Highlights
- Derby County got Craig Bryson for a steal, paying only £350k for a player who became a club legend with 276 appearances and iconic performances.
- Bryson’s impact went beyond promotion challenges, giving Derby some of their best moments with key games and memorable goals, like his hat-trick against Nottingham Forest.
- The Scottish midfielder proved that fantastic players can be found at great prices, driving his team forward and becoming a fans’ favorite without breaking the bank.
This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Derby County signed Craig Bryson from Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock in the summer of 2011, in a move that seemed to go under the radar at the time.
Flash forward to 13 years later, and the Scottish midfielder is regarded as a modern-day club legend, after making 276 appearances for the club until he left the Rams in 2019.
Bryson, who is now 37, cost Derby a mere £350,000 initially before a further £100,000 was added on to the deal through an appearance bonus.
Despite his low fee, he played a vital role under a host of managers, including Steve McLaren, Paul Clement, Darren Wassall, and Frank Lampard as the Rams tried, but failed, to reach the Premier League once again.
Nevertheless, his impact on the club went further than promotion challenges, with Bryson giving Derby supporters some of their greatest days in the 2010s, through key performances and iconic goals.
Bryson was a bargain for Derby
Nigel Clough brought Bryson to Pride Park as his third signing of the 2011/12 campaign, hoping that the former Kilmarnock captain could give the Rams the bite in midfield that they had been lacking for some time.
In his first season, the then 25-year-old won Derby’s Player of the Season award, after scoring six goals and picking up six assists in the Championship to help the team to a 12th place finish, their best since returning to the second tier in 2008.
FLW’s Derby Fan Pundit, Shaun Woodward, thinks that Bryson is one of the Rams’ greatest signings in the modern era.
He said: “He’s the biggest bargain in my time as a Derby fan.
“He was reportedly around £300k, and he went on to play nearly 300 games for us. He scored so many goals for the club, and he was actually a driving force for the team for the years that he was at Derby.
“He was Derby’s Player of the Year twice and got in the Championship Team of the Year as well.”
| Craig Bryson Derby County Stats (TransferMarkt) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Assists | |
| 2011/12 | 44 | 6 | 6 |
| 2012/13 | 37 | 5 | 5 |
| 2013/14 | 45 | 16 | 14 |
| 2014/15 | 38 | 4 | 5 |
| 2015/16 | 21 | 3 | 0 |
| 2016/17 | 34 | 2 | 2 |
| 2017/18 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018/19 | 28 | 3 | 2 |
Bryson gave Derby supporters some magical moments
It is not often that one player creates so many memories for the fans of a club, however, Bryson was special and often took games by the scruff of the neck and made them his own.
In September 2012, he scored the winner at the City Ground against bitter rivals Nottingham Forest, with his celebration now iconic, as he clinched hold of the net in front of Derby’s travelling support.
He scored his first-ever hat-trick in a dominant 5-1 win away to Millwall a year later, smashing in two wondergoals, before firing in his third in Clough’s fourth to last game in charge.
However, it was his treble against Forest that will live long in the memory of supporters, becoming the first Derby player since Steve Bloomer in 1898 to score a hat-trick in the East Midlands Derby.
Shaun believes that Bryson has proven that you can find the right player for a fantastic price if you just look hard enough.
He said: “He was just an absolutely amazing player and a person who just drove everyone around him forward.
“He just expected the best from everyone and gave his all to the club. He was an absolute fans’ favourite, and it just went to show that you don’t have to spend millions to get brilliant players that really want to play for the club and fans could relate to him.
“So, for me, he goes down as one of our best-ever signings, especially in my time as a Derby fan.”
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