New sponsorship announcements and the 2008-09 kit launch kicked off the week.
RamsWeek commenced with a rash of new sponsorship announcements from Pride Park Stadium and the 2008-09 replica kit launch in Derby Market Place.
Derby County announced a new shirt sponsor on Monday, with Derby-based train makers Bombardier clinching an initial one-year deal with the Rams for the 2008-09 season.
Their logo will adorn the front of the new Rams’ Adidas shirt, which itself was launched last Monday with a public event in Derby’s Market Place. The new shirt is stylish, with more black flashes and stripes in the design than the first ‘off the shelf’ Adidas kit - it looks quite distinctive.
Bombardier’s rather plain, large logo isn’t exactly eye-catching but that’s fine, as it doesn’t detract from the style of the shirt.
We now want the new players that wear the kit to show the same fresh approach on the field! See the new kit design here: http://www.dcfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10270~1336304,00.html
Bombardier is the UK’s last remaining train manufacturer, world leaders and are also aircraft builders. They are globally based in Berlin with a presence in over 60 countries and employ some 2,000 people in Derby. It will be a good local link being strengthened and it should be a mutually beneficial partnership.
A few seasons ago, we were ridiculing the Rams’ hierarchy for smugly declaring that the club was their ‘train set’ but now we have a large global train set that is helping to support and develop the club’s sponsorship links! Only at Derby County…!
Another local company will have their name on the rear of the new shirts as ‘secondary sponsors’. The Greenbank Group produce ‘Clean Coal Technology’ for the energy industry. The Derbyshire Building Society will maintain their sponsorship links with DCFC by supporting the club’s DCITC community programme and sponsoring club mascot Rammie.
Derby County and American catering and hospitality management specialists, Delaware North have penned a ten-year agreement commencing 1st July 2008 for Delaware to manage the Pride Park Stadium facilities. Delaware North provide catering and hospitality services for many major venues worldwide, including Wembley Stadium and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.
Pre-season training commenced in earnest on Monday too and a clutch of players who had treatment surgery for injuries this summer (Carroll, Davis, Barnes) returned to the fold. The Rams will be off to a training camp in Holland in the coming week and will play Dutch Second Division side TOP Oss as part of the build-up to the initial domestic friendlies with such as Rotherham and Mansfield.
Transfer activity continued apace as West Brom’s Martin Albrechtsen (28) joined Derby on a Bosman free transfer, our 8th signing this summer. He’s a 6’ 1” Danish international who can play in central defence or at full back. He made 118 appearances for WBA (32 last term in helping them to promotion), having cost them £2.7m from FC Copenhagen in 2004 after winning two league titles with them.
Straight after that signing, the impasse over Stockport’s Liam Dickinson was resolved with a £750,000 transfer to Derby. Add-ons would take the cost to £1m. He’s young (22), tall (6’ 4”) and scores goals - 21 last season in helping Stockport to promotion, including a League Two Wembley play-off final goal.
He’s now been catapulted up the leagues into a club with serious promotion intentions and it will be interesting to see how he combines with Ellington, Villa and the other new forwards to ensure Derby get the goals. Seasoned Rams fans will hope that Liam can prove to be a latter-day Roger Davies, who rose from non-League to the top level with the Rams in the Seventies.
Derby have now captured nine new signings to date; this week has certainly brought more rewards to Messrs. Jewell and Pearson for their determined work in the transfer market. Paul Jewell is still seeking another forward, a central midfielder and another wide player. There’s still the belief among fans that if Derby could add a little ‘foreign spice’ with some continental flair to midfield and the attack, it would enhance what already appears to be a squad with promise.
The Ferrie Bodde saga rumbled on as Swansea’s sought-after midfielder put the pressure on his stubborn chairman Huw Jenkins by declaring that he wanted to move to Derby and get on with pre-season training.
Mr Pearson tried to negotiate with the reluctant Welsh club but said on Thursday that Derby were ending their interest in the Dutch midfielder due to an apparent inability to resolve the situation - with suggestions that Jenkins had “moved the goalposts” and was now asking for more than £2m for Bodde.
Jenkins still deludes himself with thoughts that Bodde will be “knuckling down and concentrating on preparing for the new season with Swansea.” Whether that results in Bodde and his agent going to war with Swansea because of denied access to opportunities, only time will tell.
Seems to be a confusing case of “in through the out door”, with the player still not knowing if he’s coming or going and the Rams playing a waiting game - unless they have truly jettisoned their interest out of frustration. Even if Bodde doesn’t join Derby County, I’d eat my season ticket if Bodde sees out his contract at the ironically named Liberty Stadium!
Swansea’s reported interest in Rams’ burly defender Darren Moore has come to an end anyway, as he’s signed for Barnsley on a free transfer. Meanwhile, Craig Fagan has completed his £750,000 move back to promoted Hull City.
Media stories suggest that West Brom striker Kevin Phillips will sign for Birmingham City. Rumours say that Dean Leacock may move to Coventry City for £750k and that the Trees want Stephen Pearson for £1m. My view is that we’d miss neither of those two players, so let’s get our money back on them!
Young Rams defender Jason Beardsley has joined Notts County on loan after looking likely to join Port Vale temporarily. Jason is now 19 and has been with the Rams for a decade; he wants to stay at Derby but will gain valuable further experience by playing elsewhere.
Another Rams’ youngster, Aussie midfielder Ruben Zadkovich, has been named in the Australian squad for the Olympic football tournament in Beijing next month. Their group will include Argentina, Serbia and the Ivory Coast.
Info note: The Pride Park Stadium official merchandise store, Shopdcfc is closed to assist refurbishment from July 7-9th inclusively. A ‘new-look’ shop will be launched on Friday, August 1st though online sales of merchandise and Stadium sales of season tickets will be maintained. See the official site for details!
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This time last year, it was ‘action stations’ as RamsWeek reported a flurry of transfer activity by Billy Davies as the Rams reported back for training. There were some 16 players that Derby had jettisoned from the squad since the same time in the previous close season.
Striker Rob Earnshaw (who?) was presented at a press conference and Billy’s Scottish cohort Craig Brown officially joined the backroom, as did Scot-cum-Canadian Colin Millar as Assistant First Team Coach. David ‘Ned’ Kelly finally seemed set to join Derby County.
West Ham full back Tyrone Mears’ permanent move to Derby from West Ham finally went through as Davies looked to strengthen his squad.
Claude Davis was set to sign from Sheffield United pending a permit appeal along with Andy Todd from Blackburn and it was hoped that this pair of defenders would add Premier League experience to the ranks. Sadly, we now know that they added only rank bad defending to the ranks!