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| - Derby County Football Club are an English football club from the city of Derby, in the Midlands, who are currenly competing in Division 5, Group 11. The club was formed on the 21st June 2008, in season 12 of Trophy Manager in the English Division 9, meaning the club are currently competing in their 4th season in Trophy Manager. Derby County Football Club were originally formed on the 6th April 2006 as Deva Cestrians FC, to be based in Chester. The club was founded by current chairman and business tycoon Edward Snellgrove, who is an English businessman from the city of Chester. Snellgrove bought the Deva Stadium, an old football ground formerly used by Chester City Football Club, a 4,950 capacity stadium in the heart of the city. Snellgrove began to mould the infrastructure of the club and appointed 32 players and ex Chester City assisstant manager Sam Swash as the clubs manager. Unfortuantely, bad news hit just weeks later on the 23rd April 2006, when Chester City council refused to accept the club as a team which represented the city, for reasons still unknown today. Without acceptance from the council the club were unable to participate in league football. Chairman Edward Snellgrove, along with manager Sam Swash and citizens of Chester campaigned vigorously against the councils decision and lodged an official appeal against the decision on 25th April 2006. Edward Snellgrove led the appeal himself and it was taken to Chester Magistrates court on 15th May 2006. The case went on for 3 days and eventually a decision was made at 7.00pm on the 18th May 2006. Judge Vanessa Applekettle came to the conclusion that Chester City council had the right to reject the football club and the appeal was rejected and The Deva Cestrians were "closed down". A bullish Edward Snellgrove appealed to the people of Chester after the court case blaming the council for catpstrophic failure in looking after its people needs, Snellgrove, "The council of Chester stand disgraced today as they once again showed their complete lack of political knowhow in looking after the needs of the people of our glorious city. This is not the first time the council has refused to support local football teams. They continue to pretend Chester City football club have nothing to do with the city and refuse to help them out in times of financial need, both Mark Wright, the Chester manager and their fans will tell you exactly the same. Let me tell you this though. This is not the end of our fight. Whether it be in 2,5 or 10 years time our city will one day have a Deva Cestrians team competing in Trophy Manager and I will be the chairman. Snellgrove decided that all the money and effort he had spent on the club would not be wasted and up-rooted the club to the city of Derby, in the Midlands. Snellgrove managed to convince the management team and players to make the move with him and the club remained virtually unchanged, bar the location of the club. The club was named Derby County Football Club and Sam Swash was confirmed as manager. Pride Park was built as the clubs stadium a 10,000 capacity stadium on the outskirts of the city. By June 2008, construction had finished and the club was ready for professional football and on the 21st June 2008, the club was accepted into Trophy Manager. Edward Snellgrove is a British business tycoon from the city of Chester, England born on the 2nd December 1952 (aged 57). Snellgrove is known for his abruptness and self-arrogance. Top economists envy his ability to read business potential and market vision. Unlike many football chairmans, Snellgrove is well and truly loved by the Derby County FC fans, who chant his name at the majority of matches. Snellgrove owns Chester based company Deva Cestria, which is a company with 2 shop in the city of Chester, one selling souvenirs of the city and the other a Chester City club shop on Watergate street in Chester. However, Snellgrove's main source of income comes from his businesses in Latvia. He moved to Latvian capital Riga at the age of 35 in 1987 and set up a company specialised in selling darts equipment. The company is called Groves Darts Equipment and is the only company in Latvia allowed to sell official darting equipment, used by proffessionals. The company sells items such as dartboards, darts, replica darts, replica shirts, dart tips and all other darting equipment. It struggled during its fledgling years as darts was a very specialised sport in Latvia. But Snellgrove, who his renouned for his future vision saw that darts was going to grow into a massive sport worldwide, as it is today. As darts became more popular, the company made more money and despite Latvia not yet having any professional dart players in the Top 16 of the PDC Rankings, more and more people are taking up the sport and seeing it as a potential career prospect. The company is currently valued at £77,000,000. Snellgrove still owns the Deva Stadium in Chester and still plans on moving the club back to Chester in the near future. The current squad contains 25 players, with the youth squad consisting of 20 players. The club captain is Ronnie Ireland, an offensive midfielder signed halfway through season 14, replacing goalkeeper Steven Hitchcock as the captain. The club smashed their transfer record on the 16th November 2008, when Portuguese centre back Ricardo Ribeiro signed from BIANA FC for £20.5 million. The original record was held by Greek DMR Antonios Mavrokefalidis, who cost the club £3.9 million. The player who has appeared most times for Derby County FC is centre back Dave Gulliver, who has been an ever present in the squad since the clubs formation. Sam Swash's first signing for the club was young Latvian OMC Igors Verpakovskis, who cost the club a mere £60,000. Since forming in June 2008, Derby County have been a hugely successful club winning promotion in all of its 3 seasons in Trophy Manager. In the clubs first season they were promoted in 3rd place. In the following season, the club finished in 6th place, but due to the liquidation of teams above, gained promotion yet again. In the clubs 3rd season, Derby smashed their division 6 group, and winning their first trophy. In the same season, the club defied the odds to reach round 6 of the English Cup. Team Kit The original colours adopted by the club were the typical Derby black and white, however at the beginning of 2009, Snellgrove announced a change of colour. The club now sport a blue and white striped kit, similair to that of Chester City. Snellgrove said the club were going back to its roots with the change of kit. For the clubs first and second seasons the club was sponsored by Brazilian Airways, but late in 2008, the club announced a 3 year deal with ICT company Interslice Solutions. The away kit is currently all black and will remain this way until the end of the season to remember those killed in the Italian Earthquake. Notable Players Record Goalscorer - Mark Martin, who has scored 43 goals in 75 appearances for the club. Most Appearances - Dave Gulliver, who has made 97 appearances for the club. Highest Average Rating - Mark Martin with 6.15 from 75 matches. Most Assists - Howie Kendall, who has 21 assists to his name since signing for the club.
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