Not many players can say that they have won major honours, beaten Barcelona in the Champions League and played in a tournament semi-final for their country.


Derby County’s Joe Ledley is one of those players, and after success with Celtic, Premier League experience with Crystal Palace and a glorious summer in France with Wales at Euro 2016, the dancing midfielder is ready for his next challenge.

He may have joined later than he would have liked, but having scored on his debut at Brentford and put in a solid midfield performance against his hometown club Cardiff City, Ledley has already hit the ground running.

In this exclusive interview, The Ram sat down with the club’s latest signing ahead of the Nottingham Forest game to talk about joining Gary Rowett’s side, going close to glory at the European Championships, his local derby experiences and making his home debut against the Rams' big rivals.

TR: To begin with Joe, were you aware of Derby County’s interest in you during the summer?

JL: There was interest at the beginning, I just had to wait for certain transfers to happen – or not happen – and when they came back calling and decided that they wanted me, it was a no-brainer for me. I wanted to get back into football as soon as possible, especially with international games coming up, and just being back in work and doing what I love doing. It’s a great club, there is great facilities – Premier League facilities – and hopefully we can get back on board and get ourselves higher in the league.

TR: Along with the facilities, what was it that attracted you to Derby County?

JL: Definitely the fans, it’s always a sell-out, or close to it, for most home games. I’ve played in good atmospheres, good grounds, and for me I think the fans are key to a player’s decision. You don’t want to come in and be playing in front of a stadium that’s half-empty, that’s no use to me. The manager was key as well. He’s a young manager who did well at Birmingham, I have always liked the way that he plays football and when I spoke to him I had that feeling – I’ve had it with previous managers as well – where I knew that this would be the right one for me.


TR: You’re on a short-term deal at the moment. Do you feel that it’s a win-win scenario – the club get a quality player, and you get to see if you want to be here long-term?

JL: When you’re at my age, you want security – you want to stay at a club for two or three years but I haven’t played for a long time. People know what I’ve done in the game, the manager knows and I think it worked out for the club and myself in the right manner. If I do well, then I’m sure that there will be an offer for a longer stay. It’s just about getting out there and playing again and a deal until January is fine with me. I just need to prove myself and show the experience that I have as a footballer.

TR: Does the short-term deal show that you back yourself to prove that you’re worthy of being here for a longer period?

JL: That’s down to me. People can advise me as much as they want but when I cross that white line, it’s down to me to perform as well as I can and earn the right to get a new contract. I just need to keep my head down and keep working hard. If I can continue playing as well as I can then I’ll be here longer.

TR: You went away on international duty in September and didn’t play because you were without a club, how frustrating was that experience and the instability that you must have been feeling?

JL: It was difficult, not just for me but for my family as well. They want to see me out there playing, but I’ve been as professional as I could, I’ve kept working hard, but there are lonely times. It was frustrating. When you see players going back for pre-season you do think to yourself: ‘I don’t miss that as much’, but once the season starts and you see them playing football, it was hard and frustrating. I just had to bide my time and thankfully Wales gave me the opportunity to meet up with them even though I didn’t have a club. It was a big effort for me, a lot of hard work but it paid off and I thank Chris Coleman for that and the coaching staff as well. I’m a bit of a fitness freak, I like looking after myself, that’s the sort of guy I am, I need to be busy and to be working.


TR: How did you spend your pre-season?

JL: I bought one of those fitness bikes, I was doing sessions on my own – sprints, long distance runs and luckily, I managed to see Sean Connolly - the physio at Wales who I’m close friends with. He treated me when I fractured my leg so I did a couple of sessions with him. It was frustrating but you have to do these things if you want to be a footballer.

TR: It’s unusual for a player of your quality and reputation to be without a club, did you not necessarily feel that the right opportunity came up?

JL: I had a lot of offers - abroad mostly - but with me being married with three kids, there wasn’t one that stood out. It would have been difficult to take the family over there, with the language barrier as well, so it was a difficult choice and I’m grateful that Gary has given me the opportunity to come to a great club. When I saw Gary, he sold the club to me straight away and the length of contract works for both me and Derby. With the delay in the transfer, you normally see this when you’re about 34 or 35, but it hit me when I was 30. My body is fine, I’m capable, I’m really fit and I know being the way that I am professionally that I can go for many years to come. I look after myself so it was a great opportunity for me to come here and show everyone what I can do.

TR: Was it a strange feeling to still be weighing up your options even when the season had started?

JL: I didn’t really have much game time last season, but rejecting a contract was never going to go down well with the club. I didn’t play as much as I would have wanted but there are circumstances that you’ve just got to take. It wasn’t nice to be fair, it took a few months, it was hard work and tough to deal with.

TR: Were you always confident that an opportunity would come around sooner or later?

JL: Myself, my family and my agent knew that there were clubs there, it’s just a case of waiting for the right one and it was a waiting game. When Derby came in, I spoke to the manager and I wanted to come here straight away. It was an easy choice for me and so far, I think I’ve made the right one.


TR: You made the perfect start on your debut with a goal at Brentford…

JL: It was a bonus for me - just to be out there playing was fantastic for me. Obviously, we would have liked the three points but it was just a great feeling to be back playing.

TR: When you look back at your career on the whole and what you’ve achieved, how do you reflect on what you have accomplished in the game?

JL: It’s been an amazing journey. I got hammered for leaving my hometown club and I thought it wasn’t the right move at the time, but once you sign for Celtic, it’s unbelievable. It’s a fantastic club, the best and biggest club that I’ll ever play for. Playing in the Champions League, beating Barcelona, the Old Firm derby is the biggest in the world as well. It was a great experience and I enjoyed every minute, but I like to have challenges in my life and one was to play in the Premier League. When Crystal Palace came in and Tony Pulis – who wanted me before at Stoke – I think it was the right time to leave. I played in the Premier League and helped keep Crystal Palace in the division – something that they had never done before – and we got to the highest position, then the FA Cup Final, so it’s been a fantastic journey and hopefully this isn’t the end and I can continue with Derby.


TR: And Euro 2016 must have been an incredible experience…

JL: It was fantastic. I was a little bit devastated that I wasn’t starting but just to be on the bench was a great feeling. Especially with this group, because we’ve been together for around 10, maybe 12 years now. We knew that we had the experience but we just had to get that final foot over the line. So many of us were playing in the Premier League and the desire and the passion we have is great and that’s what you need for the nation.

TR: Wales managed to combine individual quality with extraordinary togetherness that summer – was it a perfect scenario?

JL: If you have the individual quality without a team then it’s never going to work. Gareth [Bale] knows that he needs us just as much as himself, he knows that it’s a team game and that’s the beauty of football. We work hard but you need that little bit of quality and Gareth gives you that with Rambo [Aaron Ramsey] as well. It’s a fantastic journey.


TR: You suffered a serious injury prior to the tournament…

It was a pretty big fracture, so I thought that was it. Luckily Sean [Connelly] was there and he said that people heal differently. I had as much treatment as I could, I was in the chambers trying to get oxygen into the blood, I tried anything just to get me back quickly. I was getting up early and coming back late but they’re the things you have to do to be a professional footballer. I gave it everything I had.

TR: You have a lot of experience in local derbies – particularly the Old Firm games between Celtic and Rangers - and your first home game will be against the big one against Nottingham Forest.

JL: Local derbies are fantastic, it’s all about keeping your head and staying focused. I did it before with Celtic and Cardiff where I made mistakes, got booked and maybe the occasion got to me but with experience you know how to keep your head. Obviously if there is a 50/50 then you need to come out on top. The fans love it.


TR: The build-up for the Old Firm derby is so intense, how do you prepare for an occasion like that and how do you keep your concentration out on the pitch?

JL: At Celtic, we always used to do the huddle before kick-off and Scott Brown was not far away but you couldn’t hear him. He was shouting and you couldn’t hear him, I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. That proves how loud it is and the fans play a key role in these games. If they get behind the players, it gives them that boost, and a 1 per cent boost is a lot. They say: ‘play the game and not the occasion’, you’ve just got to play your own game because you do get caught up in the emotion and it’s like being a fan. But we need points in these games and the best way to do that is to have 11 players on the pitch.

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