Derby County's recent history was affected by Aston Villa - It could have been so different | OneFootball

The Rams lost to Villa in the 2018/19 Championship play-off final, their fortunes have gone massively downhill since.

Derby County will surely look back on their 2019 Championship Play-off Final defeat to Aston Villa and wonder what could have been.

The Rams enjoyed a fantastic season under Frank Lampard and produced a stunning comeback against much-fancied Leeds United in the semi-final, only to fall narrowly short at Wembley.

Villa secured an estimated £170million for winning that tie and have since become a Champions League club for the first time in 41 years (when it was known as the European Cup). Meanwhile, Derby’s fortunes couldn’t have been more different, having suffered relegation into League One as well as their very future as a club coming under threat.

With the East Midlands outfit battling the drop once again under John Eustace this term, they must surely look back on that season with regrets.

Derby County enjoyed a fantastic season in 2018/19 under Frank Lampard but fell short at the final hurdle

There is certainly an argument that the position Derby were in during the 2018/19 season was their strongest as a club in recent years.

The Rams had an exciting young side under Lampard and threatened to put an end to their run of 10 consecutive seasons outside the top flight.

Impressive loanees like Mason Mount, Harry Wilson and Fikayo Tomori combined with the likes of Tom Lawrence, Martyn Waghorn and Jack Marriott provided Derby with a squad of genuine top-quality for the division.

Throw in emerging academy talents like Jayden Bogle, and the Rams arguably had one of their strongest squads in recent memory.

Lampard’s men ultimately finished sixth, and were faced with the daunting task of a match-up against Marcelo Bielsa’s much-fancied Leeds in the play-off semi-finals.

The tie was made all the more enthralling by the fact that the Whites had been fined earlier on in the season when a member of their coaching staff was found acting suspiciously outside Derby’s training ground in a saga that became known as ‘spy gate.’

Leeds left Pride Park with a 1-0 win to carry into the semi-final’s second leg and they had a commanding grip on the tie when they then took an early lead at Elland Road.

However, Derby battled back in impressive fashion, with substitute Jack Marriott netting twice to seal a 4-2 victory on the night (4-3 on aggregate) and with it, a date at Wembley.

However, after that emotionally charged night in Yorkshire, Derby were unable to achieve the promotion that would have been so valuable to them. Lampard’s side were beaten 2-1 by Villa at Wembley in what was their second Championship play-off final defeat in just six years.

Derby County fortunes have gone downhill since Wembley defeat - what could've been?

The 2018/19 season was Derby’s fourth top six finish in the Championship in the space of six years. However, in the five campaigns since that Wembley defeat, they haven’t come close to reaching the same heights again.

They finished 10th under Philip Cocu in the following season, before surviving relegation on the final day of the season under Wayne Rooney in 2020/21. However, they could do little to escape slipping into League One the following campaign, when they were deducted 21 points by the EFL after breaching multiple financial rules.

With the club in administration for the majority of the season, Rooney’s charges battled bravely against the drop, even amassing enough points to have finished 17th without the deduction, but they ultimately fell into League One for the first time since 1986.

Since then, there has at least been some degree of optimism surrounding the club. Previous owner Mel Morris eventually sold the club to David Clowes in the summer of 2022, ending a period of nine months in administration in the process.

The Rams now find themselves back in the Championship, and once again facing a survival fight ahead of themselves.

John Eustace’s side have 12 games to salvage their second tier status and avoid an immediate return to League One, which would undoubtedly put a halt on the recent progress the club has made.

With the way the last few seasons have gone for Derby, they must surely regret the way the 2018/19 campaign ended for them.

You can never say for certain in football, but if it had been them earning that all-important Premier League promotion and the £170million that came along with it, who knows where they would now be as a club.