For many Rams fans who remember Jim Smith’s Derby County side of the mid-to-late 1990s, Dean Sturridge epitomises the exciting attacking football of that era. A product of the Rams’ youth system, the lightning-quick striker was instrumental in the 1995/1996 promotion campaign, hitting 20 goals to fire Derby into the Premier League. Now working as a football agent, Dean played a key role in bringing one of John Eustace’s new signings to Pride Park this summer.

“A very important one for me was Dion Sanderson moving to the club that I love, Derby County!” laughs Dean. “There were times in pre-season when we thought there was maybe a deal, then times that we thought the deal was off when other players were brought to the football club. Then it all happened very quickly within 24 hours. John Eustace and I had a phone call and he said he definitely wanted to do the deal, so that was great news for Dion, and great news for the business as well.”

Christmas on the south-east coast

Dean began his career as a trainee with the Rams and made his first-team debut in January 1992 in a 1–0 defeat at Southend United. Over the next few seasons his first-team opportunities were limited, with Derby owner Lionel Pickering’s big-money attacking signings of Paul Kitson, Tommy Johnson and Marco Gabbiadini pushing him down the pecking order. In December 1994, Dean was loaned to Torquay United where he made an immediate impact, scoring five goals in just ten appearances.

Dean recalls: “My loan at Torquay was the first time where I really grew up and understood what football meant to players that are paying for mortgages and for their livelihood where every tackle, every pass, every shot, and every point was important. Don O’Riordan was the manager and he took a lot of time with me which I appreciated. Darren Moore, who I now represent, was the captain and Chris Curran who went to my school, Saint George’s in Birmingham, were there so it was very easy to integrate into the team with the Birmingham lads. I quickly started to score goals and get the adulation of the fans which was a real catalyst for me to understand how professional I had to be. Fast forward to the start of the 1995/1996 season at Derby, I was thinking because of how well I had done at Torquay, I may have a chance of being around the first team squad.”

‘I heard that you were a good player?’

After Dean had returned from Torquay, Roy McFarland was replaced as Derby manager by Jim Smith in the summer of 1995. But despite his successful loan spell, Dean still had work to do to get into the Derby first team.

“When training was on there was the first team, a second team and the third team and I was with the third team squad” says Dean. “So it was a real rude awakening and probably rightly so. Derby were in the Championship and Jim was looking at other players who had a more consistent record like Mark Stallard and Darren Wrack, the two young lads who were playing in the striking positions ahead of me. But I always had a total belief in myself. When Darryl Powell came to the club and was going to train with the first team, I was walking away with the third team players and he said to me: ‘What are you doing over there Deano? I thought I heard that you were a good player?’. He had played with Paul Hall at Portsmouth who had told him about me so Darryl was a bit surprised that I wasn’t training with the first team. I said: ‘it’s a long season; I believe that I will be one of the main players by the end of the season. Just watch, it’s only a matter of time’. And Darryl probably looked at me like I had two heads because he knew I had not even trained with the first team, but that was the belief I had in myself and thankfully it all came to fruition in the end.”

So how did Dean make his way into first-team contention?

“I played in a reserve team friendly. Jim Smith and Steve McClaren were there watching and I was a real threat; I think I scored a goal or two. Then the next morning when I was going back to my car after training at the Baseball Ground Steve came out and shouted my name and said the manager wanted to speak to me. So I went back into Jim’s office and he said he wanted me to sign a new contract. I told him that I am not even anywhere near the first team, I might as well look to go elsewhere and Jim said: ‘don’t cut your nose off to spite your face. You’ll be on the bench in the game at the weekend [the first game of the season against Port Vale] and it’s up to you to sign the bloody contract’. So I listened to his words, trusted him, believed what he was saying and signed the contract. And I was on the bench which was a live game on the TV and got on for about ten minutes at the end and was lively. The game after that we were away to Reading, I came on for half an hour and scored a goal, then I was up and running and in the team for the next game and never looked back”.

Derby made a slow start to the 1995/1996 season winning just two of their opening ten fixtures. A heavy 5-1 defeat at Tranmere Rovers on 4 November – which was also the debut of Croatian defender Igor Stimac – left the Rams languishing in 17th place with only four wins from 15 games. However, that setback proved to be a turning point as Derby immediately went on a 20-match unbeaten run from November to March, including seven wins in a row throughout December and early January. What does Dean remember about that period of the season?

“We were at the training ground at Raynesway after about five or six games when we were in and around the bottom three and the lads were a bit worried because we thought we would be higher up the table. Steve McClaren told us to keep on doing what we were doing, that he and Jim believed we were a team that can get promoted and that things will click and come together. And obviously they did. I didn’t play [in the defeat at Tranmere] – one of the numerous injuries in my career! I remember the lads coming in on the Monday saying it was an absolute shambles, that everybody was all over the place and they didn’t have a clue what they were doing. But then we trained on the Thursday after that fixture. I was back training and fit. Igor was in the sweeper position, Gary Rowett and Dean Yates in the centre-back positions, and then a midfield of Darryl and Robin van der Laan, Ronnie Willems in the hole and me and Marco Gabbiadini upfront. We played as the Probables v Possibles and we won 5-1 or 6-1 in that training session. Everybody just knew their jobs and were interchanging positions fluidly and seamlessly. We came off that session and all the boys who played in the Probables just said, ‘we’ve got it.’ From then I said I felt like we could win the league.”

From steak and rosé to the Premier League

At just 22 years old Dean was one of the younger members of Derby’s 1995/1996 promotion-winning side. What kind of support and guidance did he receive from the senior professionals in the squad during that season?

“Sean Flynn and Robin van der Laan would be the ultimate professionals eating pasta and all the right foods and they would be taking the mickey out of me because I would have a steak lunch and a glass of rosé and we would have loads of banter. It just made me feel really relaxed and part of things. They knew exactly what to do and at that stage I had never talked to anybody about my nutrition. Sean and Robin would educate me about what food to eat to give the best possible chance for my body to go into a game at 100% and how to look after my body properly to reduce the chance of injuries or fatigue. Robin had a real ability to talk to people in the right way and in the right tone. He knew when to have a laugh on the training pitch and when to be professional and do things properly. He played a massive part in that penultimate game of the season against Crystal Palace.”

Derby’s final home game of the 1995/1996 season was against Crystal Palace with the Rams knowing that three points would result in automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Dean recalls: “Jim and Steve took us to Champneys [Champneys Springs, a popular training facility in Leicestershire used by amateur and professional teams] for two or three days before the game, which was the perfect preparation in relaxing the squad which really took away the pressure. I was at the bar with Robin and Darryl and told them that I wasn’t sure whether I would be starting the game against Crystal Palace. They told me that I would definitely be starting and that the team just need one more performance from me which would be enough for us to get promoted. That really calmed my nerves knowing that the captain and my teammates believed in me, which allowed me to express myself confidently on the day. I remember watching the TV highlights of the game afterwards and it showed me walking into the Baseball Ground with the biggest smile and the most relaxed nature, and that’s exactly how I felt on the day. Leading up to the game in the changing room I thought there was only going to be one winner. I thought I was going to score [the winner] and be the hero but Robin van der Laan took that away from me so I got that part wrong!”

“I scored within the first few minutes and that goal was something that we had worked on the training pitch, it wasn’t spontaneous or lucky. Igor made the clearance to Paul Simpson and as he received the ball he didn’t even look up for me. He just played it into an area because he knew that I would be running instinctively, so that goal illustrated what kind of team we were and how we were so direct and effective with our play. Just by how the goal was scored, there was an assuredness to it in the three touches between Igor, Paul and myself. You could see it was a confident finish. It wasn’t a ‘hit and hope’, so I think that goal illustrated how the team felt. We were very, very confident on the day.”

“After the game I remember being in the changing room and seeing Ronnie Willems in the bath right up to his neck in water with a cigar in his mouth. Then just copious amounts of Champagne in the changing room and people smoking cigars. I had a puff of a cigar for the first time in my life and nearly threw up and never touched them again.”

Top players, teammates and famous goals

When the fixtures for the 1996/1997 season were released in June it was confirmed that Derby’s first game back in the top flight would be at home to Leeds United. The season opener proved to be a thriller, ending in a 3–3 draw with Dean netting twice in the final 15 minutes to announce himself on the Premier League stage. The Rams adapted impressively to life in the top flight finishing 12th in their first season back among the elite. Memorable victories included home wins over Chelsea and Tottenham, as well as the famous 3–2 triumph against Manchester United at Old Trafford in April – a match that also marked Paolo Wanchope’s unforgettable debut and stunning solo goal. How did the team make the step up to compete successfully in the Premier League?

“We had a youthful naivety and a winning mentality from the Championship. We were in a higher league but we felt that we could test ourselves against those teams. Igor Stimac played a huge part in Aljosa Asanovic coming to the club and Steve McClaren asked Igor how he though we would get on in the Premier League. Igor’s answer was: ‘with me at the back and Ace (Asanovic) in midfield and Dean upfront with his pace we will have no problem and we will finish mid-table minimum’. Knowing that two Croatian internationals who are top players, and the captain at that stage, thought so highly of me gave me a lot of confidence.”

“Igor and Asanovic were the best technical players that I ever played with in terms of what they could do with a football and how much belief and confidence they had. Although Paul McGrath was at the end of his career he did things on match day that were mind blowing. He didn’t train much throughout the week but when it came to match day he just came alive. It was astonishing to watch somebody that still had a great understanding and great pace even at his older age.”

“Lee Carsley was a great player for Derby. He didn’t play as big a part as he wanted to in the promotion season, but he was great in the Premier League with his style of play and intelligence and understanding of the game. It was fantastic for me to be playing with another academy graduate in the first team environment. We would have banter on the coach on the way to games and sometimes we would be pinching ourselves saying, ‘remember when we were playing in front of one man and his dog and now we’re playing in front of thousands of people with fans cheering our names and applauding our passes and our goals?’ We would drive up and down the A38 from Birmingham and drop each other off at training. To go from young academy YTS boys to playing in the Premier League was a huge achievement for both of us.” 

“I remember watching Match of the Day after we had beaten Southampton [a 4-0 win in September 1997, Carsley scored the fourth goal]. I wasn’t playing, it was another game that I was watching because I had an injury or suspension. Lee dribbled around the edge of the box and whipped it in the far corner with his left foot and the camera panned to Steve McClaren holding his head in astonishment. For me it wasn’t astonishing because I had seen that finishing ability in youth team football often so I knew Lee could strike a ball well and that he had a really good ping and could find corners. Lee always played a deeper role in that Derby team because of the other players that were in the team. He was in that central defensive midfield Makele role and played it very, very well, but I knew he had the capacity to push further up the pitch. In terms of consistency, understanding the game and fulfilling his potential Lee Carsley was the best player I played with by a country mile.”

At this point we asked Dean if Lee is one of his clients.

“Please put that in! Say Dean’s talking about him like he is his agent, but he has never been his agent!” laughs Dean.

Dean scored 14 goals in all competitions throughout the 1996/1997 season and is Derby County’s record goal scorer in the Premier League with 32 goals. Which strikes rank as his favourites?

“For importance, my best goal was against Crystal Palace as we knew that whoever won that game would get promoted automatically so I think it really emphasised our confidence and belief in getting three points on the day. In terms of exposure and the impact that it had on myself to know what I was capable of, and then how the fans and media thought of me, was the goal against Arsenal at Highbury in our first year in the Premier League where the ball hit the crossbar and went in. My third best goal was the dink over David Seaman against Arsenal [a 3-0 win at Pride Park in 1997].When I was playing against those top teams, and especially Arsenal with that famous back four and goalkeeper, it made me realise that if I could do that against Arsenal, I was capable of scoring against any defence in the Premier League. I was playing against Tony Adams who was the captain of England, or Emmanuel Petit, a top player for France, and Patrick Vieira, Steve Bould, Nigel Winterburn and Lee Dixon, all top players.”

“The likes of Martin Keown and Tony Adams were hard but fair. They were proper competitors, they would step on my toes or pull my shirt but never intentionally try to hurt me, they would just make sure that I was going to have a difficult day at the office. Steve Walsh and Matt Elliott were the same at Leicester when I played against them. They would be intimidating verbally and as the ball was up in the air from a goal kick and I was going up for a challenge they would say: ‘you smash him’ or ‘it’s your turn to smash him’. I was never easily intimidated on the football pitch. I come from inner city Birmingham so I was used to verbal warfare. I never went on a football field intimidated by a defender or the opposition. I always felt it was an arena for me to show my abilities.”

The £7 million rumour

Dean’s Premier League form for the Rams did not go unnoticed, and it has become part of Derby County folklore that he caught the eye of Arsène Wenger, with a £7 million move to Arsenal reportedly on the table. How much truth is there to this story?

“I think Arsene Wenger and Arsenal were interested in me, but quite a few other clubs were interested as well. It wasn’t a case of ‘am I staying at Derby or going to Arsenal?’ and as players do nowadays force a move through to go to that football club. At the time I was advised by my agent to go on the transfer list to make a deal happen to leave Derby. Lionel Pickering had huge belief in me, even when I was in the reserves. Before Jim Smith came to the club, I remember players like John Harkes and others who had a little bit of an in to Lionel telling me that he thought I should be in the team, even going back to when it was Marco Gabbiadini and Paul Kitson up front. I think in some ways I was ‘his baby’ and he had a huge belief in me and he probably talked to Jim Smith to say: ‘give him a chance’. And because of that belief he put that figure of £7 million on my head but nobody in the Premier League was prepared to meet it. There were clubs who maybe were prepared to go to £5 million or £6 million but Lionel was adamant that it would have to be £7 million or I wouldn’t be going anywhere.”

Moving On and the Bald Eagle

Although Dean continued to find the net for the Rams, he struggled to recapture the form of earlier seasons and in January 2001 he signed for Leicester City for £375,000. By the time he left Derby County, Dean had made 190 appearances and scored 53 goals in all competitions. What were the circumstances behind his move to Leicester?

“I think I knew at the time that I needed a change and that I had overstayed my welcome. When it came to me leaving for Leicester I was in the last three months of my contract. I was playing in a reserve team game with Steve Round as manager, and I was thinking that I needed to keep my head above water and not get disillusioned with the game or get too depressed. I scored a couple of goals against Leicester’s reserves and as I was walking down the tunnel I said to their manager Garry Parker: ‘any chance of bringing me to your club?’. That was probably one of the first instances of me being my own agent and selling myself. Garry Parker talked to Peter Taylor off the back of that and within 24-48 hours of me making that comment I had signed for Leicester.”

“At that stage my relationship with Jim Smith had become a bit more distant. I wasn’t playing well enough and was having injuries and had probably known for the previous 18 months that I needed a change. There was no bad blood. After the move I remember sending Jim some Champagne and cigars. Although we’d had our ups and downs, I was still thankful for the huge part he played in my career. I would summarise my relationship with Jim as like a love-hate relationship. When I played well, I’d be the best striker in the world to him. On other days when I didn’t perform so well he would hammer me and would make me feel like I was the worst player on the pitch. Within the first six or eight weeks of being in the team Jim hammered me on the Saturday after a game. On the Monday morning I walked past his office with trepidation on the way to the changing room hoping that he was not looking out of the window. Jim saw me as I was walking past and he was jovial and happy go lucky: ‘Morning Dean! How are you doing?! How was your weekend?!’ It was like chalk and cheese and it was a real surprise to me but also a real education of understanding how Jim never held grudges or held onto things. And that was a good thing for our relationship because I was very similar, because we could go at it hammer and tongs and then move on quickly. I have a memory of a goldfish, which as a striker was how I had the capacity to keep on going back into the six yard box or 18 yard box because I couldn’t remember my mistakes or my misses. Jim was very up and down with his emotions, and you had to deal with that and accept it.”

Gambling and the Gordon Moody Foundation

Earlier this year, national media highlighted Dean’s struggles with gambling during his playing career. One striking example saw Dean gamble away his first signing-on fee which he had intended to use to buy his first car and had to borrow the money from a teammate. Today Dean serves as an ambassador for Gordon Moody, a UK charity dedicated to supporting those affected by gambling addiction.

“The life of a footballer is a fantastic job and I would never change it for the world. I feel like I fulfilled my potential, maybe even overachieved. I was affected by gambling throughout my career but didn’t realise it at the time. It was a form of escapism for me. The biggest gambling episodes were when I was not playing football. It was when I was injured and looking for escapism because I wasn’t allowed to do the thing I loved. It was my defence mechanism to not recognise my feelings or emotions.”

“What I would say to players today is to talk and communicate, connect with people. There is always somebody who is prepared to listen to you. You can feel totally isolated and don’t want to share what you’re going through because you don’t want to make people aware of that vulnerability. But talking about it is a huge strength, and that’s what I would advocate for any player today going through any form of addiction. Don’t leave yourself on that desert island. Connect, talk, and you will feel much better.”