Derbyshire FA Centenary Cup
Introduction The '''Derbyshire FA Centenary Cup''' was an annual friendly association football competition, primarily played between Derbyshire's two professional clubs, Derby County and Chesterfield. It was contested, intermittently, from the 1983 season until 2010.
Background and history The Derbyshire FA Centenary Cup was founded in 1983 to celebrate the centenary of the Derbyshire Football Association and is contested in the form of a pre-season friendly. The first ever tie was a two-legged affair between Derbyshire's two Football League clubs, Derby County and Chesterfield, to earn the 'County Title'. Both matches were played mid-season, in November. The first leg, at Chesterfield's Saltergate, ended 5–2 to Derby and the return leg at the Baseball Ground finished in a 1–1 draw for a 6–3 aggregate win for Derby.After this, matches became single-legged. For the next two seasons, they were played at the beginning of the following season to fit in with to Derby County's touring schedules (so the 1984–85 match was actually played at the beginning of the 1985–86 season and the 1985–86 match was actually played at the beginning of the 1986–87 season), before becoming standard pre-season matches. This meant that two matches were played within six days of each other in 1986: one on 9 August for the 1985–86 season and one on 15 August for the 1986–87 season. The 1996–97 match broke the established timetable and was held in November.Originally, the venue alternated between Chesterfield's Saltergate and Derby's Baseball Ground but in recent years the fixture has been held solely at Chesterfield.After several years of sending their reserve team to fulfil the fixture, Derby County declined to enter the 2003 competition and were replaced by non-league Alfreton Town, who beat Chesterfield 2–0.Derby returned for next year's contest, but then pulled out again. This time the match was cancelled altogether for four years. It returned for the 2009–10 season, but has not been played since.
Rules Matches follow typical friendly competition rules, with a draw being decided on penalties.
Winners ===Total wins=== Club Wins Years won Derby County18 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 199–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2004–05 Chesterfield4 1994–95, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2009–10 Alfreton Town1 2003–04===Results===Data from Chesterfield FC. Season Home club Score Away club Attendance Notes1983–84(Two legs) Chesterfield 2 – 5  Derby County 2,853Derby County win 6–3 on aggregate Derby County 1 – 1  Chesterfield 1,184 1984–85 Derby County 3 – 2aet Chesterfield 2,296 Played at the beginning of the following season 1985–86 Chesterfield 1 – 5 Derby County 1,908 Played at the beginning of the following season 1986–87 Derby County 1 – 0aet Chesterfield 1,954 Played six days after the previous encounter to 'catch up' 1987–88 Chesterfield 0 – 2 Derby County 1,944 1988–89 Derby County 2 – 1 Chesterfield 2,031 1989–90 Chesterfield 0 – 2 Derby County 1,787 1990–91 Derby County 2 – 1 Chesterfield 2,702 1991–92 Chesterfield 1 – 2  Derby County 2,369 1992–93 Derby County 4 – 1 Chesterfield 4,112 1993–94 Chesterfield 2 – 7 Derby County 3,091 1994–95 Derby County 0 – 1 Chesterfield 2,435 1995–96 Chesterfield 1 – 3 Derby County 3,030 1996–97 Derby County 3 – 1 Chesterfield 2,746 Played in November, rather than pre-season 1997–98 Chesterfield 1 – 3 Derby County 2,812 1998–99 Derby County 1 – 1 Chesterfield 3,289 Derby County win 4–2 on penalties 1999–2000 Chesterfield  0 – 1 Derby County 1,503 2000–01 Chesterfield 1 – 1 Derby County 2,963 Chesterfield win 4–3 on penalties 2001–02 Chesterfield 3 – 0 Derby County 1,369 2002–03 Chesterfield 0 – 3 Derby County 1,557 2003–04 Alfreton Town 2 – 0 Chesterfield 911 2004–05 Chesterfield 1 – 5 Derby County 3,114 2005–06''No competition'' 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 Chesterfield 2 – 1 Derby County 3,716
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