Ron WEBSTER

The words reliability and discipline were akin to a suit of armour for Ron Webster. After arriving at the Baseball Ground as a fresh faced fifteen year old apprentice in June 1960 he went on to play for the Derby County first team over a period of seventeen consecutive seasons, rarely giving any of the eight managers he served any real concerns over his level of preparation or performance. Quite simply, Ronald Webster was a quality footballer. His senior career started in the Spring of 1962 when, buoyed by the best part of two seasons progress in the reserve side, Webster challenged County manager Harry Storer to give him a place in the first team. He made a solid debut against Bury and went on to make seven appearances over the final five weeks of the "Rams" 1961/62 Second Division campaign. When Storer retired in the close season, County's post war wing half Tim Ward returned to manage the club. Sadly though for Webster, both the 1962/63 and 1963/64 seasons were decimated by injury; shoulder, ankle and knee problems restricting him to just eleven league appearances in each campaign. Occupying a wing half position when available, he did however score in a 2-0 home win against Walsall in April 1963, and again in a 2-0 away sucess at Preston the following year.

Attendances dipped alarmingly at the Baseball Ground during the 1963/64 season. Despite the signing of Alan Durban from Swansea, a sequence of poor results either side of Christmas produced a thirteenth place finish, which although better than the previous season's eighteenth was still pretty uninspiring. The nature of County's play was reflected in the fact that Durban top scored with just nine goals. Ron returned to full fitness and was an ever present in the 1964/65 side. As County's attacking improved significantly, he also netted the only goal of the game in the home win against Cardiff City. Ward's signing of another Swansea forward Eddie Thomas helped the "Rams" accumulate an impressive eighty four goals, but poor defending resulted in a ninth place standing. Derby improved their position by one place the following season, although their defensive fragilities were again exposed far too often; a 5-5 draw at Birmingham City being a typical example of the sides fortunes. Webster produced another series of reliable performances and significantly made five of his forty league appearances at right back, a position he was later to occupy on a regular basis. Ron again tallied a seasonal goal, a second half marker against Bury rounding off a 4-1 Baseball Ground victory.

In a remarkable attempt to push the club toward promotion, Ward persuaded the directors to spend £40000 on Kevin Hector, a proven striker with Bradford Park Avenue. The signing excited the supporters and Hector's sixteen goals in 1966/67 ensured his status as a terrace hero. Again though, the inability to resolve the problems in defence proved to be County's achilles heel. Just three victories away from home produced an inevitably lowly finishing position; Derby ending their campaign in seventeenth place. Having invested such a significant amount of money, the directors had expected more ...much more. (Mike Cockayne)

Tim Ward was sacked following the disappointment of the 1966/67 campaign and the appointment of his sucessor Brian Clough heralded a new era for the club. Within weeks of his arrival at the Baseball Ground, Clough had signed three new players; John O'Hare from Sunderland, Roy McFarland from Tranmere and Alan Hinton from near rivals Nottingham Forest. Despite Clough's very public promises to the contrary, County had an even worse season in 1967/68. Although the Hector and O'Hare partnership netted an impressive thirty-three goals, the defence, McFarland apart, was woeful. The "Rams" finished in eighteenth place having conceeded a whopping seventy-eight goals, eight more than they scored. Ron made thirty-eight apearances during the campaign and was an ever present in the League Cup team which was defeated by Leeds United at the semi-final stage. Again he often occupied the right back position, more so after the experiment of playing another signing Pat Wright in the role had proved unsucessful.

The following campaign proved to be a turning point in Webster's career. He played as first choice right back throughout the season and appeared thirty-eight times, County's 0-0 draw with Middlesborough on October 5th 1968 marking his 200th league appearance for the club. With Dave Mackay and Willie Carlin arriving to add the experience that had been lacking, Derby were transformed. They lost just five games and won the title at a canter, runners-up Crystal Palace finishing seven points behind Clough's side. The League Cup campaign was again memorable; a 3-1 third round replay victory against First Division Chelsea at the Baseball Ground having long entered the clubs folklore. Derby had a magnificent first season back in the top flight. They lost just three times at home and humiliated some of the best sides in the country with scintillating performances. Tottenham, Mackay's former side, were beaten 5-0, whilst Liverpool were hammered 4-0. In all, forty-five goals were accumulated at home whilst just fourteen were conceded. A 1-1 draw at Southampton on the last day of the campaign secured a fourth place finish.

Webster notched another thirty-eight appearances and coped admirably well against a significantly higher level of opponent than he had faced in previous seasons. County started the 1970/71 season well, but seven defeats in September and October eventually saw them finish in ninth spot. Again, Ron returned another series of solid performances, although an injury in his 300th League match - a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham - limited him to a total of thirty-five games, including one as a substitute. By the end of that 70/71 campaign Ron had in all competitions accumulated 341 appearances for the club, an impressive tally for a 27 year old who had missed the best part of two seasons through injury. (Mike Cockayne)

Derby commenced their 1971/72 campaign with a twelve game unbeaten run that set the tone for the remainder of their season. Colin Todd, signed from Sunderland in February 1971, formed a magnificent partnership with McFarland at the heart of the defence and, as a consequence, County were a very hard team to beat, particuarly so at the home. In a remarkably tight finish to the season, Derby eventually clinched the Championship by just one point from Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester City. Webster missed just four league games and his running header in a 3-1 defeat of Manchester City was undoubtably one of the best goals seen at the Baseball Ground for many a long season. County slipped back to a seventh place finish in the 1972/73 season, a poor start to the campaign eventually proving to be decisive. In the European Cup the "Rams" progressed to the semi-final stage, controversially exiting at the Baseball Ground against Juventus. Ron started the season well, but a combination of injury and the emergence of youngster Steve Powell limited him to a total of twenty-six league appearances. County's home win against Manchester United in December 1972 did however see him become only the eighth player in the club's history to reach the milestone of 350 league games for the club. Brian Clough shook the club to its foundations in October 1973 when he, and assistant Peter Taylor, announced their resignations.

Given the turmoil that followed, the achievement of his replacement Dave Mackay in guiding the side to a third place finish was remarkable. It was business as normal, however, for Webster who notched another thirty-eight appearances and kept Rod Thomas, signed by Mackay to replace him, on the sidelines. Although County signed Francis Lee from Manchester City prior to the start of the 1974/75 season there appeared, with McFarland a long term injury victim, little expectation of winning the Championship. However, the midfield trio of Bruce Rioch, Archie Gemmill and Henry Newton was outstanding throughout and Derby took their second title in four seasons, two points ahead of Liverpool and Ipswich. They also progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup and the third round of the UEFA Cup. Webster maintained his place in the side until January 1975, the win at Birmingham on Boxing Day marking his 500th appearance for the club, an achievement marked by the presentation of a post game silver salver. Ron also netted another marvellous headed goal; his seventh goal for the club coming in a 4-1 demolition of Chelsea at the Baseball Ground.

Over the following three seasons Webster made another thirty-two appearances, including four as a substitute. His final game came on September 10th 1977, a 1-1 away draw also against Chelsea. Ron additionally spent the summers of 1976 and 1978 in America with the Minnesota Kicks organisation. In all competitions he made 535 appearances for Derby, including just five as a subtitute, a total that places him in second place behind Kevin Hector in the clubs all time playing records. Ron was a popular man who, after his playing career was over, joined County's youth coaching set up. (Mike Cockayne)