Learner’s Podcast 26 – Derby County

On this week's show Hans talks about the club he follows, Derby County and Damon introduces another English for football phrase. Try out ourA worksheetsA orA online quizzesA to help you practice your listening and vocabulary skills. TranscriptIf youa€™re looking for consistency in the Premiership this year, look no further than the great Derby County football team. Thata€™s right ladies and gentlemen, the Rams are the most consistent team in the Premiership. And why? Well, you can look at the league table and you can see why. They seem to lose every week. But I believe they are a great football club. Leta€™s tell you why.A First of all, I am a passionate Derby County fan. I have been all my life, and I will never support any other team. This year, you may think, how is it possible to support such a terrible team? Looking at the table youa€™ll see theya€™ve had only one victory, at home against Newcastle. Theya€™ve had a couple of draws away and a couple at home and the rest have been losses: sometimes 3, 4, 5 and even six nil games. Billy Davies, the manager who brought them up to the Premiership last year, has been sacked, replaced by Paul Jewel. And last week Derby were beaten at home by Championship strugglers Preston North End 4 to 1.A Are you wondering why Ia€™m so happy at being a Derby County fan? Because this week was a big week for them. This week, not only did we draw with Man City, picking up a point to take our tally to eight, but we also have new owners. Now recently, the thought of having American owners in the Premiership has had a bit of a bad taste about it. But in Derby, this is actually quite good news because Derby County has had a very torrid past few years. It was only a couple of years ago that my team was languishing at the bottom of the Championship facing relegation, much like Leeds United did last year, and with masses of debt piling up. But then, along came a good season. Along came promotion. And now, new owners, who have reportedly put in A£50 million to keep the club afloat, pay off their debts and inject some money into the transfer market for new players.The future for Derby County is bright. Yes, they will probably be relegated. Yes, they will probably be playing Championship football next year. But I for one am delighted because with this new money Derby should be able to compete for better players, and they should be aiming for promotion again: if not next season then the following season.A  And they should come back into the Premiership with an excellent base upon which to build.And dona€™t forget Derby have a fantastic fan base. This season, this season of loss upon loss, they still pull over 30,000 fans to all their home games, which is a lot better than some other Premiership teams. And they still are the Rams playing at Pride park, and for me, the only team worth watching in the Premiership.Go the Rams! Go Derby County.A