My name is Jim Coyle and I’m currently on the board of Ramstrust as Vice-Chair.

My first Rams match was in August 1962 when my father took me to the Baseball Ground to see The Rams play Stoke City. He was very keen for me to see Stanley Matthews play. The paper said he was playing but Stan was injured and didn’t turn out that day!

In this occasional series I will be discussing and selecting The Best of The Rams…the players who, in my opinion, have been the very best Rams of my time.

Positional titles have changed…what was once a “wing half” is now a “holding midfielder” or a “box to box” player. An old-fashioned inside forward is now a “number 10” or “playing off the striker”. The titles are interchangeable but my selected players had the capacity and ability to excel in any era.

Some of my selections will be desperately difficult but I’m starting with, in my opinion, one of the easiest.

GOALKEEPERS

The first ‘keeper I saw was Ken Oxford but the first I remember was a wily old character called Reg Matthews.

Reg was the most expensive goalkeeper in the country, maybe the world, when he left Coventry for Chelsea in the mid-1950s and played for England on a few occasions. He came to Derby in the early 1960s. It took a very brave or a very stupid centre forward to encroach into Reg’s personal space as his well-placed studs, knees and elbows quickly persuaded the intruder to think twice before repeating his error.

Reg was followed, temporarily, by Colin Boulton who in turn was replaced by the diminutive Les Green.

Les is worthy of a line or two, being probably the smallest goalkeeper I’ve ever seen but his agility made him spectacularly effective in Brian Clough’s second division promotion team.

Les eventually gave way to the legendary Colin Boulton. Colin played close to 300 times for The Rams and deservedly won two League Championship medals. He could and probably should have won a cap. I remember the occasional newspaper article calling for the entire Rams “back five” to be selected en bloc.

Boulton, Webster, McFarland, Todd and Nish.

He will, without doubt, be remembered as one of the greats in the club’s history.

I remember my next ‘keeper of note for all the wrong reasons. That absolute and total disaster Tommy Docherty swapped Archie Gemmill for John Middleton. I know…it still sounds unbelievable 40-odd years later. Sadly for John, he retired through injury aged 23 and even more sadly passed away at only 59.

I can happily skip over the likes of David McKellar, Steve Cherry and Roger Jones not because they weren’t competent but simply because they aren’t particularly memorable. This brings me to the legend that is Peter Shilton.

There is little doubt that Shilton was past his absolute best when he joined The Rams but he was still playing for England and had some great years at the Baseball Ground. Shilton was and is an all-time footballing great and the most capped England player of all time. Along with the likes of Mark Wright and Dean Saunders, his signing signalled a temporary resurgence in the Rams’ fortunes and ambitions.

Shilton was followed by a couple of custodians who both deserve a mention. Steve Sutton because of his consistency and Martin Taylor because of his courage and potential. Who knows what Taylor could have achieved without his sickening leg break? His career lasted over 20 years, most of it with Wycombe Wanderers but it could have been so much more.

Next in line came Russell Hoult and Mart Poom who both made newspaper headlines but for differing reasons; Poom for his outstanding performances and Hoult for….I’ll leave it there…

Poom was a powerhouse of a goalkeeper. Big, brave, agile and a definite fans’ favourite. He played 120 times for his country and who will ever forget the towering header he scored against us at Pride Park whilst playing for Sunderland? If you’ve not seen it find it on YouTube. You won’t see a better headed goal.

Then came Andy Oakes and the two Lees, Grant and Camp all of whom did a decent job with the Ram on their chest. Lee Grant only retired at the end of last season having spent time at Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday before a final few years as third keeper at Old Trafford. Lee Camp had the huge misfortune to play for Notts Forest for a few years before coming to his senses and moving on to a plethora of other clubs before winding down at Wrexham.

Then followed a succession of moderate ‘keepers with only a few worthy of individual mention.

Stephen Bywater was a “character” to say the least. Very capable but also prone to error. His finest hour arrived at Wembley in 2007 when a Stephen Pearson goal took us back to the Premier League.

Frank Fielding. Decent but never quite big enough and never quite good enough. Frank has had a decent career in the middle and lower leagues spending his longest stint with Bristol City

Scott Carson, a terrific keeper, understandably left us to become a very well-paid “bench warmer” at Manchester City. But what a waste of his last few years.

David Marshall was another excellent signing whose brief stay was the result of impending financial chaos

A few more came and went without leaving us with many memories which bring us neatly to the present day.

Joe Wildsmith has had a very promising first year. Let’s see if he has the capability to improve and climb the leagues with us.

How’s that for optimism?

There we have it.

I’ve left a few out…maybe I’ve left your favourite out…but that’s my quick summary of the last 62 years!!

So…who gets my “number 1” shirt?

No hesitation with this one. The goalkeeper in my personal all-time Rams XI is…

Mart Poom