Ex-Player Interview: Gregory Looks Back On Three ‘Amazing Years’ During Derby’s Rise

John Gregory will forever be regarded as instrumental figure in Derby County’s rise from the Third Division to the top-flight in the 1980s.

The midfielder was signed from Queens Park Rangers in 1985 by Arthur Cox as a 31-year-old to add vital experience in the Rams’ quest for promotion.

After racking up nearly 500 appearances at Northampton Town, Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion and then QPR, Cox felt Gregory could play a similar role to the one that Dave Mackay had held under Brian Clough in the past.

In being the old head of the side and guiding the younger players Gregory’s influence, as it turned out, was huge.

The former England international starred as Derby secured automatic promotion from the Third Division in 1985/86 – and he played in all 42 games as the Rams won the Second Division title the following season.

After those two glorious seasons, his experience once again came to the fore as Cox’s side established themselves back in the top-flight with a 15th place finish in 1987/88.

Gregory told dcfc.co.uk in 2017: “At the time when I came in, Arthur told me that he wanted me to do what Dave Mackay had done in the past for the club.

“He told me that I was an old head with experience and with that, he felt that I could help some of the more younger players - he brought me in to do a specific job in that respect.

“I can remember coming to the ground to talk to both him and Roy McFarland and they sold me the move within five minutes - but I wanted to go home and think about it.

“I came back a couple of days later, signed the contract and played that Thursday night for the reserves against Leeds United and there were about 3,500 fans at the Baseball Ground. I remember thinking how are there this many fans here to watch a reserve match?

“I had an amazing three years and it was just really happy times because we had a couple of promotions and we managed to stay in the top-flight as well, which was great. It was such a fantastic period in my life.”

Although the players were the ones that crossed the white line and did the business on the pitch, Gregory says Cox deserves a huge amount of credit for turning the club’s fortunes around.

His man-management skills are regularly lauded by those that played under him and, after a turbulent time in the early 80s, he steered the Derby ship back in the right direction.

Gregory said: “The key to it all was the manager Arthur Cox - he kicked our backsides every day and expected the best from everybody. Arthur never got carried away, whether we lost or won – that kept both his feet and our feet on the floor.

“The Baseball Ground was a daunting place for the opposition to come to.

“It was an amazing transformation to see the state that we were in two years before that, but Arthur did a great job and was instrumental in it all.”

He added: “Whilst I never thought that we would be playing against the best teams around, Arthur always believed that it could happen, and he told us that.

“Without expecting too much, he sort of said that if we turn this place around, then once Derby County get going, they are very hard to stop because of their history and because of their tradition.

“That is how he sold the club to us and I bought into that dream – because it was one that I believed could happen.

“Even in the Third Division, Derby County were a big fish and you would see packed houses at every stadium because everybody wanted to come and watch us play.”

Gregory admits he was taking a big risk when swapping Loftus Road for the Baseball Ground.

During his time at QPR, which ran between 1981 and 1985, Gregory was part of the Hoops side that reached the 1982 FA Cup Final – although they tasted defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

He did however have success in West London as they gained promotion to the First Division and qualified for the UEFA Cup.

Gregory also admits he was fortunate to play for some of the most highly-regarded managers of his era.

Looking back, he recalled: “I was very fortunate to work for both Terry Venables and Arthur Cox – both were chalk and cheese as people and very, very influential as managers.

“Terry was a very good coach, whereas Arthur was a fantastic manager and motivator.

“Going to Derby was a big step for me because only 18 months before I had been playing for England but once I went there and saw everything that was on offer, I just got the feel for it.”

He had spells at Portsmouth, Wycombe Wanderers and Aston Villa in the 1990s and early 2000s before being in charge of Derby between January 2002 and March 2003.

Gregory went on to manage another of his former clubs in QPR between 2006 and 2007 before venturing to Israel to take over at Maccabi Ahi Nazareth and later F.C. Ashdod.

He returned to English shores to manage Crawley Town in 2013, although his time was cut short owing to health problems at the end of 2014.

In July 2017, Gregory took over as manager of Indian Super League side Chennaiyin and guided them to their second ever-title in 2018 before leaving his post at the end of 2019.