A glittering array of some of the all time greats from Derby County’s golden years assembled at Pride Park yesterday to celebrate one of the club’s greatest achievements.
The occasion was the launch of Michael Cockayne’s new book "Derby County Champions 1974/75.
The book has been on general release for a few weeks now but it was felt that the events recalled within it s pages deserved something special.
And that is precisely what it got.
Competition winners and invited guests mingled with the majority of the championship winning squad, management and author.
Although the focus of attention was on the likes of Roy McFarland, Francis Lee and co along with manager Dave McKay and his assistant Des Anderson author Michael Cockayne’s story was almost as interesting as the one written down on the pages.
He has been a lifelong Rams fan who followed his side throughout the championship winning years and even before then but has been incapacitated with poor health. Looking for something to pass the time while enduring regular treatment for his problems decided to write the book.
It has been a real labour of love and he seemed more excited about meeting some of his heroes, both when writing the book and at the reception than he did about it about it being published.
It was also fascinating to see some of the best footballers of their generation seeking signatures for their personal copies of the book alongside the guests and fans.
The book is full of golden memories and Ron Webster, Roger Davis, Steve Powell and the rest made those memories even more real on the day.
There was not a person to be seen walking away from the launch with anything other than a huge smile on their face.