During the 2001–02 English football season, Derby County competed in the FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons).
Season summary Derby started their new season quite well with a 2–1 win over newly-promoted Blackburn Rovers. Manager Jim Smith rejected the offer to become Director of Football and resigned on 7 October after more than six years at the helm. His assistant Colin Todd, who won two league titles with the club in the 1970s, was promoted to the manager's seat, but by this stage the Rams were deep in relegation trouble. A shock 3–1 home defeat against Division Three strugglers Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup proved the final straw for the directors and Todd was sacked days later, after a mere three months in charge. By the end of the month, John Gregory had taken over at Pride Park just six days after quitting Aston Villa. Two quick wins and a draw against Manchester United (in which they had a potential late winning goal controversially ruled out) suggested that Gregory might be Derby's saviour, but seven defeats from their final eight games condemned Derby to relegation.
Final league table
Results summary
Results by round
Results Derby County's score comes first
Legend WinDrawLoss
FA Premier League DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 18 August 2001 Blackburn RoversH2–128,236Ravanelli, Christie 21 August 2001 Ipswich TownA1–321,197Ravanelli 25 August 2001 FulhamA0–015,641 8 September 2001 West Ham UnitedH0–027,802 15 September 2001 Leicester CityH2–326,863Burton, Ravanelli (pen) 23 September 2001 Leeds UnitedA0–339,155 29 September 2001 ArsenalH0–229,200 15 October 2001 Tottenham HotspurA1–330,148Ravanelli 20 October 2001 Charlton AthleticH1–130,221Ravanelli 28 October 2001 ChelseaH1–128,910Ravanelli 3 November 2001 MiddlesbroughA1–528,117Ravanelli 17 November 2001 SouthamptonH1–032,063Mawéné 24 November 2001 Newcastle UnitedA0–150,070 1 December 2001 LiverpoolH0–133,289 8 December 2001 Bolton WanderersH1–025,712Christie 12 December 2001 Manchester UnitedA0–567,577 15 December 2001 EvertonA0–138,615 22 December 2001 Aston VillaH3–128,001Ravanelli, Carbone, Christie 26 December 2001 West Ham UnitedA0–431,397 29 December 2001 Blackburn RoversA1–023,529Christie 2 January 2002 FulhamH0–128,165 12 January 2002 Aston VillaA1–228,881Powell 19 January 2002 Ipswich TownH1–329,658Christie 29 January 2002 Charlton AthleticA0–125,387 2 February 2002 Tottenham HotspurH1–027,721Morris 9 February 2002 SunderlandH0–131,771 23 February 2002 Leicester CityA3–021,620Kinkladze, Strupar, Morris 3 March 2002 Manchester UnitedH2–233,041Christie (2) 5 March 2002 ArsenalA0–137,878 16 March 2002 Bolton WanderersA3–125,893Christie, Ravanelli, Higginbotham (pen) 23 March 2002 EvertonH3–433,297Strupar (2), Morris 30 March 2002 ChelseaA1–237,849Strupar 1 April 2002 MiddlesbroughH0–130,822 6 April 2002 SouthamptonA0–229,263 13 April 2002 Newcastle UnitedH2–331,031Christie, Morris 20 April 2002 LiverpoolA0–243,510 27 April 2002 Leeds UnitedH0–130,705 11 May 2002 SunderlandA1–147,989Robinson
FA Cup
+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR36 January 2002 Bristol RoversH1–318,549Ravanelli
League Cup
+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR212 September 2001 Hull CityH3–011,246Burton (2), KinkladzeR310 October 2001 FulhamA2–59,217Burley, Ravanelli
Players First-team squad Squad at end of season
Powell was born in Lambeth, England, but also qualified to represent Jamaica internationally and made his international debut for Jamaica in 1998.
Left club during season
Reserve squad The following players did not appear for the first team this season.
Transfers
In DatePosNameFromFee27 July 2001FW Fabrizio RavanelliLazioFree16 October 2001DF Luciano ZavagnoTroyesSigned1 November 2001DF François GrenetBordeaux£3,000,0001 February 2002DF Warren BartonNewcastle United£200,0007 February 2002MF Rob LeeNewcastle United£250,00021 February 2002GK Patrick FolettiFC LuzernFree
Out DatePosNameToFee10 July 2001MF Rory DelapSouthampton£4,000,0008 October 2001MF Stefano EranioReleased18 October 2001MF Seth JohnsonLeeds United£7,000,00015 March 2002DF Con BlatsisColchester UnitedFree
Transfers in: £3,450,000 Transfers out: £11,000,000 Total spending: £7,550,000
Loan in
DatePosNameClubReturnRef 8 August 2001 DF Daniele Daino Milan 8 November 2001 12 October 2001 GK Ian Feuer Wimbledon 4 November 2001 16 October 2001 MF Pierre Ducrocq Paris Saint-Germain 11 May 2002 18 October 2001 FW Benito Carbone Bradford City 10 January 2002
Loan out
DatePosNameClubReturnRef 10 August 2001 DF Ian Evatt Northampton Town 10 October 2001 6 September 2001 DF Bjørn Otto Bragstad Birmingham City 21 September 2001 22 February 2002 FW Deon Burton Stoke City 12 May 2002 25 February 2002 MF Adam Murray Mansfield Town 21 April 2002 22 March 2002 DF Horacio Carbonari Coventry City 22 April 2002
Statistics Appearances and goals
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Goalkeepers
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Defenders and wing-backs
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Midfielders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Forwards
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players transferred out during the season
Notes
References