Click here to read the story behind The Rumble in the Jungle
Sadly, the racing career of Shergar will forever be overshadowed by events on the night of February 8, 1983, when the horse was kidnapped, at gunpoint, from the Ballymany Stud in Co. Kildare, Ireland and never seen again. Nevertheless, whatever his ultimate fate, it should not be forgotten that his winning margin of ten lengths – which could have been larger, had jockey Walter Swinburn eased down inside the final furlong – in the 1981 Derby remains a record for the Epsom Classic.
Indeed, so far clear was he that John Matthias, jockey of the remote second, Glint Of Gold, thought he had won the race.
Having won the Sandown Classic Trial, over a mile-and-a-quarter, and the Chester Vase, over a mile-and-a-half, by ten lengths and twelve lengths, respectively, Shergar arrived at Epsom with, far and away, the best form of any horse in the Derby field. Unsurprising, he was sent off odds-on favourite, at 10/11, and what followed was later described by Timeform as ‘arguably the most one-sided Derby of modern times’. Rounding Tattenham Corner, the sweeping, downhill turn into the straight at Epsom, fully half-a-mile from the winning post, it became clear that Shergar would win, and win easily. He took a two-length lead with three furlongs to run and went further and further clear, leading commentator to exclaim, ‘The Derby is a procession!’ and ‘You need a telescope to see the rest!’
Watch Shergar’s 1981 Derby Win
In 2006/2007, Derby County finished third in the English Football League Championship and were promoted to the Premier League after beating West Bromwich Albion in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium. However, in 2007/08, Derby County became, without question, the worst team in the history of the Premier League, repeatedly hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons and breaking several unenviable records. Not exactly an ‘accomplishment’ you’d want as a club sponsor. Instead of drawing in online casinos uk as advertisers, local plumbers would surely soon become more likely!
The 2007/08 Premier League season started brightly enough, with a 2-2 draw against Portsmouth at Pride Park but, in the next four matches, the Rams conceded 22 goals and scored just one; after the fifth match of the season, a 6-0 defeat away to Liverpool, bookmaker Paddy Power began paying out on relegation bets. Ironically, in the sixth match, Derby County won their only match of the season, against Newcastle at Pride Park, leading manager Billy Davies to declare, ‘We’re up and running’.
Five days later, Derby County were beaten 5-0 away at Arsenal and, in November, with the Rams rooted firmly at the bottom of the Premier League table, Davies left the club ‘by mutual consent’ after eighteen months in charge. His replacement, former Wigan Athletic manager Paul Jewell, later described his decision to take over as ‘the worst move I’ve ever made’.
Jewell failed to improve results and, in late March, 2008, Derby County suffered the ignominy of becoming the first team to be relegated from the Premier League in March, with six games remaining. I’m pretty sure by this stage the players would’ve rather stayed home and played high roller online casinos . By the end of a wretched campaign, the Rams had still only won a single match, but lost 29 and, between September, 2007 and May, 2008, gone 32 consecutive league matches without winning. Derby County scored just 20 goals, but conceded 89, giving them a goal difference of -69 or, in other words, 44 goals worse than any other team in the Premier League, and amassed a paltry 11 points.
