In a 3-1 away win to Stoke City, 18 year old Steve Bloomer made his debut for The Rams on the opening day of the 1892-93 season, going on to become Derby County’s greatest ever player and one of the greatest English footballers in history. He was the clubs leading goal scorer for the next 13 consecutive seasons, in addition to overall league top scorer plaudits on five occasions (1896, 1897, 1899, 1901 and 1904). The combination of Bloomer along with brothers Archie and John Goodall soon brought Derby County to the forefront, resulting in their first spell of success. John Goodall was a veteran of the club by this time, and he took Bloomer under his wing, refining his ball control and positional skills. Despite their combined presence, Derby struggled in the league and in 1895 they found themselves in a test match against Notts County to avoid relegation. Notts County were 1-0 up until there was 7 minutes remaining in the game, when goals from mentor Goodall and protégé Bloomer saved the day.

 

Derby were much improved the following season, and Bloomer started the year with 2 goals in a win over Sunderland at the clubs new home, The Baseball Ground. From narrowly avoiding going down the previous season, they ended up in second place behind the mighty (at the time) Aston Villa. Bloomers best season came in 1896-97 when he notched up 31 goals, 5 hat-tricks, in 33 league and FA Cup games. In January 1899, he scored 6 goals in one game against Sheffield Wednesday. He helped the club reach three FA Cup finals in 1898, 1899 and 1903. In total, Bloomer scored 238 goals in 375 appearances for The Rams.

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After his retirement from playing, Bloomer moved to Germany to manage Brittania Berlin. Three weeks after his arrival however, the First World War broke out and Bloomer ended up as a prisoner interned at a civilian detention camp, Ruhleben. Several other former professional players found themselves imprisoned there as well, including Bloomers former England team mates Fred Spiksey and Sam Wolstenholme, his former Middlesbrough colleague Fred Pentland, John Cameron, a Scottish international, John Brearley, formerly of Everton and Tottenham, and a German international and Brittania Berlin player, Edwin Dutton.

 

With 5,500 prisoners in the camp, a mini-society eventually formed with football becoming a popular activity. They formed a prison football association complete with league and cup games, that often had as many as 1,000 spectators. The competing teams adopted the identities of established clubs, and Bloomer captained a Tottenham Hotspur XI to victory against an Oldham Athletic XI in a “cup final” in November 1914. Bloomer also played for the England XI against the World XI which was captained by Cameron. When Bloomer was finally released from the camp in 1918, a farewell match was held in his honour. Today, a bust of Steve Bloomer sits next to the home team dugout, looking out onto the pitch at Pride Park, the modern day home of The Rams, and a song in his honour, “Steve Bloomer’s Watchin’” is played over the PA before every game.

Achievements: English First Division – Runners up x1
                         English Second Division – Champions x2

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Star player: Steve Bloomer – DOB 20 January 1874, Cradley, England
An all-time legend and a prolific scorer for club and country. His favourite trick was the so-called “daisy cutter”, a fast, powerful shot hit low into the goals. At 12 years old, Bloomer started work as a blacksmith which helped him build strength. He started with Derby County in 1891-92, just the fourth season of the Football League. Due to an admin mistake, two of Derby’s regular starters were ineligible to play against Stoke, so Bloomer was thrown on to make his debut. He scored 2 goals in that game. After a successful tenure at Derby, Bloomer joined Middlesbrough for £750, where he played with Alf Common, the first £1000 footballer and Fred Pentland. Out for seasons there, Bloomer ended up top scorer in two of them, before returning to Derby after they had been relegated to the Second Division. He helped them win back promotion and played his final game for the Rams in 1913 at the age of 40. After his playing days, Bloomer moved to Spain and became a Copa del Rey winning coach. In late 1937 while Bloomer was gravely ill, his old club Derby paid for him to go on a cruise to Australia and New Zealand. He enjoyed the cruise and passed away 3 weeks after returning to England. His Spanish club, Real Union and Derby County began an annual fixture in October 2017 in which they compete for The Steve Bloomer Trophy.