Recent years have seen Derby County bring in a number of noteworthy additions, with a number of players making an impression on Rams legend while they were in the East Midlands.
With six games left in their season, Pride Park’s current generation of talent has the chance to make history by being promoted to the Championship this year. Paul Warne’s team is in the automatic promotion spots.
However, one player in particular—Craig Bryson—is remembered as a legend when it comes to his time at Derby.
His greatest game, though, was when he scored a hat-trick to establish himself as one of the all-time greats to don the notorious black and white stripe against the Rams’ fiercest rivals.
Craig Bryson chose to stay at Rugby Park for the remainder of the 2010–11 season after being connected to a move to Hearts, a team in the Scottish Premier League. This decision sparked interest from England in hiring the Scot.
Several Championship sides expressed interest in Bryson during the summer transfer window after he finished the previous campaign with two goals and four assists.
The Kilmarnock skipper was apparently being pursued by four teams, including the Rams, Hull City, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Leicester City.
After the Scottish club turned down two bids from Derby, a deal was finally concluded during the summer transfer window. A fee of approximately £350,000 was agreed upon, with an additional amount of approximately £100,000 contingent on appearances. Bryson would join players like Jamie Ward, Chris Maguire, and Jason Shackell at Pride Park after agreeing to a three-year contract.
The midfielder would go on to become one of the East Midlands team’s greatest acquisitions in recent memory, solidifying his place in the annals of the organization.
Despite an injury-plagued preseason, Bryson had a fantastic debut for Derby, scoring the game’s first goal in a 1-0 victory over Blackpool and leading the team to four straight wins from the opening day – the club’s best start to a season in 106 years.
After a strong start to the season, Derby moved up to fourth place in the standings. Manager Nigel Clough named Bryson the team’s best player thus far. That season, Bryson only missed three games, and he was recognized for his efforts by taking home the fans’ Player of the Season title.
Although Bryson would star once more the following season as Derby ended 10th in the Championship, his 2013–14 season exploits are always remembered with affection.
The Scot was predicted to face off against Paul Coutts, Jeff Hendrick, and Will Hughes for a spot in the starting lineup before the season began, but Bryson would wind up playing in every game until the 32nd round of fixtures. During the season, he would tally 16 goals, acquire 16 assists, and score two hat-tricks, the first of which came against bitter rivals Nottingham Forest in a 5-0 rout. This made him the first Derby player to accomplish so since Steve Bloomer in 1898 and earned him a recall to the Scotland team.
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