Bobby: It was Rams or Arsenal
BOBBY Davison, one of Derby County’s greatest goalscorers, turned down Arsenal to join the Rams.
Davison was catching the eye playing for Halifax Town at the time when Arsenal came calling.
But Derby, in the Second Division and managed by Peter Taylor, had their eye on Davison and landed him for £80,000 in November 1982.
The striker went on to score 106 goals for Derby in 249 appearances and sits 10th in the club’s alltime scorers list.
He was leading scorer in five consecutive seasons in the 1980s and his goals helped to secure successive promotions in 1985-86 and 1986-87.
In an interview with RamsTV, Davison recalls how close he came to joining Arsenal and not Derby.
“I’d scored some goals against Derby for Halifax in the League Cup, which probably helped,” he said.
“Halifax won the first leg 2-1 and then I remember coming to the Baseball Ground for an evening game. We lost 5-2 and I managed to score again. Perhaps those goals put me on the radar.
“I scored a hat-trick
(for Halifax) against Wimbledon in the game after that as well, which was when they were the ‘Crazy Gang’ under Dave Bassett. Arsenal were watching me and I had a phone-call asking me to go down there for a few weeks on trial.
“Terry Neill (Arsenal manager) offered me a contract but at the same time Derby were in contact with Halifax, too.”
Arsenal’s contract offer was for a year with the option of a second. Derby offered a three-year deal.
“The way Derby put it to me, I was going to go straight in the team. In a way, Arsenal suggested I would be a fringe player,” said Davison.
“At that age, I felt I had to take the chance at Derby and I am glad I did.”