iPro Stadium: Derby County 1-0 Plymouth Argyle

Derby County 1-0 Plymouth Argyle

Aerial shot of Pride Park (Bing Maps)

Programme - £2.00

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Derby County 2-2 Watford

Following our match at the City Ground in Nottingham where we watch Nottingham Forest verses Wolverhampton Wanderers, we were now traveling along the A52 making our way towards Pride Park for our second match of the day. Upon our arrival in Derby, we parked up on London Road (A6) and started walking towards the newly sponsored iPro Stadium (well known as Pride Park).

As we approached the stadium, we noticed the new Derby Arena next door with its impressive exterior (which at some angles look like an unhappy face!).

We started to walk around the stadium as atmosphere started to build up ahead of the must win game. On one of the corners of the stadium is the impressive Cloughie and Taylor bronze statue which features both of them carrying the first division trophy.

We continued to walk around the ground taking photos outside the iPro Stadium before visiting Subway for our evening meal. As we sat down and started to eat our subs, a large number of Kingsferry coaches (used by most London sides) starts to make their way into the coach park.

According to a Watford supporter in Subway, the club had offered free coach travel to Derby encouraging supporters to make their way up the M1 for another important match as they continue to seek promotion.

As we started to leave a now busy Subway, we got a programme and made our way around to our turnstiles in the bank holiday drizzle. We made our way through the turnstiles and watched the last 20 minutes of the Ipswich-Bournemouth match which ended 1-1.

Inspired by Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium, Pride Park was built between 1996 and 1997, coincidentally, by the same architects of Boro’s then new home. At first, Pride Park was opened with the stadium being complete apart from one unfilled corner which was later filled with two tiers of seating completing the bowl structure. Costing £28million to construct, the capacity of Pride Park is over 33,500 which is almost double the capacity of their previous crumbling home, The Baseball Ground.

Onto the match and Watford made the perfect start when Vydra volleyed his 13th goal of the season after Cyrus Christie's attempted clearance was charged down by Ighalo, creating the opening for Vydra to fire past Lee Grant, 0-1. Watford’s Motta could have no complaints at the penalty award or even his dismiss for denying a goal-scoring opportunity. On-loan Aston Villa striker Darren Bent thumped home his eighth goal for Derby from the spot to ease the tension around the iPro Stadium, 1-1. Tom Ince, son of Paul Ince, showed an equally cool head to steer home a quality finish 12 minutes into the second half, 2-1. Watford hit back with a superb equaliser to keep in touch with the automatic promotion places. Ighalo's perfect chest down from a long ball was matched by Adlene Guedioura's perfectly-weighted angled through ball from the right, the striker running on to the return and poking low past Grant into the far corner, 2-2.

Following the game, we made a quick escape running back towards the car in an attempt to beat any potential traffic. We made our way through Allenton, Shelton Lock, Chellaston, over the Swarkstone Bridge and getting back to North West Leicestershire for 10pm.

A very enjoyable day and no doubt about it very tiring too! Due to the vast amount of traffic and limited parking at football grounds nowadays makes it almost impossible to achieve two games in one day and could only be achieved during either Easter or Christmas during a congested fixture list.

<< part 1 – Nottingham Forest vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Derby County 2-1 Plymouth Argyle

I (Ross) saw this fixture back in 2006 when Derby that day won 1-0 and went onto win the Play off Final at the new Wembley Stadium. Since then Derby County went up and then back down from the Premier League with the lowest ever points total at the time. In their first season back in the Championship, they were in good form under the guidance of manager Paul Jewell. I took the train from Loughborough Station to Derby and walked the short distance to Pride Park. In the warm sunshine, I decided to walk around the ground before making my way in.

In the bright sunlight which at times proved to be difficult to watch the game, Argyle took the lead through Paul Gallagher’s 25 yard strike and then two goals by Rob Hulse and Paul Green for Derby. This win stretched Derby’s unbeaten run to seven matches in front of almost 28,500.

After the game, I walked back towards the station and I was back in Loughborough shortly after.

Derby County 1-0 Plymouth Argyle
With Derby County in good form during the festive period when games come thick and fast, we both decided it would be a good opportunity to go and see the high flying Rams. We left Coalville and took the short journey, going across the narrow Swarkestone Bridge and into Derby. We parked on off a residential street on London Road and walked the short distance to the stadium.

Inspired by Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium, Pride Park was built between 1996 and 1997, coincidentally, by the same architects of Boro’s new home. At first, Pride Park was opened with the stadium being complete apart from one unfilled corner which was later filled with two tiers of seating completing the bowl structure. Costing £28million to construct, the capacity of Pride Park is over 33,500 which is almost double the capacity of their previous crumbling home, The Baseball Ground.

Just before the game, the PA system played the Derby favourite ‘Steve Bloomer’s Watchin’ as sung by celebrity supporter Robert Lindsay (The song was inspired by the song ‘Up There Cazaly’) which was echoed around the stadium by the Derby supporters.

A moment of quality from the on-loan Arsenal striker, Arturo Lupoli settled a desperately poor game played in driving rain at Pride Park.

After the game, a quick dash to the car in the pouring rain and then back over the Swarkestone Bridge saw us back in Coalville not long after.