Derby County will face Stoke City in a pre-season friendly at Pride Park Stadium in July to celebrate Craig Forsyth’s long association with the club.
The meeting with the Potters, which will take place on Saturday 22nd July (3pm kick-off), will serve as Forsyth’s Testimonial Fixture.
Stoke, who are managed by Alex Neil, finished the 2022/23 season in 16th place in the Sky Bet Championship and will provide strong opposition as part of Derby’s pre-season games programme.
Forsyth, who joined Derby on a permanent basis from Watford ten years ago this summer, recently signed a new one-year contract until 2024 and he was also handed a special Long Service Achievement Award at the club’s End of Season Awards Dinner earlier this month.
In line with putting pen-to-paper on his new deal and after submitting a request, the defender was granted a testimonial to celebrate the achievement of ten unbroken years with the Rams.
The game will provide the opportunity for the club, and its supporters, to come together to celebrate Forsyth’s time with the club.
Forsyth, who is the longest-serving member of the Derby squad, arrived on a temporary basis from the Hornets in March 2013 before going on to sign on a permanent basis at the beginning of July in the lead-up to the 2013/14 season.
He has since gone on to record 308 appearances for the Rams, scoring seven times, and is one of only 30 players to make 300 or more appearances for Derby. In fact, he is only the second since the 1990s to achieve such a feat.
Forsyth made 52 appearances for Derby during the 2022/23 season and the vast majority came as a central defender, having spent most of his Rams career at left-back.
He’s also had to battle back from three long-term knee injuries, sustained in 2015, 2016 and 2018, but those injuries have not defined his time at the club. He has tackled every challenge head on and remained a vital member of the squad under each management team since 2013, highlighting his professionalism in varying circumstances.
Ticket information and more details about Craig Forsyth’s Testimonial Fixture will be confirmed in due course.
