Derby County
Football Club Women
Football Club Women
Formation 1978 ★ Established 1990
Duncan Gibb
Chief Executive Officer
The Club's history before the appointment of Duncan Gibb
1978
In 1978, the club that is now Derby County Football Club Women was first formed, under the name of Burton Wanderers Women Football Club, playing their home games on a field in Shobnall. It was the brainchild of Club co-founder's Sheila Rollinson and Beth Reid, who's husbands Phil and Bob were both Manager and Secretary respectively. After one year they joined the Nottingham League, as there was no national league, and due to shortages they often fielded 11 to 13 year olds alongside adults, against teams to make up numbers, including the likes of Doncaster Rovers Belles who fielded most of the England players at the time.
1985/1990
In 1985 Burton received their first sponsorship by the Beacon Hotel, in Burton, on condition that they also changed their name to Beacon Wanderers Women Football Club. Accordingly they duly obliged, but because the Club no longer had the name Burton in its title, they moved to Derby where the competition was greater, and in 1990 Beacon were approached by Derby County's newly formed Community Department Manager John Jarman. From that meeting it was agreed that Burton Wanderers, who had become Beacon Wanderers, would now become Derby County Ladies Football Club, and officially associate themselves with Derby County Football Club.
1997/2013
Derby County's first Chairman was Raffaele Long, who was appointed in 1997, and marked the start of a long association with the Club. However following a tenure of 16 years he eventually relinquished his post in 2013, following a very poor performance in the FA Women's Northern Premier League, and an unsuccessful application to gain entrance to the newly formed Women's Super League in 2013-2014.
2013-2014
The Club started the season without a Chairman, so on the back of the failed WSL bid, the Club's Committee decided to look towards a more commercially and business focused model and sought to appoint a new figurehead to lead the club in addressing the shortcomings that had been identified within the failed bid.
Duncan Gibb, an experienced Commercial Manager within the leisure and sport industry, took up an offer to join the Club as its then Chairman in September 2013. Gibb moved quickly to address two identified weaknesses, namely a lack of external investment and a poor profile. He secured Club Partners (sponsors) for each of DCLFC's 10 sides before turning his attention to the Club's profile and securing a dedicated slot for the club on BBC Radio Derby's Thursday evening Sportscene programme. On the back of this, dedicated weekly club columns in both the Derby Telegraph and Burton Mail were secured following meetings with the respective paper's Editors. Gibb's first appointment was John Griffiths in a newly created Director of Football role that saw him introduce a playing philosophy throughout the Club, and in essence run the football side of things, while Gibb looked to address the off-field shortcomings found within the previous WSL bid.
1978
In 1978, the club that is now Derby County Football Club Women was first formed, under the name of Burton Wanderers Women Football Club, playing their home games on a field in Shobnall. It was the brainchild of Club co-founder's Sheila Rollinson and Beth Reid, who's husbands Phil and Bob were both Manager and Secretary respectively. After one year they joined the Nottingham League, as there was no national league, and due to shortages they often fielded 11 to 13 year olds alongside adults, against teams to make up numbers, including the likes of Doncaster Rovers Belles who fielded most of the England players at the time.
1985/1990
In 1985 Burton received their first sponsorship by the Beacon Hotel, in Burton, on condition that they also changed their name to Beacon Wanderers Women Football Club. Accordingly they duly obliged, but because the Club no longer had the name Burton in its title, they moved to Derby where the competition was greater, and in 1990 Beacon were approached by Derby County's newly formed Community Department Manager John Jarman. From that meeting it was agreed that Burton Wanderers, who had become Beacon Wanderers, would now become Derby County Ladies Football Club, and officially associate themselves with Derby County Football Club.
1997/2013
Derby County's first Chairman was Raffaele Long, who was appointed in 1997, and marked the start of a long association with the Club. However following a tenure of 16 years he eventually relinquished his post in 2013, following a very poor performance in the FA Women's Northern Premier League, and an unsuccessful application to gain entrance to the newly formed Women's Super League in 2013-2014.
2013-2014
The Club started the season without a Chairman, so on the back of the failed WSL bid, the Club's Committee decided to look towards a more commercially and business focused model and sought to appoint a new figurehead to lead the club in addressing the shortcomings that had been identified within the failed bid.
Duncan Gibb, an experienced Commercial Manager within the leisure and sport industry, took up an offer to join the Club as its then Chairman in September 2013. Gibb moved quickly to address two identified weaknesses, namely a lack of external investment and a poor profile. He secured Club Partners (sponsors) for each of DCLFC's 10 sides before turning his attention to the Club's profile and securing a dedicated slot for the club on BBC Radio Derby's Thursday evening Sportscene programme. On the back of this, dedicated weekly club columns in both the Derby Telegraph and Burton Mail were secured following meetings with the respective paper's Editors. Gibb's first appointment was John Griffiths in a newly created Director of Football role that saw him introduce a playing philosophy throughout the Club, and in essence run the football side of things, while Gibb looked to address the off-field shortcomings found within the previous WSL bid.
GIBBO'S MEMOIRS
by Andy Moore | Media Director | May 2020
Offering a compelling and insightful look behind the scenes, the Derby County Chief Executive Officer reveals his unconventional introduction to Derby County, and his initial findings when he joined as the then Chairman. In Part 2 He continues to reflect upon increasing the clubs profile, a desire to win things in order to get noticed, a fantastic appointment, and the Club's initial time at Borrowash Victoria FC. In Part 3 he then reflects on the clubs departure from Borrowash, the more amusing things that happened during the clubs time there and the final cornerstones that saw the clubs initial five-year plan delivered. Following this he talks about the clubs second five year plan in Part 4. The exciting links with Derby University, the long term future with Mickleover FC and the intrinsic and positive links with the Derby County Community Trust. In Part 5 he talks about the appointment and his relationship with each of the clubs first team managers under his tenure. Then in Part 6 he continues to reflect on why the club operates an ‘open book’ policy on its ambitions and targets each season, his work with other clubs and relationships within the game. Finally in Part 7 he completes the interview by reflecting back of the highs, lows and most humorous moments that he has experienced during his tenure.
[Part 1] I Can See A Floodlight From My Bedroom
Before we start on all matters Derby, can we ask you a personal question, albeit a quirky one? Can you clear up the ‘Australia and Wales thing’ please, as to most people you sound like a southerner?
“Ha ha, I knew that might be coming! In short I was born and initially raised in Adelaide, South Australia and have always supported them, regardless of whether its football, cricket or tiddlywinks! The family moved to England and I spent the majority of what you’d call my growing up years in Milton Keynes and then Cambridgeshire. The ‘Welsh thing’ comes on the back of my re-locating to Newport for work. My son Jordan grew up there from being a baby and both he and his brother quickly developed strong Welsh accents, so things both at work, socially and in the home felt Welsh.
Socially and at work the locals quickly took to me because I didn’t support England, and I took to them because it’s simply impossible to live in Wales and not get hooked into the Welsh culture. The passion and pride of the people kind of sucks you in. Friends that I’ve since taken back there quickly understand it, and learning an element of the language whilst I was there has certainly proved handy on occasion!”
Thanks for clearing that up. So onto matters Derby County and where did your obvious passion and love for the club come from, that was to eventually led you to the clubs women’s arm?
It all started in 1983, when I travelled up from my Cambridgeshire home to meet up with a mate whose family had moved down there from this place called Derby a few years before, only to move back. I was a Peterborough United fan at the time; however on the back of him taking me to Rams home game with Leeds United I was absolutely hooked on both the club and the city, and I never looked back since. I spent the next 20+ years following the club both casually and then as a season ticket holder from Cambridgeshire and South Wales, before eventually moving to the city in 2005. As one of my mates in Peterborough has since said “Gibbo, you were always destined to live in Derby!”
Isn’t there a funny story about the club and its floodlights?
(Laughs). I used to travel up from Cambridgeshire with another Derby fan called Ian Roberts, or Pug as he was better known to all. You know what young people are like in terms of dreaming, and one day I said to him as we were walking down Cambridge Street to the old Baseball Ground, “Puggy, one day we won’t have to make this long trip, as I’m going to buy a house up here that will be that close to the ground that you’ll be able to see it.”
That was around 1991 time; however fast forward 30 years and Jacqui (my wife) and I were moving furniture into our new house on City Point. The main bedroom is on the third floor and we were moving this chest of draws into place when I happen to look out of the window and spot the very top of one of the floodlights on Pride Park Stadium! I literally stopped in my tracks, told Jacqui the story and then went and rang Pug Roberts…..we both had a good laugh at the irony!
“Ha ha, I knew that might be coming! In short I was born and initially raised in Adelaide, South Australia and have always supported them, regardless of whether its football, cricket or tiddlywinks! The family moved to England and I spent the majority of what you’d call my growing up years in Milton Keynes and then Cambridgeshire. The ‘Welsh thing’ comes on the back of my re-locating to Newport for work. My son Jordan grew up there from being a baby and both he and his brother quickly developed strong Welsh accents, so things both at work, socially and in the home felt Welsh.
Socially and at work the locals quickly took to me because I didn’t support England, and I took to them because it’s simply impossible to live in Wales and not get hooked into the Welsh culture. The passion and pride of the people kind of sucks you in. Friends that I’ve since taken back there quickly understand it, and learning an element of the language whilst I was there has certainly proved handy on occasion!”
Thanks for clearing that up. So onto matters Derby County and where did your obvious passion and love for the club come from, that was to eventually led you to the clubs women’s arm?
It all started in 1983, when I travelled up from my Cambridgeshire home to meet up with a mate whose family had moved down there from this place called Derby a few years before, only to move back. I was a Peterborough United fan at the time; however on the back of him taking me to Rams home game with Leeds United I was absolutely hooked on both the club and the city, and I never looked back since. I spent the next 20+ years following the club both casually and then as a season ticket holder from Cambridgeshire and South Wales, before eventually moving to the city in 2005. As one of my mates in Peterborough has since said “Gibbo, you were always destined to live in Derby!”
Isn’t there a funny story about the club and its floodlights?
(Laughs). I used to travel up from Cambridgeshire with another Derby fan called Ian Roberts, or Pug as he was better known to all. You know what young people are like in terms of dreaming, and one day I said to him as we were walking down Cambridge Street to the old Baseball Ground, “Puggy, one day we won’t have to make this long trip, as I’m going to buy a house up here that will be that close to the ground that you’ll be able to see it.”
That was around 1991 time; however fast forward 30 years and Jacqui (my wife) and I were moving furniture into our new house on City Point. The main bedroom is on the third floor and we were moving this chest of draws into place when I happen to look out of the window and spot the very top of one of the floodlights on Pride Park Stadium! I literally stopped in my tracks, told Jacqui the story and then went and rang Pug Roberts…..we both had a good laugh at the irony!
Before we start on all matters Derby, can we ask you a personal question, albeit a quirky one? Can you clear up the ‘Australia and Wales thing’ please, as to most people you sound like a southerner?
“Ha ha, I knew that might be coming! In short I was born and initially raised in Adelaide, South Australia and have always supported them, regardless of whether its football, cricket or tiddlywinks! The family moved to England and I spent the majority of what you’d call my growing up years in Milton Keynes and then Cambridgeshire. The ‘Welsh thing’ comes on the back of my re-locating to Newport for work. My son Jordan grew up there from being a baby and both he and his brother quickly developed strong Welsh accents, so things both at work, socially and in the home felt Welsh.
Socially and at work the locals quickly took to me because I didn’t support England, and I took to them because it’s simply impossible to live in Wales and not get hooked into the Welsh culture. The passion and pride of the people kind of sucks you in. Friends that I’ve since taken back there quickly understand it, and learning an element of the language whilst I was there has certainly proved handy on occasion!”
Thanks for clearing that up. So onto matters Derby County and where did your obvious passion and love for the club come from, that was to eventually led you to the clubs women’s arm?
It all started in 1983, when I travelled up from my Cambridgeshire home to meet up with a mate whose family had moved down there from this place called Derby a few years before, only to move back. I was a Peterborough United fan at the time; however on the back of him taking me to Rams home game with Leeds United I was absolutely hooked on both the club and the city, and I never looked back since. I spent the next 20+ years following the club both casually and then as a season ticket holder from Cambridgeshire and South Wales, before eventually moving to the city in 2005. As one of my mates in Peterborough has since said “Gibbo, you were always destined to live in Derby!”
Isn’t there a funny story about the club and its floodlights?
(Laughs). I used to travel up from Cambridgeshire with another Derby fan called Ian Roberts, or Pug as he was better known to all. You know what young people are like in terms of dreaming, and one day I said to him as we were walking down Cambridge Street to the old Baseball Ground, “Puggy, one day we won’t have to make this long trip, as I’m going to buy a house up here that will be that close to the ground that you’ll be able to see it.”
That was around 1991 time; however fast forward 30 years and Jacqui (my wife) and I were moving furniture into our new house on City Point. The main bedroom is on the third floor and we were moving this chest of draws into place when I happen to look out of the window and spot the very top of one of the floodlights on Pride Park Stadium! I literally stopped in my tracks, told Jacqui the story and then went and rang Pug Roberts…..we both had a good laugh at the irony!
“Ha ha, I knew that might be coming! In short I was born and initially raised in Adelaide, South Australia and have always supported them, regardless of whether its football, cricket or tiddlywinks! The family moved to England and I spent the majority of what you’d call my growing up years in Milton Keynes and then Cambridgeshire. The ‘Welsh thing’ comes on the back of my re-locating to Newport for work. My son Jordan grew up there from being a baby and both he and his brother quickly developed strong Welsh accents, so things both at work, socially and in the home felt Welsh.
Socially and at work the locals quickly took to me because I didn’t support England, and I took to them because it’s simply impossible to live in Wales and not get hooked into the Welsh culture. The passion and pride of the people kind of sucks you in. Friends that I’ve since taken back there quickly understand it, and learning an element of the language whilst I was there has certainly proved handy on occasion!”
Thanks for clearing that up. So onto matters Derby County and where did your obvious passion and love for the club come from, that was to eventually led you to the clubs women’s arm?
It all started in 1983, when I travelled up from my Cambridgeshire home to meet up with a mate whose family had moved down there from this place called Derby a few years before, only to move back. I was a Peterborough United fan at the time; however on the back of him taking me to Rams home game with Leeds United I was absolutely hooked on both the club and the city, and I never looked back since. I spent the next 20+ years following the club both casually and then as a season ticket holder from Cambridgeshire and South Wales, before eventually moving to the city in 2005. As one of my mates in Peterborough has since said “Gibbo, you were always destined to live in Derby!”
Isn’t there a funny story about the club and its floodlights?
(Laughs). I used to travel up from Cambridgeshire with another Derby fan called Ian Roberts, or Pug as he was better known to all. You know what young people are like in terms of dreaming, and one day I said to him as we were walking down Cambridge Street to the old Baseball Ground, “Puggy, one day we won’t have to make this long trip, as I’m going to buy a house up here that will be that close to the ground that you’ll be able to see it.”
That was around 1991 time; however fast forward 30 years and Jacqui (my wife) and I were moving furniture into our new house on City Point. The main bedroom is on the third floor and we were moving this chest of draws into place when I happen to look out of the window and spot the very top of one of the floodlights on Pride Park Stadium! I literally stopped in my tracks, told Jacqui the story and then went and rang Pug Roberts…..we both had a good laugh at the irony!
So eight years after you move to the city, and your sat in the players’ lounge at Pride Park Stadium discussing taking over the clubs women’s team. How did that come about?
From nowhere is the answer. I basically got a call from a friend of mine Melissa, whose daughter Becca Lombard-Thompson was captain of the clubs Reserves squad at the time. I say call; however it only lasted about ten seconds. I answered and this voice went “Get a copy of today’s Derby Telegraph Gibbo and read the small piece on the back page. It’s got your name written all over it. Bye!” I duly did and saw a small article that said that Derby County Ladies FC were on the lookout for a new chairman. I knew hardly anything of the female game; however I rang this lady called Sheila Rollinson, who I now know as the clubs founder and heartbeat, and the next thing I know I’m sat in the players’ lounge at Pride Park Stadium discussing the role with a committee of club parent volunteers.
A few days later I’m in a hotel room in Whitby on a Friday night preparing to go out and my phone rings with Sheila on the end of it. Ten minutes later I turned to my wife Jacqui and said “I’m not sure how this will pan out love, but I’m the new Chairman of Derby County Ladies!”
As the clubs new chairman what were your initial impressions and what things did you subsequently look to change during that first year?
“After a week the enormity of the task in hand hit me. The club had something like eight teams, but didn’t have a single sponsor, whilst its media footprint was limited to an odd periodic line in the Derby Telegraph, meaning that it had little or no profile. On top of that the clubs training facilities at senior level were woeful and the relationship with the main club was at best tepid. What it did have however, were some truly incredible people working both behind the scenes. In my eyes the sum part of those people was more important than the things that weren’t in place.
I can remember telling the clubs then committee that we needed a five year plan, that would see us aim to significantly raise the clubs profile, secure large levels of sponsorship and external investment, develop and enhance the clubs then junior section, improve our training and playing facilities and seek to build a much enhanced relationship with the main. It was clearly a tall order, and I can remember summarising it by saying that we’d need to migrate the clubs whole structure to one in keeping with a male club, which would mean that we’d need to bring in new people in order to realise those ambitions. Thankfully it seemed to strike a chord and from that point on I don’t think we’ve ever looked back.
From nowhere is the answer. I basically got a call from a friend of mine Melissa, whose daughter Becca Lombard-Thompson was captain of the clubs Reserves squad at the time. I say call; however it only lasted about ten seconds. I answered and this voice went “Get a copy of today’s Derby Telegraph Gibbo and read the small piece on the back page. It’s got your name written all over it. Bye!” I duly did and saw a small article that said that Derby County Ladies FC were on the lookout for a new chairman. I knew hardly anything of the female game; however I rang this lady called Sheila Rollinson, who I now know as the clubs founder and heartbeat, and the next thing I know I’m sat in the players’ lounge at Pride Park Stadium discussing the role with a committee of club parent volunteers.
A few days later I’m in a hotel room in Whitby on a Friday night preparing to go out and my phone rings with Sheila on the end of it. Ten minutes later I turned to my wife Jacqui and said “I’m not sure how this will pan out love, but I’m the new Chairman of Derby County Ladies!”
As the clubs new chairman what were your initial impressions and what things did you subsequently look to change during that first year?
“After a week the enormity of the task in hand hit me. The club had something like eight teams, but didn’t have a single sponsor, whilst its media footprint was limited to an odd periodic line in the Derby Telegraph, meaning that it had little or no profile. On top of that the clubs training facilities at senior level were woeful and the relationship with the main club was at best tepid. What it did have however, were some truly incredible people working both behind the scenes. In my eyes the sum part of those people was more important than the things that weren’t in place.
I can remember telling the clubs then committee that we needed a five year plan, that would see us aim to significantly raise the clubs profile, secure large levels of sponsorship and external investment, develop and enhance the clubs then junior section, improve our training and playing facilities and seek to build a much enhanced relationship with the main. It was clearly a tall order, and I can remember summarising it by saying that we’d need to migrate the clubs whole structure to one in keeping with a male club, which would mean that we’d need to bring in new people in order to realise those ambitions. Thankfully it seemed to strike a chord and from that point on I don’t think we’ve ever looked back.
Taking the first of those objectives ‘profile’, how did you picture that and what did you initially do in order to change it for the better?
That one was quite easy in terms of the principals. I said we needed to improve our media footprint, in line with that we needed to put some big ticket items on the table that made Derby fans sit up and go “We’ve got a women’s team”. We also needed to win things and to then shout about them. Through a contact, I quickly managed to secure us half a page of editorial in the Derby Telegraph at weekends and I convinced BBC Radio Derby to give us a dedicated programme slot through which to talk about and promote the club. That gave us a voice; however we needed something to talk about.
They say nothing venture, nothing gained, so I made contact with the biggest club in the game, Arsenal and cheekily asked club legend Faye White if they’d be so kind as to play us in a friendly. To my surprise she agreed, before saying that she was sure they could find a slot in their schedule at their Boreham-Wood FC home ground. At that point I basically said “I don’t want you to think that we are pushing our luck here Faye; however I need you to come to Derby and ideally with your full strength side!” Amazingly she agreed to both requests.
At the time our average gate was about 20 people and the obligatory dog; however 500 people turned up on a night when the men’s team were playing just up the road at Rotherham and they weren’t to be disappointed, as Arsenal fielded a team of household names including Casey Stoney, Kelly Smith, Jordan Nobbs and Rachel Yankey to name but a few. I can remember our recently appointed Technical Director, John Griffiths (now England U17 Manager) turning to me just before kick-off, shaking his head and saying “I still not quite sure how you’ve done this fella; however there are over 600 England caps on Borrowash Victoria’s pitch right now!”
A year later we got Arsenal to come back, and two weeks later league champions Liverpool. Over the two games over 1,000 supporters crammed into Borrowash for two memorable nights which really got people, not just locally, but within the women’s game to sit up and go “there’s something special happening at Derby County Ladies”. I can vividly recall Kelly Smith coming up to me in the bar after the Arsenal game and saying “Where an earth have all these fans come from? We played Chelsea on Sunday and I don’t think there were this many there!”
The Liverpool game sticks in my mind for two reasons. Firstly they had heaps of away supporters there, with quite a few sporting female player names on their tops. This would resonate with me years later in terms of us achieving our ‘profile’ ambitions, when the same things started to happen at our games. The other thing was Liverpool manager Matt Beard (who’d I’d arranged the game with) telling me prior to kick off that he’d be fielding a full strength team and they would be “going for it full tilt” as he wanted his players in a competitive mindset for the weekends WSL fixture. The look on our manager Stuart Wilson’s face was priceless when I told him. I didn’t need to read minds to know what he was thinking!
That one was quite easy in terms of the principals. I said we needed to improve our media footprint, in line with that we needed to put some big ticket items on the table that made Derby fans sit up and go “We’ve got a women’s team”. We also needed to win things and to then shout about them. Through a contact, I quickly managed to secure us half a page of editorial in the Derby Telegraph at weekends and I convinced BBC Radio Derby to give us a dedicated programme slot through which to talk about and promote the club. That gave us a voice; however we needed something to talk about.
They say nothing venture, nothing gained, so I made contact with the biggest club in the game, Arsenal and cheekily asked club legend Faye White if they’d be so kind as to play us in a friendly. To my surprise she agreed, before saying that she was sure they could find a slot in their schedule at their Boreham-Wood FC home ground. At that point I basically said “I don’t want you to think that we are pushing our luck here Faye; however I need you to come to Derby and ideally with your full strength side!” Amazingly she agreed to both requests.
At the time our average gate was about 20 people and the obligatory dog; however 500 people turned up on a night when the men’s team were playing just up the road at Rotherham and they weren’t to be disappointed, as Arsenal fielded a team of household names including Casey Stoney, Kelly Smith, Jordan Nobbs and Rachel Yankey to name but a few. I can remember our recently appointed Technical Director, John Griffiths (now England U17 Manager) turning to me just before kick-off, shaking his head and saying “I still not quite sure how you’ve done this fella; however there are over 600 England caps on Borrowash Victoria’s pitch right now!”
A year later we got Arsenal to come back, and two weeks later league champions Liverpool. Over the two games over 1,000 supporters crammed into Borrowash for two memorable nights which really got people, not just locally, but within the women’s game to sit up and go “there’s something special happening at Derby County Ladies”. I can vividly recall Kelly Smith coming up to me in the bar after the Arsenal game and saying “Where an earth have all these fans come from? We played Chelsea on Sunday and I don’t think there were this many there!”
The Liverpool game sticks in my mind for two reasons. Firstly they had heaps of away supporters there, with quite a few sporting female player names on their tops. This would resonate with me years later in terms of us achieving our ‘profile’ ambitions, when the same things started to happen at our games. The other thing was Liverpool manager Matt Beard (who’d I’d arranged the game with) telling me prior to kick off that he’d be fielding a full strength team and they would be “going for it full tilt” as he wanted his players in a competitive mindset for the weekends WSL fixture. The look on our manager Stuart Wilson’s face was priceless when I told him. I didn’t need to read minds to know what he was thinking!
[Part 2] I Literally Had To Rub My Eyes
The clubs media footprint in terms of the website and social media accounts is a world away from what it was a few years back. How did that happen?
When I first joined the club a lovely chap called Brett Burnton oversaw this side of things. He’d done a great job and on the back of providing him with improved material, he definitely took things to the next level; however what was needed was a complete overhaul and someone with the time to commit to becoming a Media Director, in keeping with our vision of an Operational Board of Directors taking over from a committee type structure. Brett was more than happy to carry on until we found such a person, which was hugely invaluable; however like many things in life, finding the right person happened by chance, which in this case was my being asked to do an interview with a Masters Sports Journalism Student from Staffordshire University called Andy Moore. We’ve since reflected on that first meeting many times, with Andy rather nicely saying that he was encapsulated by my passion and plans for the club, whilst in him I saw someone who having turned to studying and a change of career later than most, was keen to make his media mark.
Having got a feel for his skill set and own ambitions, we soon had the clubs first Media Director and I think it fair to say that arguably the best website in the National League, and the fastest growing twitter account in the league with over 10,000 followers, point towards an appointment well made!
When I first joined the club a lovely chap called Brett Burnton oversaw this side of things. He’d done a great job and on the back of providing him with improved material, he definitely took things to the next level; however what was needed was a complete overhaul and someone with the time to commit to becoming a Media Director, in keeping with our vision of an Operational Board of Directors taking over from a committee type structure. Brett was more than happy to carry on until we found such a person, which was hugely invaluable; however like many things in life, finding the right person happened by chance, which in this case was my being asked to do an interview with a Masters Sports Journalism Student from Staffordshire University called Andy Moore. We’ve since reflected on that first meeting many times, with Andy rather nicely saying that he was encapsulated by my passion and plans for the club, whilst in him I saw someone who having turned to studying and a change of career later than most, was keen to make his media mark.
Having got a feel for his skill set and own ambitions, we soon had the clubs first Media Director and I think it fair to say that arguably the best website in the National League, and the fastest growing twitter account in the league with over 10,000 followers, point towards an appointment well made!
You mention ‘winning things’ as being integral within building the clubs profile?
It’s been a key facet in so many ways. Basically a club can really get itself noticed if it wins awards and trophies and the bigger the stage or award, the bigger the interest. Initially it was all about getting people within the club recognised for the work that they’d done over many years. On the back of that; we knew that we’d made significant strides on a variety of fronts as a club, and through the network that is football other clubs and some quite high profile people within the game were saying a lot of very complementary things about us. We therefore knew that we were in with a sniff of winning some major personal and club awards; however I don’t think any of us could have predicted how well things were going to turn out!
That’s something of an understatement. For the benefit of our readers can you confirm what the club won to date, and do you believe there is scope for more success?
In terms of individual success, Sheila Rollinson our club secretary was named winner of the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Women’s Football’ category at the 2014 annual Women’s FA Awards, whilst Dave Cholerton our Academy Director was narrowly pipped by former England manager, Hope Powell to the same award in 2017. When you look at the people involved in female football those are incredible achievements. Club wise we were named Derbyshire County FA ‘Club of the Year’ in 2014, Derby City ‘Club of the Year’ in 2017 and Derby Telegraph ‘Club of the Year’ in 2017. The former two are city based, whilst the latter is a county wide award; however we went one better in both 2015 and 2018 when we were named ‘Club of the Year’ at the Women’s FA Awards. In winning it twice, we became and still are the only club in the female game to achieve that, which is something we are hugely proud of. As I said at the clubs 2018 end of season awards ‘recognition started locally, grew to regional level and then went on to us being acclaimed on the national stage’.
In terms of sponsorship, how difficult was it to attract investors, given that the season had already started when you joined the club and you had none at the time?
The key was the profile. Once local people and local businesses started to read and hear about us, it made it so much easier to get in front of them and get them to buy into what we were doing. Our strategy was simple, start low in terms of package price, and provide them with a tangible return on their investment, then increase the package prices year on year based on the age old golden rule of business ‘supply and demand’. Within three weeks every one of our teams from the U11’s upwards was sponsored, and again things have never really looked back. This season every one of our 13 squads is sponsored, every one of our first team players and staff are sponsored and in addition to that we have a main club, training attire and media sponsor. The dynamics remain unaltered; it’s just the numbers that have changed.
It’s been a key facet in so many ways. Basically a club can really get itself noticed if it wins awards and trophies and the bigger the stage or award, the bigger the interest. Initially it was all about getting people within the club recognised for the work that they’d done over many years. On the back of that; we knew that we’d made significant strides on a variety of fronts as a club, and through the network that is football other clubs and some quite high profile people within the game were saying a lot of very complementary things about us. We therefore knew that we were in with a sniff of winning some major personal and club awards; however I don’t think any of us could have predicted how well things were going to turn out!
That’s something of an understatement. For the benefit of our readers can you confirm what the club won to date, and do you believe there is scope for more success?
In terms of individual success, Sheila Rollinson our club secretary was named winner of the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Women’s Football’ category at the 2014 annual Women’s FA Awards, whilst Dave Cholerton our Academy Director was narrowly pipped by former England manager, Hope Powell to the same award in 2017. When you look at the people involved in female football those are incredible achievements. Club wise we were named Derbyshire County FA ‘Club of the Year’ in 2014, Derby City ‘Club of the Year’ in 2017 and Derby Telegraph ‘Club of the Year’ in 2017. The former two are city based, whilst the latter is a county wide award; however we went one better in both 2015 and 2018 when we were named ‘Club of the Year’ at the Women’s FA Awards. In winning it twice, we became and still are the only club in the female game to achieve that, which is something we are hugely proud of. As I said at the clubs 2018 end of season awards ‘recognition started locally, grew to regional level and then went on to us being acclaimed on the national stage’.
In terms of sponsorship, how difficult was it to attract investors, given that the season had already started when you joined the club and you had none at the time?
The key was the profile. Once local people and local businesses started to read and hear about us, it made it so much easier to get in front of them and get them to buy into what we were doing. Our strategy was simple, start low in terms of package price, and provide them with a tangible return on their investment, then increase the package prices year on year based on the age old golden rule of business ‘supply and demand’. Within three weeks every one of our teams from the U11’s upwards was sponsored, and again things have never really looked back. This season every one of our 13 squads is sponsored, every one of our first team players and staff are sponsored and in addition to that we have a main club, training attire and media sponsor. The dynamics remain unaltered; it’s just the numbers that have changed.
The next corner of the plan focused on the clubs junior section as it was then. What were the challenges at the time as you and the committee saw them, and what was the clubs ambition in terms of addressing them?
Without question the biggest issue we had was that we had all these teams; however they were operating in a ‘silo mentality’. By that I mean that we basically had eight clubs operating under the umbrella of one club, with each pretty much doing their own thing. In addition to that the words ‘Junior Section’ very much pointed to an amateur set up, whereas in order to retain and attract players we needed to look and feel like a top end club. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that we needed a figure head to ultimately bring the squads beneath senior level together into a cohesive unit and production line. We also needed a change of name for the set up, that reflected our ambitions.
That man was Dave Cholerton; however there is quite an amusing story behind it?
At the time our Technical Director, John Griffiths only wanted a maximum of two coaches per squad. The clubs then U15’s were about to move up a level; however John already had a coach lined up to lead the U16’s, so advised me that one of the two U15’s coaches would need to stand down. In my view he needed to have those conversations given his role; however he asked me to do it. I’m not sure if he didn’t fancy having to deal with potential confrontation; however I prefer to call it ’divine intervention’, as when I sat down and looked at the two coaches, in one of them, Dave Cholerton I saw a coach that had coached at every level within the club, carried himself diligently and diplomatically, at the same time as not being one to shy away from tough decisions and conversations.
The cost of an evening meal and two hours of my time later, and the club had its first ever Academy Director, as we’d agreed in principal (subject to committee approval) to change the name of the Junior Section to Academy, and equally importantly Dave had agreed to lead it. I’ve been quoted on this on numerous occasions in the media; however I’m still happy to say that whilst I like to think that I’ve made some great calls in terms of appointments in both my work career and time at Derby, Dave Cholerton as Academy Director is without question up there with the best that I’ve made.
What have been the key academy successes?
Commitments elsewhere mean that I don’t get down to anywhere near as many Academy training sessions or games as I’d like to; however when I do, I can’t put into words the pride that I feel when I see the synergy between squads and coaches, and in more recent times the interaction between Academy teams and the first team squad. We’ve just implemented a revised structure that will intrinsically link with the RTC that will very shortly be announced, and I can only see things getting better. It’s certainly a far cry from the ‘silo mentality’ that was in situ back in 2013/14.
Without question the biggest issue we had was that we had all these teams; however they were operating in a ‘silo mentality’. By that I mean that we basically had eight clubs operating under the umbrella of one club, with each pretty much doing their own thing. In addition to that the words ‘Junior Section’ very much pointed to an amateur set up, whereas in order to retain and attract players we needed to look and feel like a top end club. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that we needed a figure head to ultimately bring the squads beneath senior level together into a cohesive unit and production line. We also needed a change of name for the set up, that reflected our ambitions.
That man was Dave Cholerton; however there is quite an amusing story behind it?
At the time our Technical Director, John Griffiths only wanted a maximum of two coaches per squad. The clubs then U15’s were about to move up a level; however John already had a coach lined up to lead the U16’s, so advised me that one of the two U15’s coaches would need to stand down. In my view he needed to have those conversations given his role; however he asked me to do it. I’m not sure if he didn’t fancy having to deal with potential confrontation; however I prefer to call it ’divine intervention’, as when I sat down and looked at the two coaches, in one of them, Dave Cholerton I saw a coach that had coached at every level within the club, carried himself diligently and diplomatically, at the same time as not being one to shy away from tough decisions and conversations.
The cost of an evening meal and two hours of my time later, and the club had its first ever Academy Director, as we’d agreed in principal (subject to committee approval) to change the name of the Junior Section to Academy, and equally importantly Dave had agreed to lead it. I’ve been quoted on this on numerous occasions in the media; however I’m still happy to say that whilst I like to think that I’ve made some great calls in terms of appointments in both my work career and time at Derby, Dave Cholerton as Academy Director is without question up there with the best that I’ve made.
What have been the key academy successes?
Commitments elsewhere mean that I don’t get down to anywhere near as many Academy training sessions or games as I’d like to; however when I do, I can’t put into words the pride that I feel when I see the synergy between squads and coaches, and in more recent times the interaction between Academy teams and the first team squad. We’ve just implemented a revised structure that will intrinsically link with the RTC that will very shortly be announced, and I can only see things getting better. It’s certainly a far cry from the ‘silo mentality’ that was in situ back in 2013/14.
You say that senior training facilities were dire when you joined the club. Just how bad were they and what did you make of the clubs home ground venue at Borrowash Victoria?
I literally had to rub my eyes and do a double take the first time I witnessed first team training, given that the players were training on 2/3 of a rock hard sand based all weather surface up at Mackworth that had clearly seen better days. In terms of the clubs playing venue, it’s fair to say that Derby as a city isn’t blessed with a great deal of choice. After Pride Park, you’ve only got Mickleover and Borrowash as grounds able to host Tier 3 women’s football.
My view and that of the clubs then committee was that we needed an alternative venue for training and we needed to give Borrowash a leg up in terms of our match day venue, as it was far removed from those that we were travelling to for away fixtures.
So how did the club go about that in terms of the training facility element?
In terms of the training venue side of things we were able to lever a deal with Derby University initially, before eventually securing a stake hold in the facilities at Merril Academy as part of a collaborative partnership strategy, which saw the school and its pupils able to access and formally align to the club, and the club able to secure prime time usage of a brand new 3G pitch, indoor sports hall, fitness gym and physio room that carried club signage. This meant that we’d gone from having the worst training facilities in our league to the best within a three year period. In addition to that we felt that it was important that the players felt at home in these new surroundings; hence our spending the best part of £1,000 on club signage that adorned the reception area, the gym and the 3G pitch.
Moving on to the clubs playing facilities, the club did much to endeavour to improve things at Borrowash Victoria?
Like I said, as a home venue it was probably the worst in Tier 3; however John Griffiths takes a huge amount of credit for the work that he led on in terms of the changing rooms. Over £2,000 was invested in the home changing room including the creation of a physio room; however given the labour time invested, it was more like a £7,500 project. In conjunction with that we facilitated a meeting with the Derbyshire FA and Borrowash with a view to looking at opportunities to improve the ground further. We made it very clear that the ground needed to improve if we were to remain there and with the investment and work that we’d done we were basically saying “here’s a tangible example of what can be achieved”
I literally had to rub my eyes and do a double take the first time I witnessed first team training, given that the players were training on 2/3 of a rock hard sand based all weather surface up at Mackworth that had clearly seen better days. In terms of the clubs playing venue, it’s fair to say that Derby as a city isn’t blessed with a great deal of choice. After Pride Park, you’ve only got Mickleover and Borrowash as grounds able to host Tier 3 women’s football.
My view and that of the clubs then committee was that we needed an alternative venue for training and we needed to give Borrowash a leg up in terms of our match day venue, as it was far removed from those that we were travelling to for away fixtures.
So how did the club go about that in terms of the training facility element?
In terms of the training venue side of things we were able to lever a deal with Derby University initially, before eventually securing a stake hold in the facilities at Merril Academy as part of a collaborative partnership strategy, which saw the school and its pupils able to access and formally align to the club, and the club able to secure prime time usage of a brand new 3G pitch, indoor sports hall, fitness gym and physio room that carried club signage. This meant that we’d gone from having the worst training facilities in our league to the best within a three year period. In addition to that we felt that it was important that the players felt at home in these new surroundings; hence our spending the best part of £1,000 on club signage that adorned the reception area, the gym and the 3G pitch.
Moving on to the clubs playing facilities, the club did much to endeavour to improve things at Borrowash Victoria?
Like I said, as a home venue it was probably the worst in Tier 3; however John Griffiths takes a huge amount of credit for the work that he led on in terms of the changing rooms. Over £2,000 was invested in the home changing room including the creation of a physio room; however given the labour time invested, it was more like a £7,500 project. In conjunction with that we facilitated a meeting with the Derbyshire FA and Borrowash with a view to looking at opportunities to improve the ground further. We made it very clear that the ground needed to improve if we were to remain there and with the investment and work that we’d done we were basically saying “here’s a tangible example of what can be achieved”
[Part 3] A Club Worthy Of Discussion
Within 18 months of the club investing heavily in the ground at Borrowash it had moved to Mickleover Sports. What happened?
In a nutshell, we were progressing on so many fronts that we’d gone from a bit part player to a club being ‘worthy of discussion’ in terms of promotion to Tier 2; however our home venue didn’t meet criteria and it was also impacting on our ability to attract players.
As I’ve touched upon, we’d already invested a significant level of time and money into developing a ground that wasn’t even ours and we’d highlighted potential funding streams; however nothing else was happening. As such we had no option but to re-locate and align ourselves to a club that matched our own ambitions. That club was Mickleover Sports FC.
By all accounts the clubs departure from Borrowash was tinged with an element of disappointment?
I think that’s a fair comment to make, although I’m not keen to dwell on it. All I will say is that Mickloever were keen for us to commence midway through the 2016/17 season; however we said that we wanted to do right by Borrowash and would therefore be guided by them. I personally met with the Borrowash’s chairman and offered him the choice of whether we moved at the mid way point or end of the season. He advised the former, informing me that they had another team keen to play their home matches there. We therefore discussed and agreed the finances, shook hands, and wished each other all the best. A number of weeks after we’d already moved, an invoice for the remainder of the season landed completely out of the blue. That hurt, especially after all that we’d done in terms of investing in the ground and bringing some seriously high profile games to it; however we took the positive from it, in that it justified why we’d been right to align ourselves to Mickleover.
There are a few funny stories about the clubs time at Borrowash. Can you share a couple?
There’s a few that readily spring to mind! The first time we played Arsenal the changing room works had yet to be done, and after the game their players are coming into the portable hut that is the club house and being swamped for autographs; however they were only coming in one at a time and at about five minute intervals. Somebody picked up on this, only to be told that only one of the showers was working in the away changing room! To be honest Arsenal saw the funny side, and were absolutely brilliant about things.
A year later and Arsenal came back, followed by Liverpool two weeks later. By this time the works to the home changing room had been done, so being mindful of the previous year and that both clubs had offered to come to Derby free of charge, I did the right thing and put them in the home changing room. Let’s just say that some of our players weren’t best pleased; however we ended up laughing about it with Arsenal in particular, and I still maintain it was the right thing to do.
In a nutshell, we were progressing on so many fronts that we’d gone from a bit part player to a club being ‘worthy of discussion’ in terms of promotion to Tier 2; however our home venue didn’t meet criteria and it was also impacting on our ability to attract players.
As I’ve touched upon, we’d already invested a significant level of time and money into developing a ground that wasn’t even ours and we’d highlighted potential funding streams; however nothing else was happening. As such we had no option but to re-locate and align ourselves to a club that matched our own ambitions. That club was Mickleover Sports FC.
By all accounts the clubs departure from Borrowash was tinged with an element of disappointment?
I think that’s a fair comment to make, although I’m not keen to dwell on it. All I will say is that Mickloever were keen for us to commence midway through the 2016/17 season; however we said that we wanted to do right by Borrowash and would therefore be guided by them. I personally met with the Borrowash’s chairman and offered him the choice of whether we moved at the mid way point or end of the season. He advised the former, informing me that they had another team keen to play their home matches there. We therefore discussed and agreed the finances, shook hands, and wished each other all the best. A number of weeks after we’d already moved, an invoice for the remainder of the season landed completely out of the blue. That hurt, especially after all that we’d done in terms of investing in the ground and bringing some seriously high profile games to it; however we took the positive from it, in that it justified why we’d been right to align ourselves to Mickleover.
There are a few funny stories about the clubs time at Borrowash. Can you share a couple?
There’s a few that readily spring to mind! The first time we played Arsenal the changing room works had yet to be done, and after the game their players are coming into the portable hut that is the club house and being swamped for autographs; however they were only coming in one at a time and at about five minute intervals. Somebody picked up on this, only to be told that only one of the showers was working in the away changing room! To be honest Arsenal saw the funny side, and were absolutely brilliant about things.
A year later and Arsenal came back, followed by Liverpool two weeks later. By this time the works to the home changing room had been done, so being mindful of the previous year and that both clubs had offered to come to Derby free of charge, I did the right thing and put them in the home changing room. Let’s just say that some of our players weren’t best pleased; however we ended up laughing about it with Arsenal in particular, and I still maintain it was the right thing to do.
Isn’t there another Borrowash story about the clubs match day announcer and club statistician, Nigel Wright?
I still chuckle at that one now! What you have to remember is that at Borrowash there isn’t a press or match day announcers box, so Nigel used to weave his magic from between the dugouts, which given his unique style, coupled with his decibel levels, led to a few interesting moments with opposing teams! Anyway, our delegation of Sheila, our Operations Director Dave Marriott, then first team manager, Jenny Sugarman and myself are all sat alongside The Beatles at the annual Women’s FA Awards. Yes, you heard that right, as the awards that year were held in one of the main halls at Madame Tussauds in London and our table was wedged up that close to the wax models of the fab four, that I kept accidentally kicking John Lennon’s Chelsea boots every time I turned to my right!
Anyway at these events you share your table with another club and all of a sudden a delegation of four strangers sit down and introduce themselves as Brighton & Hove Albion. Next to me is their first team manager who then asks who we are, to which I reply Derby County. Well I’ve never seen someone’s face contort so quickly both in colour and appearance, before he literally spits out “Derby!!….Iet me tell you this mate, it took three of my subs and the physio to stop me from laying out that lairy hairy weirdo with the mike, and we were winning 3-0 at the time!” He then reverts back to his normal appearance and colour as quickly as it had changed, picks up a glass of white wine and calmly asks “tell me, is he still with you?”!
I still chuckle at that one now! What you have to remember is that at Borrowash there isn’t a press or match day announcers box, so Nigel used to weave his magic from between the dugouts, which given his unique style, coupled with his decibel levels, led to a few interesting moments with opposing teams! Anyway, our delegation of Sheila, our Operations Director Dave Marriott, then first team manager, Jenny Sugarman and myself are all sat alongside The Beatles at the annual Women’s FA Awards. Yes, you heard that right, as the awards that year were held in one of the main halls at Madame Tussauds in London and our table was wedged up that close to the wax models of the fab four, that I kept accidentally kicking John Lennon’s Chelsea boots every time I turned to my right!
Anyway at these events you share your table with another club and all of a sudden a delegation of four strangers sit down and introduce themselves as Brighton & Hove Albion. Next to me is their first team manager who then asks who we are, to which I reply Derby County. Well I’ve never seen someone’s face contort so quickly both in colour and appearance, before he literally spits out “Derby!!….Iet me tell you this mate, it took three of my subs and the physio to stop me from laying out that lairy hairy weirdo with the mike, and we were winning 3-0 at the time!” He then reverts back to his normal appearance and colour as quickly as it had changed, picks up a glass of white wine and calmly asks “tell me, is he still with you?”!
Back to the final cornerstone of the clubs initial five year plan, and probably the most important one, namely building a relationship with the main club until the women’s team became part of it. Given that this has now been achieved, just how difficult a journey was it and how was it achieved?
Within a week of coming into Derby County Ladies a key figure within the main clubs structure said to me “you’ve got a lot of bridge building to do”. Luckily I’d come across similar situations within my main work career, and knew that achieving the desired outcome was based on three key principals, namely creating relationships, building mutual trust and providing value, with consistent delivery on what you promise at the heart of all of them. As we’ve discussed already, we were making progress on a number of fronts and getting noticed, not just locally, but regionally and nationally. At all times we made a point of ensuring that we were highlighting and aligning the Derby County brand, as opposed to the Derby County Ladies brand to these successes. We always shared these with the main club, and in turn key people at the main club were becoming keener to assist us in our endeavours.
Like most of these things, there was never an exact date where things changed, more an evolution that eventually led to the formation of the Governance Board and the transfer of the clubs formative name and set up, to one that now sits within the main clubs structure. Along the way we told Derby County that we’d raise a certain level of external sponsorship revenue ourselves and we did. We told them that we’d make savings on their yearly investment in the women’s arm of the club and we did. We told them that 2,000+ people would turn up to one of our games if they let us hold it at Pride Park and they did. These were huge statements and commitments to make; however in delivering on them we built trust.
I won’t say that along the way there haven’t been frustrations, because there have; however those are to be expected and our policy has always been to accept them and move on, or to wait until such time as their chances of success are more favourable, Derby County is a business, so it can’t say yes to everything and we fully get that.
Within a week of coming into Derby County Ladies a key figure within the main clubs structure said to me “you’ve got a lot of bridge building to do”. Luckily I’d come across similar situations within my main work career, and knew that achieving the desired outcome was based on three key principals, namely creating relationships, building mutual trust and providing value, with consistent delivery on what you promise at the heart of all of them. As we’ve discussed already, we were making progress on a number of fronts and getting noticed, not just locally, but regionally and nationally. At all times we made a point of ensuring that we were highlighting and aligning the Derby County brand, as opposed to the Derby County Ladies brand to these successes. We always shared these with the main club, and in turn key people at the main club were becoming keener to assist us in our endeavours.
Like most of these things, there was never an exact date where things changed, more an evolution that eventually led to the formation of the Governance Board and the transfer of the clubs formative name and set up, to one that now sits within the main clubs structure. Along the way we told Derby County that we’d raise a certain level of external sponsorship revenue ourselves and we did. We told them that we’d make savings on their yearly investment in the women’s arm of the club and we did. We told them that 2,000+ people would turn up to one of our games if they let us hold it at Pride Park and they did. These were huge statements and commitments to make; however in delivering on them we built trust.
I won’t say that along the way there haven’t been frustrations, because there have; however those are to be expected and our policy has always been to accept them and move on, or to wait until such time as their chances of success are more favourable, Derby County is a business, so it can’t say yes to everything and we fully get that.
Overseeing all of the developments that you’ve talked about is clubs Operational Board of Directors. When did it come into being, what is the thinking behind it and who else sits on it?
As I said at the outset of the interview, the club was run by a committee of parent volunteers; however I was keen that we move from that to a board of director model, with those directors all utilising their respective skill sets to oversee separate areas of our delivery. As discussed we have Andy Moore overseeing the Media side of things, Dave Cholerton the Academy and Dave Marriott the operational side of things, such as kit and key club events such as the children’s hospital visit. On top of that we have Neil Jackson (Commercial), Richard Pope (Relationships), Stephen Joughin (Finance) and Alison Cope (Social). The former two assist me in the securing of sponsors and then ensuring that they are looked after, whilst Stephen looks after the clubs finances, whilst working closely with myself and the Governance Board on the budget side of things. Alison has been a relatively new appointment and has already worked wonders in terms of delivering club events such as the academy end of season awards and club Xmas party.
A lot of clubs have one or two people doing just about everything; however our structure ensures that all bases are covered and have an easily identifiable lead, with each Director having an equal input on all club matters and vote where applicable. It’s a model that has seen the club named ‘Club of the Year’ twice at national level and saw a representative from the FA visit us a few years ago as part of a club best practice paper that he was writing. I’d therefore suggest that it works.
As I said at the outset of the interview, the club was run by a committee of parent volunteers; however I was keen that we move from that to a board of director model, with those directors all utilising their respective skill sets to oversee separate areas of our delivery. As discussed we have Andy Moore overseeing the Media side of things, Dave Cholerton the Academy and Dave Marriott the operational side of things, such as kit and key club events such as the children’s hospital visit. On top of that we have Neil Jackson (Commercial), Richard Pope (Relationships), Stephen Joughin (Finance) and Alison Cope (Social). The former two assist me in the securing of sponsors and then ensuring that they are looked after, whilst Stephen looks after the clubs finances, whilst working closely with myself and the Governance Board on the budget side of things. Alison has been a relatively new appointment and has already worked wonders in terms of delivering club events such as the academy end of season awards and club Xmas party.
A lot of clubs have one or two people doing just about everything; however our structure ensures that all bases are covered and have an easily identifiable lead, with each Director having an equal input on all club matters and vote where applicable. It’s a model that has seen the club named ‘Club of the Year’ twice at national level and saw a representative from the FA visit us a few years ago as part of a club best practice paper that he was writing. I’d therefore suggest that it works.
[Part 4] The Key Is To Move Things forward
Having delivered massively on every facet of the clubs initial five year plan, the Operational Board set a new one in 2019. It featured formalising the relationship with the main club, improving links with Derby University, becoming either a long term tenant or formal stakeholder in the ground at Mickleover and aligning the club more closely with the Derby County Community Trust in terms of their educational programme and Regional Talent Centre RTC. Let’s start with the first of those and probably key one.
As we’ve discussed, the relationship with the main club improved year on year and by early 2019 we’d got to the point where they felt comfortable to implement a similar set up to the one in place at the Community Trust, namely a formalised link to the main club with a Governance Board in place to oversee and support the day to day work undertaken by myself and the Operational Board of Directors. The announcement of that and the clubs change of name to Derby County FC Women were landmark days and presented tangible evidence that those bridges in need of repair that had been talked about back in 2013 were well and truly fixed.
The key now, is through the work of the Governance Board and Operational Board, to keep things moving forwards.
As we’ve discussed, the relationship with the main club improved year on year and by early 2019 we’d got to the point where they felt comfortable to implement a similar set up to the one in place at the Community Trust, namely a formalised link to the main club with a Governance Board in place to oversee and support the day to day work undertaken by myself and the Operational Board of Directors. The announcement of that and the clubs change of name to Derby County FC Women were landmark days and presented tangible evidence that those bridges in need of repair that had been talked about back in 2013 were well and truly fixed.
The key now, is through the work of the Governance Board and Operational Board, to keep things moving forwards.
The clubs relationship with Derby University drew widespread national media coverage back in 2018; however as a project it continues to develop?
This has been a project that has been a good four year in the making and is one of the key cornerstones of our current vision and business plan. If you look at the USA, they have a model in place whereby talented young players can study and enhance their football careers at the same time, allowing them to then forge dual pathways in terms of successful careers either on or off the pitch, or hopefully both. Currently we have a formalised link with what is the only Football Journalism degree course in the UK, with Olivia Fox being the first of our scholars and three more joining her in September, including two U21 internationals, if measures relating to the current Covid 19 crisis allow. To have four scholar / players on full bursaries is something that both we and the university are hugely proud of; however we are already looking to take that to the next step in terms of extending the project in a number of potentially exciting ways.
News of the link drew major media interest at national level, which was helped by the fact that former England international Kelly Smith who now works in the media, and Jacqui Oatley who is a main sports media presenter, featured in our launch video. The irony of this was not lost on me, as Kelly openly states in her autobiography that she was forced to go down this route in the USA, because the opportunities to do so in England weren’t there. A few years on and she’s appearing in a Derby County / University of Derby video promoting our offer!
We hear bits and bobs; however how are things progressing on the long term stake hold at Mickleover?
Things are progressing nicely, however without question the biggest frustration associated with the Covid-19 crisis to date, has been that it has delayed the Mickleover ground redevelopment project. Given our ambitious plans to reach Tier 2 within the Women’s game, as well as the brand and style of football that is synonymous with this club, the installation of the 3G was something that we were all so excited to see. The relationship with Mickleover has been excellent from literally day one, when their committee sat in the main stand alongside 400 supporters for our first game there and watched us entertain Everton in a midweek prestige friendly. They knew from minute one how much potential we had, and how serious as a club we were about realising it, although I can still vividly recall their secretary, Tony Shaw looking at me and mouthing the words “Who the hell is he?” as Nigel commenced his pre-match routine!
Mickleover themselves are equally ambitious, with both parties recognising the impact that we can have on both the ground and the wider community. There is the option for a long term tenancy on the table; however the preferred option would be for us to become a formal stakeholder within the sports association. As such discussions on the feasibility of that are being discussed with the other association’s partners.
This has been a project that has been a good four year in the making and is one of the key cornerstones of our current vision and business plan. If you look at the USA, they have a model in place whereby talented young players can study and enhance their football careers at the same time, allowing them to then forge dual pathways in terms of successful careers either on or off the pitch, or hopefully both. Currently we have a formalised link with what is the only Football Journalism degree course in the UK, with Olivia Fox being the first of our scholars and three more joining her in September, including two U21 internationals, if measures relating to the current Covid 19 crisis allow. To have four scholar / players on full bursaries is something that both we and the university are hugely proud of; however we are already looking to take that to the next step in terms of extending the project in a number of potentially exciting ways.
News of the link drew major media interest at national level, which was helped by the fact that former England international Kelly Smith who now works in the media, and Jacqui Oatley who is a main sports media presenter, featured in our launch video. The irony of this was not lost on me, as Kelly openly states in her autobiography that she was forced to go down this route in the USA, because the opportunities to do so in England weren’t there. A few years on and she’s appearing in a Derby County / University of Derby video promoting our offer!
We hear bits and bobs; however how are things progressing on the long term stake hold at Mickleover?
Things are progressing nicely, however without question the biggest frustration associated with the Covid-19 crisis to date, has been that it has delayed the Mickleover ground redevelopment project. Given our ambitious plans to reach Tier 2 within the Women’s game, as well as the brand and style of football that is synonymous with this club, the installation of the 3G was something that we were all so excited to see. The relationship with Mickleover has been excellent from literally day one, when their committee sat in the main stand alongside 400 supporters for our first game there and watched us entertain Everton in a midweek prestige friendly. They knew from minute one how much potential we had, and how serious as a club we were about realising it, although I can still vividly recall their secretary, Tony Shaw looking at me and mouthing the words “Who the hell is he?” as Nigel commenced his pre-match routine!
Mickleover themselves are equally ambitious, with both parties recognising the impact that we can have on both the ground and the wider community. There is the option for a long term tenancy on the table; however the preferred option would be for us to become a formal stakeholder within the sports association. As such discussions on the feasibility of that are being discussed with the other association’s partners.
The final strand of the current business plan revolves around the Derby County Community Trust’s RTC and Post 16 Learner Programme. Tell us about that?
In terms of the RTC element, the FA’s current development model sees something like 32 licences for Regional Talent Centre’s spread across the country. These tend to either sit directly underneath female clubs, with the local FA or with the community trust arm of football clubs. Where they are in situ, you don’t tend to have club academy set ups on anything like the scale of the one at Derby County FC Women as well, with talent usually feeding in from the RTC. Here in Derby we are blessed to have a Tier 2 RTC operated by the Community Trust and our Academy, meaning that there are probably more young female footballers under the umbrella of Derby County than at any club in the country. Some players progress through the RTC, some through the Academy and many move between the two; however what both parties are keen to do is to present a collaborative pathway structure that provides clarity and the best experience for the players as they move from entry level towards senior football. Hopefully the days when the two operated pretty much separately are gone now, and it’s just a case of finalising the pathway and announcing it.
How about the Post 16 Educational Link?
As with the synergy with the RTC, this has been something that we have been working in conjunction with the Community Trust on for some time, and is integral to our ambitions in terms of that dual player/scholar pathway. The Trust have worked hard to create a broad and dynamic learner programme, providing links into higher education and football development. The plan is for Derby County FC Women to become a key partner, with players within our club continuing their educational and football development under the umbrella of Derby County, before hopefully then progressing into what we hope will be an extended scholar programme at Derby University. If we are able to get these two projects over the line, then without question we will have one of the best educational / dual pathway offers of any female football club in the country.
So in terms of an overarching vision relating to both the football and educational side of things, how can you best sum that up?
For me it’s really quite simple. I would like to see us get to the point where players enter Derby County, whether that be through us or the RTC. From that point they develop their skills in what is an elite structure, either moving through the age groups of the RTC, Derby County FC Women or migrating between the two. At 16 years of age their educational and footballing needs are met through the Derby County learner programme, which they then progress through until they reach higher education. At that point they either choose to leave education or they choose to access a variety of degree courses at Derby University that are either fully or part funded, with them committing to the University team which is managed and led by Derby County. In addition to that they remain with the club either within the U20’s U23’s or First Team.
I firmly believe that we can achieve the above, and in tandem with that we need to get the first team into the Women’s Championship. If we do that, then I believe that our better players will not only want to remain with the club, but that we will attract players into the club that we might not as things currently sit. It would certainly make a lot of players think twice about both going out to the USA or going to other clubs.
In terms of the RTC element, the FA’s current development model sees something like 32 licences for Regional Talent Centre’s spread across the country. These tend to either sit directly underneath female clubs, with the local FA or with the community trust arm of football clubs. Where they are in situ, you don’t tend to have club academy set ups on anything like the scale of the one at Derby County FC Women as well, with talent usually feeding in from the RTC. Here in Derby we are blessed to have a Tier 2 RTC operated by the Community Trust and our Academy, meaning that there are probably more young female footballers under the umbrella of Derby County than at any club in the country. Some players progress through the RTC, some through the Academy and many move between the two; however what both parties are keen to do is to present a collaborative pathway structure that provides clarity and the best experience for the players as they move from entry level towards senior football. Hopefully the days when the two operated pretty much separately are gone now, and it’s just a case of finalising the pathway and announcing it.
How about the Post 16 Educational Link?
As with the synergy with the RTC, this has been something that we have been working in conjunction with the Community Trust on for some time, and is integral to our ambitions in terms of that dual player/scholar pathway. The Trust have worked hard to create a broad and dynamic learner programme, providing links into higher education and football development. The plan is for Derby County FC Women to become a key partner, with players within our club continuing their educational and football development under the umbrella of Derby County, before hopefully then progressing into what we hope will be an extended scholar programme at Derby University. If we are able to get these two projects over the line, then without question we will have one of the best educational / dual pathway offers of any female football club in the country.
So in terms of an overarching vision relating to both the football and educational side of things, how can you best sum that up?
For me it’s really quite simple. I would like to see us get to the point where players enter Derby County, whether that be through us or the RTC. From that point they develop their skills in what is an elite structure, either moving through the age groups of the RTC, Derby County FC Women or migrating between the two. At 16 years of age their educational and footballing needs are met through the Derby County learner programme, which they then progress through until they reach higher education. At that point they either choose to leave education or they choose to access a variety of degree courses at Derby University that are either fully or part funded, with them committing to the University team which is managed and led by Derby County. In addition to that they remain with the club either within the U20’s U23’s or First Team.
I firmly believe that we can achieve the above, and in tandem with that we need to get the first team into the Women’s Championship. If we do that, then I believe that our better players will not only want to remain with the club, but that we will attract players into the club that we might not as things currently sit. It would certainly make a lot of players think twice about both going out to the USA or going to other clubs.
[Part 5] I Wish I'd Taken A Picture Of Their Faces
Looking back over your time at the club, can we first of all ask you about our relationship with each of the first team managers, starting with John Bennett?
JB was the first team manager when I initially joined the club and I like to think that we developed a strong and positive relationship from the very outset. He’s an extremely likeable man, who has some great qualities, not least his ability to manage people, and it’s not a surprise to see him doing so well at Long Eaton United LFC.
JB could see where we were looking to take the club, and due to his commitments elsewhere he felt it only right that he step down at the end of the 2013-2014 season; however he made it clear that if those commitments ever changed and the moons aligned that he’d be keen to return.
JB was the first team manager when I initially joined the club and I like to think that we developed a strong and positive relationship from the very outset. He’s an extremely likeable man, who has some great qualities, not least his ability to manage people, and it’s not a surprise to see him doing so well at Long Eaton United LFC.
JB could see where we were looking to take the club, and due to his commitments elsewhere he felt it only right that he step down at the end of the 2013-2014 season; however he made it clear that if those commitments ever changed and the moons aligned that he’d be keen to return.
They did, and he re-joined the club in 2016; however subsequent FA directives around the level of first team manager qualifications required for clubs with Tier 2 aspirations meant that he either had to step aside or we needed to identify a new management structure to meet compliance. Both Sam (our then Technical Director) and myself were keen on the latter, as we very much wanted JB to remain; however after much thought he felt it best to make a clean break, putting the club before himself. That pretty much sums him up, and as I said at the clubs end of season awards in 2018, were he to ever want to re-join the club in some capacity, then the door will always be open.
Following on from John, the club made an external appointment in Jenny Sugarman?
John Griffiths our then Technical Director at the time led on the recruitment and it was an admirable and brave move to give the keys to a young, relatively inexperienced manager. The thinking was that Jen would be able to develop under John’s guidance, and I was impressed with some very clear and quite stringent rules that she introduced at the outset around training commitments, because I’d personally felt that it might be a struggle with the characters we had within the squad. She had a refreshing honesty in terms of self-analysis, whilst her commitment and work ethic were second to none; however things just didn’t work out. The conversation in which I had to call time on the appointment was hard, as I knew how badly she wanted and worked for success, and I was delighted to see her subsequently do well at Loughborough Foxes.
John Griffiths our then Technical Director at the time led on the recruitment and it was an admirable and brave move to give the keys to a young, relatively inexperienced manager. The thinking was that Jen would be able to develop under John’s guidance, and I was impressed with some very clear and quite stringent rules that she introduced at the outset around training commitments, because I’d personally felt that it might be a struggle with the characters we had within the squad. She had a refreshing honesty in terms of self-analysis, whilst her commitment and work ethic were second to none; however things just didn’t work out. The conversation in which I had to call time on the appointment was hard, as I knew how badly she wanted and worked for success, and I was delighted to see her subsequently do well at Loughborough Foxes.
Your first solo appointment was Stuart Wilson. How did that come about and how did things come to an end?
I’d first spoken to Stuart when he was looking to undertake some coaching time as part of his badges, and was impressed with both his record as a coach and the way in which he carried himself. The club at the time was in real danger of being relegated, which given all that was going on off the pitch would have been nothing short of disastrous. Ash Abbey and Jack Bright had stepped up from the Reserves as Caretakers and had steadied the ship to a degree, and to be honest I was happy with the job that they were doing but we decided to go down the road with Stuart. Stuart had won the league with both Coventry and Aston Villa and he was available. After three meetings, the final one in which he introduced me to his assistant Neil Wilson, we shook hands and he became my first managerial appointment at the club on the playing side of things.
In terms of the final meeting there’s two things that still make me laugh now. Stu had told me during discussions leading up to it, that if he were to join the club, then Neil would be coming with him, as they had worked together successfully throughout his career. When I finally got to meet Neil we were in the press lounge at Pride Park Stadium and Stu re-iterated that they were at their most effective as a pair. There was a gap between them and slap bang in the middle was a picture of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, so I pointed at it and said “you mean a bit like those two?” We all had a good laugh at that!
The other one that sticks out is that all of this happened on the back of my having secured the return of Arsenal, and for Liverpool to also come down and play us in a couple of prestige friendlies. I’d not mentioned this to Stu in our discussions, so having just shook hands with the pair of them on joining the club, I said “Well chaps, I guess you’d like to know who your first three games in charge are against?” They nodded, saying that it would be useful, before I replied “Well next Wednesday you’ve got the current FA cup holders, Arsenal at home. On Sundays you’re away to Mackworth St Francis in the County Cup, and the following Wednesday you’re at home to reigning WSL champions, Liverpool!” I just wish I could have taken a picture of their faces!!
Once we’d got those games out of the way, they oversaw a quite unbelievable run of results that saw us not only quickly dismiss any relegation worries, but eventually end up securing a top half finish. Stu had only joined us at the end of January; however he was eventually shortlisted for the National League, Manager of the Year award at the FA Women’s awards at Wembley. Whilst he didn’t win it, the fact that he’d made the shortlist spoke volumes, and I was as delighted for him and Neil as I was for the club, that we walked away with the first of our ‘Club of the Year ‘awards that night. It was special evening that I’ll never forget.
We had high hopes for the following season; however as the season wore on there were increasing tensions coming to the fore within the changing room. That said, and despite some at times very heavy pressure from both within the club and in the stands from supporters, I felt that we owed it to Stuart and Neil to let them continue until such time as it was mathematically impossible for us to achieve our openly stated pre-season targets.
When that time came and I had break the news to them, I think they half expected it and I also think they appreciated the way that things had been gone about.
Trust me, parting company with a manager is not easy; however this one was particularly difficult on a personal level, as they’d been my appointment. Neil has unfortunately since passed away; however I’ll never forget what they did for the club in that first season, and nor should anyone else.
A while later, I was asked to provide a reference for Stuart by another club. I have no issue in saying that it was both a positive and an easy conversation to have.
Sam Griffiths took over in 2018, for what was her first managerial appointment. How did that come about and what is your take on her job to date?
Sam is of course well known to all at the club, and was the first team captain when I arrived. Given her main job with the FA, I think managing the club at which she made her name was always something that at the back of her mind was a possibility; however her ACL injury back in the 2016/2017 season accelerated that becoming a reality. If you wind the clock back to when I joined the club, It didn’t take me long to arrive at the conclusion that my own role and the ambitions that we had as a board were simply too time demanding to also oversee the day to day football side of things. That’s why we brought in John Griffiths as Technical Director and Dave Cholerton as Academy Director.
When John left to take up his role with England, we never really filled that void, due more to finding the right person than anything else. When Sam was forced to retire, she was a natural choice for the role, so was already heavily involved in that side of things when the FA invited clubs to bid for a place in the Women’s Championship in 2018. As we’ve already discussed, JB didn’t feel able to continue in the amended structure that we proposed to meet the FA’s criteria, so Sam became the obvious and natural choice. The results of that appointment are there for all to see, with the club securing its highest ever league position in 2018/19 and being a place higher than that when the league was voided earlier this year. She’s achieved that on the back of strong recruitment and the setting of standards and expectations.
I’d first spoken to Stuart when he was looking to undertake some coaching time as part of his badges, and was impressed with both his record as a coach and the way in which he carried himself. The club at the time was in real danger of being relegated, which given all that was going on off the pitch would have been nothing short of disastrous. Ash Abbey and Jack Bright had stepped up from the Reserves as Caretakers and had steadied the ship to a degree, and to be honest I was happy with the job that they were doing but we decided to go down the road with Stuart. Stuart had won the league with both Coventry and Aston Villa and he was available. After three meetings, the final one in which he introduced me to his assistant Neil Wilson, we shook hands and he became my first managerial appointment at the club on the playing side of things.
In terms of the final meeting there’s two things that still make me laugh now. Stu had told me during discussions leading up to it, that if he were to join the club, then Neil would be coming with him, as they had worked together successfully throughout his career. When I finally got to meet Neil we were in the press lounge at Pride Park Stadium and Stu re-iterated that they were at their most effective as a pair. There was a gap between them and slap bang in the middle was a picture of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, so I pointed at it and said “you mean a bit like those two?” We all had a good laugh at that!
The other one that sticks out is that all of this happened on the back of my having secured the return of Arsenal, and for Liverpool to also come down and play us in a couple of prestige friendlies. I’d not mentioned this to Stu in our discussions, so having just shook hands with the pair of them on joining the club, I said “Well chaps, I guess you’d like to know who your first three games in charge are against?” They nodded, saying that it would be useful, before I replied “Well next Wednesday you’ve got the current FA cup holders, Arsenal at home. On Sundays you’re away to Mackworth St Francis in the County Cup, and the following Wednesday you’re at home to reigning WSL champions, Liverpool!” I just wish I could have taken a picture of their faces!!
Once we’d got those games out of the way, they oversaw a quite unbelievable run of results that saw us not only quickly dismiss any relegation worries, but eventually end up securing a top half finish. Stu had only joined us at the end of January; however he was eventually shortlisted for the National League, Manager of the Year award at the FA Women’s awards at Wembley. Whilst he didn’t win it, the fact that he’d made the shortlist spoke volumes, and I was as delighted for him and Neil as I was for the club, that we walked away with the first of our ‘Club of the Year ‘awards that night. It was special evening that I’ll never forget.
We had high hopes for the following season; however as the season wore on there were increasing tensions coming to the fore within the changing room. That said, and despite some at times very heavy pressure from both within the club and in the stands from supporters, I felt that we owed it to Stuart and Neil to let them continue until such time as it was mathematically impossible for us to achieve our openly stated pre-season targets.
When that time came and I had break the news to them, I think they half expected it and I also think they appreciated the way that things had been gone about.
Trust me, parting company with a manager is not easy; however this one was particularly difficult on a personal level, as they’d been my appointment. Neil has unfortunately since passed away; however I’ll never forget what they did for the club in that first season, and nor should anyone else.
A while later, I was asked to provide a reference for Stuart by another club. I have no issue in saying that it was both a positive and an easy conversation to have.
Sam Griffiths took over in 2018, for what was her first managerial appointment. How did that come about and what is your take on her job to date?
Sam is of course well known to all at the club, and was the first team captain when I arrived. Given her main job with the FA, I think managing the club at which she made her name was always something that at the back of her mind was a possibility; however her ACL injury back in the 2016/2017 season accelerated that becoming a reality. If you wind the clock back to when I joined the club, It didn’t take me long to arrive at the conclusion that my own role and the ambitions that we had as a board were simply too time demanding to also oversee the day to day football side of things. That’s why we brought in John Griffiths as Technical Director and Dave Cholerton as Academy Director.
When John left to take up his role with England, we never really filled that void, due more to finding the right person than anything else. When Sam was forced to retire, she was a natural choice for the role, so was already heavily involved in that side of things when the FA invited clubs to bid for a place in the Women’s Championship in 2018. As we’ve already discussed, JB didn’t feel able to continue in the amended structure that we proposed to meet the FA’s criteria, so Sam became the obvious and natural choice. The results of that appointment are there for all to see, with the club securing its highest ever league position in 2018/19 and being a place higher than that when the league was voided earlier this year. She’s achieved that on the back of strong recruitment and the setting of standards and expectations.
What is your relationship with her like?
I think it’s fair to say that as people we are very different; however I like to think that there’s a mutual respect and trust that has been built on nearly seven years of working together. In addition to that, you have two people that if you cut them in half they bleed black and white, which I definitely think helps. For me the dynamics are very simple. My job is to provide her with the best possible hand in terms of finances, facilities and player support. Her job is to use the sum parts of that hand to recruit staff and players and to get results. How she does that is completely up to her and I will only provide an opinion if I’m asked for it. If the hand that Sam is provided with is poor, then I’ve failed. If it’s strong and the results aren’t there, then Sam has failed. It’s as simple as that. Based on where the club is at, I would suggest that as things sit we’ve both succeeded, and it therefore works. I’ve always said in both my main career and in my time in football, if you bestow the title ‘Manager’ on somebody, then you have an obligation to let them ‘manage’. I think Sam appreciates that I provide her with the tools and then pretty much leave her to things.
Jenny Simpson or ‘Bart’ as she is better known has been a part of the managerial structure throughout your time at the club.
I think it’s fair to say that Bart has now reached ‘Club Legend’ status, due to her time at the club and the roles that she has filled, and in my view it’s a well-deserved accolade.
Going back to your last question, it will come as little surprise to learn that I have said to each of our managers at the outset of their appointments “You select your own backroom team, and if that means that you don’t want any of those that we currently have in situ, then feel free to let them go and bring in your own people.”. That may sound harsh; however that is how it has to be in football, and certainly at this club where we are very open in terms of our targets and aspirations. That Jenny Sugarman, Stuart Wilson, John Bennett when he returned and then Sam have all chosen to retain Bart, is in my view the best testament that can be paid to her.
You mention that you like your managers to manage and very much leave them to it. Given that you managed at a reasonable level yourself, how easy is that in reality?
I was never much of a player; however as you say I’ve managed to a reasonable level, with teams of mine playing (and losing!) against the likes of Michael Carrick, Michael Bridges and Jody Morris when they were youngsters; however that was 25+ years ago and things move on. If Sam asks for my opinion, which to be fair she often does, I do this thing where I take off an imaginary hat called the CEO’s one and put on another one called The Supporters one, saying what I’m doing as I do it. Only once the supporters one is on do I feel comfortable in providing my views, as in my mind I’m simply one of the many supporters that come to our games, all of whom are entitled to an opinion.
I think it’s fair to say that as people we are very different; however I like to think that there’s a mutual respect and trust that has been built on nearly seven years of working together. In addition to that, you have two people that if you cut them in half they bleed black and white, which I definitely think helps. For me the dynamics are very simple. My job is to provide her with the best possible hand in terms of finances, facilities and player support. Her job is to use the sum parts of that hand to recruit staff and players and to get results. How she does that is completely up to her and I will only provide an opinion if I’m asked for it. If the hand that Sam is provided with is poor, then I’ve failed. If it’s strong and the results aren’t there, then Sam has failed. It’s as simple as that. Based on where the club is at, I would suggest that as things sit we’ve both succeeded, and it therefore works. I’ve always said in both my main career and in my time in football, if you bestow the title ‘Manager’ on somebody, then you have an obligation to let them ‘manage’. I think Sam appreciates that I provide her with the tools and then pretty much leave her to things.
Jenny Simpson or ‘Bart’ as she is better known has been a part of the managerial structure throughout your time at the club.
I think it’s fair to say that Bart has now reached ‘Club Legend’ status, due to her time at the club and the roles that she has filled, and in my view it’s a well-deserved accolade.
Going back to your last question, it will come as little surprise to learn that I have said to each of our managers at the outset of their appointments “You select your own backroom team, and if that means that you don’t want any of those that we currently have in situ, then feel free to let them go and bring in your own people.”. That may sound harsh; however that is how it has to be in football, and certainly at this club where we are very open in terms of our targets and aspirations. That Jenny Sugarman, Stuart Wilson, John Bennett when he returned and then Sam have all chosen to retain Bart, is in my view the best testament that can be paid to her.
You mention that you like your managers to manage and very much leave them to it. Given that you managed at a reasonable level yourself, how easy is that in reality?
I was never much of a player; however as you say I’ve managed to a reasonable level, with teams of mine playing (and losing!) against the likes of Michael Carrick, Michael Bridges and Jody Morris when they were youngsters; however that was 25+ years ago and things move on. If Sam asks for my opinion, which to be fair she often does, I do this thing where I take off an imaginary hat called the CEO’s one and put on another one called The Supporters one, saying what I’m doing as I do it. Only once the supporters one is on do I feel comfortable in providing my views, as in my mind I’m simply one of the many supporters that come to our games, all of whom are entitled to an opinion.
[Part 6] Fans Have A Right To Know A Club's Plans
You introduced a culture whereby the club will openly say what it is looking to do both on and off the pitch, and what will constitute success and failure. It’s quite unique in football even within the women’s game, so what’s the thinking behind it?
I’m a football supporter first and foremost, albeit it one who now runs a club. In my view supporters are stakeholders within a club and key ones at that. As such they have a right to know what the plan is and what constitutes success. If you look at the last six years, as a club we openly stated that our intention for the first four years was to put a number of things in place off the pitch, and that then and only then would focus shift towards matters on the pitch. We said what we wanted to do and within what time frame, and we then went and did it.
By informing them of our plan, expectations in terms of league success were tempered; however two years ago the emphasis changed to matters on the pitch. This in itself brought pressure, as it had done with the off field aspirations; however you can see in our results that we have achieved those targets as well.
Going forwards we are clear that off the field we want to secure a long term stake hold within our home match venue, contributing to its development. In addition to that we want to implement an educational/football dual pathway that is the envy of clubs operating at a much higher level than our own. On the field we want to secure promotion to the Women’s Championship.
Everyone associated with the club is aware of the vision, and when we say ‘everyone’ at Derby we include our supporters in that..
Away from the club you’ve developed some positive relationships with other clubs.
Yes, I think that’s a fair observation. Whether it has been in my main job roles or in football, I’m a huge believer in benchmarking and have undertaking exercises of that nature on numerous occasions. You can have a view on something; however knowing what the rest of the street is doing can be hugely useful, and if somebody is doing something better than you, it’s sensible to take that learning on board. As such I’ve touched base with my equivalents at every club from WSL down to Tier 4 on various projects where we have felt that having an understanding on the national picture will be useful. As a result of that I’ve managed to build some positive relationships along the way, and it didn’t take long to pick up on the fact that there is a real camaraderie between clubs within the female game.
I’m a football supporter first and foremost, albeit it one who now runs a club. In my view supporters are stakeholders within a club and key ones at that. As such they have a right to know what the plan is and what constitutes success. If you look at the last six years, as a club we openly stated that our intention for the first four years was to put a number of things in place off the pitch, and that then and only then would focus shift towards matters on the pitch. We said what we wanted to do and within what time frame, and we then went and did it.
By informing them of our plan, expectations in terms of league success were tempered; however two years ago the emphasis changed to matters on the pitch. This in itself brought pressure, as it had done with the off field aspirations; however you can see in our results that we have achieved those targets as well.
Going forwards we are clear that off the field we want to secure a long term stake hold within our home match venue, contributing to its development. In addition to that we want to implement an educational/football dual pathway that is the envy of clubs operating at a much higher level than our own. On the field we want to secure promotion to the Women’s Championship.
Everyone associated with the club is aware of the vision, and when we say ‘everyone’ at Derby we include our supporters in that..
Away from the club you’ve developed some positive relationships with other clubs.
Yes, I think that’s a fair observation. Whether it has been in my main job roles or in football, I’m a huge believer in benchmarking and have undertaking exercises of that nature on numerous occasions. You can have a view on something; however knowing what the rest of the street is doing can be hugely useful, and if somebody is doing something better than you, it’s sensible to take that learning on board. As such I’ve touched base with my equivalents at every club from WSL down to Tier 4 on various projects where we have felt that having an understanding on the national picture will be useful. As a result of that I’ve managed to build some positive relationships along the way, and it didn’t take long to pick up on the fact that there is a real camaraderie between clubs within the female game.
Are there any people within the game that you get on particularly well with?
Of course there are some people that you immediately warm to and get to know quite well. I’ve got a lot of time for Rachel Gay at Hull City, who has done a marvellous job in hugely challenging circumstances. Dave Mallin at Huddersfield Town is another that that I respect, and it’s been fascinating to watch how he has managed a situation where the main club once openly threatened to take the clubs name from them to where they are now.
Aside from them, I enjoy a strong and positive relationship with Graham Abercrombie the current manager of Sheffield FC and former manager at Nottingham Forest and West Brom. I’m quite old school in that I judge people of my own experiences rather than other people’s and in that regard I’ve found Graham to be top draw.
I can recall Sheila Rollinson being desperate to say that she had made a National League appearance a few seasons back, despite having retired from the game circa 15 years previously. Our final home game of the season was against West Brom who were due to be crowned league champions that day, and I went up to Graham after his team had arrived at the ground and basically told him that we’d registered Sheila and would like to bring her on for the last ten minutes, but recognised that we didn’t want to divert any attention away from Albion’s achievement, so were happy to leave it if he didn’t feel comfortable with the idea. He didn’t give it a seconds thought, before saying “After what Sheila Rollinson has done for women’s football and your club, absolutely yes, no problem.” In addition to that when we won the ‘Club of the Year’ award for the second time at the FA Women’s Awards, Graham made a point of walking half way across the room to offer his personal congratulations. Quite a thing to do for the manager of Nottingham Forest as he was at the time!
Of course there are some people that you immediately warm to and get to know quite well. I’ve got a lot of time for Rachel Gay at Hull City, who has done a marvellous job in hugely challenging circumstances. Dave Mallin at Huddersfield Town is another that that I respect, and it’s been fascinating to watch how he has managed a situation where the main club once openly threatened to take the clubs name from them to where they are now.
Aside from them, I enjoy a strong and positive relationship with Graham Abercrombie the current manager of Sheffield FC and former manager at Nottingham Forest and West Brom. I’m quite old school in that I judge people of my own experiences rather than other people’s and in that regard I’ve found Graham to be top draw.
I can recall Sheila Rollinson being desperate to say that she had made a National League appearance a few seasons back, despite having retired from the game circa 15 years previously. Our final home game of the season was against West Brom who were due to be crowned league champions that day, and I went up to Graham after his team had arrived at the ground and basically told him that we’d registered Sheila and would like to bring her on for the last ten minutes, but recognised that we didn’t want to divert any attention away from Albion’s achievement, so were happy to leave it if he didn’t feel comfortable with the idea. He didn’t give it a seconds thought, before saying “After what Sheila Rollinson has done for women’s football and your club, absolutely yes, no problem.” In addition to that when we won the ‘Club of the Year’ award for the second time at the FA Women’s Awards, Graham made a point of walking half way across the room to offer his personal congratulations. Quite a thing to do for the manager of Nottingham Forest as he was at the time!
On the flip side have there been any negative experiences?
(Laughing). Well let’s just say that before those same awards, I made a point of personally seeking out and congratulating both the Chairman and the Manager of a club that had secured a Tier 2 licence the week before. On entry to the venue we found that they were located on the table next to us; however whilst Graham walked a good 50 yards to offer his congratulations when our award success was announced, the same two people didn’t even acknowledge it, despite being no more than three yards away! I can also remember issuing out a quick survey to 48 other clubs as part of a benchmarking exercise. Some needed a reminder to come back to me; however in the end 47 of them did. I found the whole thing quite amusing in terms of the one that hadn’t and therefore cheekily issued a third and a fourth reminder to them, with neither securing any success. Let’s just say that I should have issued it to the manager of that club as opposed to the secretary!
Like I say the camaraderie within the female game is fantastic.
(Laughing). Well let’s just say that before those same awards, I made a point of personally seeking out and congratulating both the Chairman and the Manager of a club that had secured a Tier 2 licence the week before. On entry to the venue we found that they were located on the table next to us; however whilst Graham walked a good 50 yards to offer his congratulations when our award success was announced, the same two people didn’t even acknowledge it, despite being no more than three yards away! I can also remember issuing out a quick survey to 48 other clubs as part of a benchmarking exercise. Some needed a reminder to come back to me; however in the end 47 of them did. I found the whole thing quite amusing in terms of the one that hadn’t and therefore cheekily issued a third and a fourth reminder to them, with neither securing any success. Let’s just say that I should have issued it to the manager of that club as opposed to the secretary!
Like I say the camaraderie within the female game is fantastic.
[Part 7] Becoming A Formal Part Of Derby County Has Been Huge
In terms of highs and lows, you’ve been quoted as describing your time at Derby as an addictive rollercoaster. What do you mean by that and what have been the key highs for you?
(Sighs) Crikey, we’ll be here all night and half of tomorrow in terms of those! I guess the key one for me has to be the progress that the club has made over the past few years and seeing us all able to celebrate those achievements together at the end of season awards each year. I go as far as to say that it’s given me more highs and a sense of pride than anything that has happened in my work career, and is right up there behind things like the birth of my son and marriage. In terms of individual things, managing to secure home games with Arsenal (twice), Liverpool and Everton as well as playing Forest at Pride Park Stadium twice. Most people laughed when I said that I was going to get the then League Champions and FA cup holders to come to Borrowash, but we did it, whilst given where the relationship with the main club was back in 2013, people would also have laughed if I’d have said that we’d be playing competitive games at Pride Park Stadium within 5 years. In terms of those marquee games, I can still remember Becca Lombard-Thompson coming up to me after the first game with Arsenal an saying “Gibbo, that was totally surreal. Towards the end of the game when we won that corner, Alex Scott was marking me and pulling at my shirt. When I get home tonight I’ll walk into my bedroom and see the picture of her that sits on my wall!” Things like that make it all worthwhile.
Winning the Club of the Year awards at Wembley and the Barbican are memories that will never go away. I don’t mind admitting that I actually cried the second time that we won it on the back of becoming the first club in history to do it twice. Clearly becoming a formal arm of Derby County has been huge and is without question the greatest achievement of all. Given where we were, I still have to pinch myself that the clubs CEO, Stephen Pearce sits on the clubs Governance Board and that he’ll ring or drop me messages to congratulate us on various things.
I guess in terms of more light hearted ones, appearing and scoring for the Derby County Legends team against a team of actors in a charity match counts as a high! The Legends team has been going for years; however as those have passed the number of legends has diminished to the point where the teams manager and former Rams player, Dick Pratley rang and asked if I’d play, due to my role with the female arm of the club. I said “I’m made up Dick; however you’ve gotta be scraping the barrel haven’t you?” to which he replied “I’m digging around at the bottom with a tea spoon Gibbo!” Ted McMinn refereed and I was selected to play right midfield; however thankfully I had Olympic swim medallist, Ross Davenport playing right back behind me. Ross was the fittest person on the pitch by a country mile, so just before we kicked off I said to him “Are you familiar with the boy Cafu Ross?” Upon him advising me that he was indeed au fait with the legendary Brazilian attacking wing back, I said “Good, because Dick wants you to bomb forward at every opportunity with me dropping in.” This was absolute rubbish of course; however Ross didn’t need inviting twice and it worked for me in terms of frequent breathers!
The best part of the game had to be scoring. I’d watched Mark Stallard play for Derby as a fan, so when he set me up for my goal, trotted over, patted me on the back and said “Good finish mate” I felt about 10ft tall!
The final funny or irony is that our Partnerships Director, Rich Pope or ‘Face’ as he is known to many ended up managing the team, as Dick had to play. Rich then went on to manage a Derby XI in a sponsors game up at Moor Farm and team from Merril in a game that we organised at Pride Park Stadium, where they played in Derby shirts. As he often tells people “Cloughy, Coxy and Jim Smith may be legends; however only Face has got a 100% record!”
(Sighs) Crikey, we’ll be here all night and half of tomorrow in terms of those! I guess the key one for me has to be the progress that the club has made over the past few years and seeing us all able to celebrate those achievements together at the end of season awards each year. I go as far as to say that it’s given me more highs and a sense of pride than anything that has happened in my work career, and is right up there behind things like the birth of my son and marriage. In terms of individual things, managing to secure home games with Arsenal (twice), Liverpool and Everton as well as playing Forest at Pride Park Stadium twice. Most people laughed when I said that I was going to get the then League Champions and FA cup holders to come to Borrowash, but we did it, whilst given where the relationship with the main club was back in 2013, people would also have laughed if I’d have said that we’d be playing competitive games at Pride Park Stadium within 5 years. In terms of those marquee games, I can still remember Becca Lombard-Thompson coming up to me after the first game with Arsenal an saying “Gibbo, that was totally surreal. Towards the end of the game when we won that corner, Alex Scott was marking me and pulling at my shirt. When I get home tonight I’ll walk into my bedroom and see the picture of her that sits on my wall!” Things like that make it all worthwhile.
Winning the Club of the Year awards at Wembley and the Barbican are memories that will never go away. I don’t mind admitting that I actually cried the second time that we won it on the back of becoming the first club in history to do it twice. Clearly becoming a formal arm of Derby County has been huge and is without question the greatest achievement of all. Given where we were, I still have to pinch myself that the clubs CEO, Stephen Pearce sits on the clubs Governance Board and that he’ll ring or drop me messages to congratulate us on various things.
I guess in terms of more light hearted ones, appearing and scoring for the Derby County Legends team against a team of actors in a charity match counts as a high! The Legends team has been going for years; however as those have passed the number of legends has diminished to the point where the teams manager and former Rams player, Dick Pratley rang and asked if I’d play, due to my role with the female arm of the club. I said “I’m made up Dick; however you’ve gotta be scraping the barrel haven’t you?” to which he replied “I’m digging around at the bottom with a tea spoon Gibbo!” Ted McMinn refereed and I was selected to play right midfield; however thankfully I had Olympic swim medallist, Ross Davenport playing right back behind me. Ross was the fittest person on the pitch by a country mile, so just before we kicked off I said to him “Are you familiar with the boy Cafu Ross?” Upon him advising me that he was indeed au fait with the legendary Brazilian attacking wing back, I said “Good, because Dick wants you to bomb forward at every opportunity with me dropping in.” This was absolute rubbish of course; however Ross didn’t need inviting twice and it worked for me in terms of frequent breathers!
The best part of the game had to be scoring. I’d watched Mark Stallard play for Derby as a fan, so when he set me up for my goal, trotted over, patted me on the back and said “Good finish mate” I felt about 10ft tall!
The final funny or irony is that our Partnerships Director, Rich Pope or ‘Face’ as he is known to many ended up managing the team, as Dick had to play. Rich then went on to manage a Derby XI in a sponsors game up at Moor Farm and team from Merril in a game that we organised at Pride Park Stadium, where they played in Derby shirts. As he often tells people “Cloughy, Coxy and Jim Smith may be legends; however only Face has got a 100% record!”
And in terms of the lows?
I guess most people will think the answer to this one will be our not being awarded a place in the Women’s Championship in 2018 Tier 2; however that couldn’t be further from the truth. We’d put a strong application in; however our enhanced relationship with the main club was still relatively new, and a number of other clubs were simply further ahead of us in terms of their journey. As such, when it was announced who had and hadn’t been offered a place, I was more than comfortable with the outcome. When we subsequently received our written and verbal feedback, that we’d been very close with only a couple of minor areas where progress was required, I was delighted.
In terms of the actual ‘lows’, whilst there have been some real frustrations along the way, the biggest ones are probably linked to results. Whilst we’ve enjoyed some exhilarating highs on that side of things, when you put everything into drawing large crowds to winnable home games, it can be extremely hard to take when you subsequently lose them; however that’s football!
Turning to current matters and obviously the Covid 19 crisis has and will be game changing for both people and clubs. Are you concerned for the future of both the club and the game?
As I say to my son Jordan “What’s happening now is the biggest thing in the lives of your 80+ year old grandparent lives, let alone your own. It will also be talked about in educational lessons for generations to come.” Naturally I’m concerned for both the game and the club, as finances come into play on so many levels, with both the main club and our external investors all being hit in ways that are totally unprecedented and unforeseen. I guess the only thing that tempers that is that the same thing is happening to differing degrees to clubs across the country, so to a point it’s a level playing field. I say to ‘a point’ as some will clearly be hit harder than others.
I guess the biggest frustration is that at Derby we have come so far, and were on the cusp of taking things to the next level. The ground development at Mickleover is so exciting, whilst we we’re inching ourselves ever closer to Tier 2 both on and off the pitch; however as I often say ‘man always finds a way’ and that will be true of football and Derby County FC Women.
I guess most people will think the answer to this one will be our not being awarded a place in the Women’s Championship in 2018 Tier 2; however that couldn’t be further from the truth. We’d put a strong application in; however our enhanced relationship with the main club was still relatively new, and a number of other clubs were simply further ahead of us in terms of their journey. As such, when it was announced who had and hadn’t been offered a place, I was more than comfortable with the outcome. When we subsequently received our written and verbal feedback, that we’d been very close with only a couple of minor areas where progress was required, I was delighted.
In terms of the actual ‘lows’, whilst there have been some real frustrations along the way, the biggest ones are probably linked to results. Whilst we’ve enjoyed some exhilarating highs on that side of things, when you put everything into drawing large crowds to winnable home games, it can be extremely hard to take when you subsequently lose them; however that’s football!
Turning to current matters and obviously the Covid 19 crisis has and will be game changing for both people and clubs. Are you concerned for the future of both the club and the game?
As I say to my son Jordan “What’s happening now is the biggest thing in the lives of your 80+ year old grandparent lives, let alone your own. It will also be talked about in educational lessons for generations to come.” Naturally I’m concerned for both the game and the club, as finances come into play on so many levels, with both the main club and our external investors all being hit in ways that are totally unprecedented and unforeseen. I guess the only thing that tempers that is that the same thing is happening to differing degrees to clubs across the country, so to a point it’s a level playing field. I say to ‘a point’ as some will clearly be hit harder than others.
I guess the biggest frustration is that at Derby we have come so far, and were on the cusp of taking things to the next level. The ground development at Mickleover is so exciting, whilst we we’re inching ourselves ever closer to Tier 2 both on and off the pitch; however as I often say ‘man always finds a way’ and that will be true of football and Derby County FC Women.
Thank you for what has been an amazing and open insight into your time overseeing the club. It’s no surprise that the interview has been laced with humour, so on that note and given the current mood at the club and in the country, can you finish off by sharing your most humorous memory of your time at the club?
(Gives it some thought) Well I guess the stand out one if I have to name one relates to the FA Women’s Awards in London back in 2018. Although I can only tell half the tale. As a rule in the build up to these type of events, you get a nod or a wink to a degree as to whether you are in with a chance of winning something. Calls or e-mails asking if you will ‘definitely be attending’ or ‘if you would like more places’ normally land, which is almost like an unofficial code in itself. In 2018 no such communications were received and as such we had no idea that we’d be walking away with an award, let alone one of the major ones. As such it’s fair to say that our delegation relaxed, kicked back and enjoyed ourselves for a few hours prior to the awards in licensed premises various located in close proximity to the venue. Nothing daft; however upon entry to the event the only drink available was wine, which doesn’t overly agree with me.
Towards the end of the evening we are having a great time sat alongside our newly found friends from Aston Villa when they announce that the next award is the ‘Club of the Year’ one. We tell Villa that we won this back in 2015 before the compere Clare Balding says “and our shortlist is” at which point the Derby County badge appears on the big screen! Whilst the other two shortlisted clubs are being announced I’ve grabbed our Academy Director, Dave Cholerton and said “Dave if we win this you’re going to have to go up” to which he raises his wine glass, laughs and replies “You’re having a laugh aren’t you!”. The next thing Clare’s up to bat again and says to a hushed room of over 1,000 people from across the female game “and the winners are…..Derby County!” as the club badge once again appears on the screen.
Having weaved (literally) my way to the front, I’m now up on stage in front of Clare desperately hoping that it’s going to be a case of a quick question along the lines of ‘you must be proud’ followed by some pictures and stage left; however given that we’d become the first club to ever win it twice, it turned into a full interview before I was allowed to leave the stage.
At that point I was greeted by an FA official who congratulated me and asked me to come with him. As we walked presumably to do a few more photo’s I asked him how the interview had gone and on the back of him saying that it had been good, I relaxed and informed him of my drinks list to that point! At that juncture he turned, chuckled and said “Oh dear Mr Gibb, I’m taking you to the press room now where you’ve got five interviews lined up with the nationals!” Thankfully I got through unscathed, and was later joined by the England manager, Phil Neville and head of the women’s game, Baroness Sue Campbell, who were glowing in their praise of what Derby had achieved. Given that the week before we’d not been granted a place within Tier 2, I couldn’t resist suggesting to Sue that to name us ‘Club of the Year’ on the back of that knock back had taken some balls (or words to that effect), which made her laugh.
Suffice it to say when our badge appeared on screen at the 2019 awards for shortlisting in the ‘Contribution to Women’s Football Growth’ category, I was as sober as a choir boy and more than prepared; however sods law subsequently dictated that Blackburn Rovers won the award!
(Gives it some thought) Well I guess the stand out one if I have to name one relates to the FA Women’s Awards in London back in 2018. Although I can only tell half the tale. As a rule in the build up to these type of events, you get a nod or a wink to a degree as to whether you are in with a chance of winning something. Calls or e-mails asking if you will ‘definitely be attending’ or ‘if you would like more places’ normally land, which is almost like an unofficial code in itself. In 2018 no such communications were received and as such we had no idea that we’d be walking away with an award, let alone one of the major ones. As such it’s fair to say that our delegation relaxed, kicked back and enjoyed ourselves for a few hours prior to the awards in licensed premises various located in close proximity to the venue. Nothing daft; however upon entry to the event the only drink available was wine, which doesn’t overly agree with me.
Towards the end of the evening we are having a great time sat alongside our newly found friends from Aston Villa when they announce that the next award is the ‘Club of the Year’ one. We tell Villa that we won this back in 2015 before the compere Clare Balding says “and our shortlist is” at which point the Derby County badge appears on the big screen! Whilst the other two shortlisted clubs are being announced I’ve grabbed our Academy Director, Dave Cholerton and said “Dave if we win this you’re going to have to go up” to which he raises his wine glass, laughs and replies “You’re having a laugh aren’t you!”. The next thing Clare’s up to bat again and says to a hushed room of over 1,000 people from across the female game “and the winners are…..Derby County!” as the club badge once again appears on the screen.
Having weaved (literally) my way to the front, I’m now up on stage in front of Clare desperately hoping that it’s going to be a case of a quick question along the lines of ‘you must be proud’ followed by some pictures and stage left; however given that we’d become the first club to ever win it twice, it turned into a full interview before I was allowed to leave the stage.
At that point I was greeted by an FA official who congratulated me and asked me to come with him. As we walked presumably to do a few more photo’s I asked him how the interview had gone and on the back of him saying that it had been good, I relaxed and informed him of my drinks list to that point! At that juncture he turned, chuckled and said “Oh dear Mr Gibb, I’m taking you to the press room now where you’ve got five interviews lined up with the nationals!” Thankfully I got through unscathed, and was later joined by the England manager, Phil Neville and head of the women’s game, Baroness Sue Campbell, who were glowing in their praise of what Derby had achieved. Given that the week before we’d not been granted a place within Tier 2, I couldn’t resist suggesting to Sue that to name us ‘Club of the Year’ on the back of that knock back had taken some balls (or words to that effect), which made her laugh.
Suffice it to say when our badge appeared on screen at the 2019 awards for shortlisting in the ‘Contribution to Women’s Football Growth’ category, I was as sober as a choir boy and more than prepared; however sods law subsequently dictated that Blackburn Rovers won the award!