Alan DURBAN

                                      Biography of his football career at Derby County.

Derby County signed Alan Durban from Cardiff City in July 1963, paying the Welsh club £10,000 for the 22 year-old inside forward. His first season at the Baseball Ground saw the "Rams" finish in thirteenth place in the Second Division, a position they secured by winning their last five home games. Alan's best form of the campaign was during September when he netted a double strike against Portsmouth in a 3-2 defeat, followed by two more three days later in a 3-1 sucess over Grimsby Town. County's signing of another Welsh player, Eddie Thomas, saw them enjoy relative sucess in seasons 1964/65 and 1965/66, finishing in ninth and eighth places respectively. Although Durban and Thomas formed a great attacking partnership, poor defending meant that far too often Derby lost or drew games that they should have won. Alan netted reguarly throughout the 1964/65 campaign, including a four game sequence against Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Northampton and Southampton when he scored in each game. The following year Durban scored a hat-trick in a remarkable 5-5 draw with Birmingham City....the "Rams" having defeated the Midlands side 5-3 at the Baseball Ground earlier in the season.

In 1966/67 County's poor defending again cost them dearly, eventually scraping a seventeenth place finish. Alan scored a trio in a 4-3 sucess against Huddersfield Town, although a certain Kevin Hector took the praise from the plaudits having scored on his home debut. When Brian Clough replaced Tim Ward as Derby manager for the start of the 1967/68 season Durban's role in the County side also changed. Instead of playing as an inside forward, Alan occupied more of a midfield position supporting a new central attacking duo of Hector and John O'Hare. Initially Clough's new look side struggled as the defence, apart from the impressive Roy McFarland, gave away goal after goal. The high spot of Alan's season came against his former club Cardiff City. Made captain for the day, he gave an inspired performance which resulted in a 5-1 away victory. The "Rams" could not sustain that level of performance however, and despite just two sides scoring more goals than them finished the season in a lowly eighteenth place in the league. Derby were a transformed side in 1968/69.

The capture of the Tottenham stalwart Dave Mackay gave the side the experience it had lacked in previous years. He formed a marvellous partnership with Roy McFarland and County won the title by seven points from Crystal Palace. The highlight of the season for Durban came as the team celebrated their sucess, a first half hat-trick in a 5-0 win against Bristol City in the final game of the season. Alan also scored in the "Rams" most memorable match of the campaign, a 3-1 League Cup replay win against Chelsea at the Baseball Ground. (Mike Cockayne).

Promoted as Second Division champions the "Rams" enjoyed a fantastic return to the top flight in 1969-70, finishing their campaign in fourth place. Some of the best sides in the country were humiliated on their travels to the Baseball Ground, Liverpool were thrashed 4-0 and Tottenham fared even worse: Alan's two goals setting up a 5-0 scoreline in front of a capacity crowd of more than 41, 000. He also netted double strikes in a 3-0 league defeat of Sunderland and a 4-1 FA Cup third round replay win over Preston. County made a bright start to the 1970/71 season, but seven defeats in September and October saw them fall behind the First Division pacesetters. The unbeaten run they put together over the last six games of the campaign ensured a ninth place finish and coincided with Durban's best form of the season.

Although the signing of Archie Gemmill limited him to him to twenty-eight appearances, including two as a substitute, two of his four league goals came in that unbeaten run: strikes in a 2-1 win at Burnley and a 2-0 home sucess against West Bromwich Albion. An unbeaten run of twelve games at the start of the 1971/72 season set the tone for the "Rams" campaign. They went on to win the Championship by one point from Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester City, having kept twenty-three clean sheets along the way. Alan netted six goals in his thirty-one appearances, also adding a FA Cup fourth round hat-trick against Notts County at the Baseball Ground. The following season was Durban's last in the Derby shirt, his only strike of the campaign coming in a 3-2 home defeat by Leeds United.

Alan's final appearance was against Everton at the Baseball Ground, a game County won by a 3-1 scoreline. In all he made 403 appearances for the club, including fifteen as a substitute, and amazingly for a player who spent the majority of his time in midfield scored 112 goals. Alan made up for his admitted lack of pace with a remarkable ability to read the game very well, a fact emphasised by his twenty-seven international appearances for Wales. After leaving the Baseball Ground he moved to Shrewsbury Town, occupying the position of assistant player manager. (Mike Cockayne)

1973–1978    Shrewsbury Town    156    (33 goals)

Teams managed.

1974–1978    Shrewsbury Town
1978–1981    Stoke City
1981–1984    Sunderland
1984               Willington
1984–1986    Cardiff City
1998    Stoke City (caretaker)