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Over a decade between 1973 and 1983 Terry Curran wore the colours of
nine Football League sides. It was almost as if the cliche "more clubs
than Jack Nicklaus" had been written with him in mind. Derby County were
the fourth club to sign the pacey right winger, a £50,000 deal with
Nottingham Forest securing his services in November 1977. Curran had not
featured in the Forest team during the 1976/77 season and arrived at
the Baseball Ground having played just two loan spell games with Bury.
And yet, he sparked an immediate upturn in County's fortunes. West Ham
United were beaten 2-1 on his debut and the "Rams" then gained eight
points from their next five games. Terry produced a series of good
performances, his ability to maintain a wide position enabling Derby to
adopt a more attacking 4-2-4 style of play.
Their form deteriorated
however towards the end of the campaign, three straight defeats against
Leeds, West Ham and West Bromwich saw them eventually finish the 1977/78
season in twelfth place in the First Division table. Although it was a
slightly better position than the previous year, many supporters were
critical of manager Tommy Docherty's transfer dealings. An amazing total
of thirty-one players appeared in the league line up, quality
internationals like Archie Gemmill and Leighton James being allowed to
leave on part exchange deals soon after Docherty took charge. Curran
made twenty-six league starts for County and three in the FA Cup. He
scored a goal in a 3-1 league defeat by Birmingham City and another in a
3-0, last game of the season, home win against Arsenal. His stay in the
East Midlands was, however, brief.
By August 1978 he had moved again,
Docherty offloading him to Southampton for £65,000. At times Curran
looked a talented potential match winner, in other games he remained
anonymous. Perhaps the word enigma could equally have been penned with
Terry Curran in mind. (Mike Cockayne)
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