of the Derbyshire players from 1880 to 1881, including club secretary W. Shaw, played for a club named Derby Town the next season; it is unclear whether this is the same club as Derbyshire under a new name, or a new club, as the "Derby" name is still recorded in the Alcock yearbook as the same club as in 1880–81. Derby Town's one FA Cup appearance was a 4–1 defeat to

Small Heath Alliance Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

in the first round in 1881-82. By 1884, the

county cricket club Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...

had formed a new

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...

, and Derby Town was absorbed into the new club as a reserve outfit.

Colours

The club wore white until 1875–76, then scarlet and white (probably in hoops) until 1878–79. For its FA Cup appearances the club wore black shirts.

Grounds

The club played at the Derbyshire cricket ground, then known as the South Derbyshire ground.

References

Defunct football clubs in England Association football clubs established in 1871 {{England-footyclub-defunct-stub