[36] Meanwhile, results on the pitch weren't improving, with another poor performance away to Aston Villa (02) being followed by a 50 home defeat against a West Ham side ravaged by injuries. Paul Simpson also came in from big money (800k from Oxford United) as did Marco Gabbiadini (1.3m from Sunderland) and even Bobby Davison (who had left for Leeds United three years earlier), returned for a spell on loan and reached a century of goals for Derby, only the 7th player and most recent to do so, when he netted in a 22 draw with Newcastle United. [34][35] The poor start saw fans accuse Gadsby and the board of failing to invest properly in players for the club and, on 29 October 2007, Gadsby stepped down as chairman to be replaced by former Hull City owner Adam Pearson. Having just clinched promotion to Division One with an exciting Newcastle United side, Arthur Cox left St James' Park on a point of contract and Derby wasted no time in appointing him as manager in May 1984. David Derby - Ballotpedia Derby opened the 197071 season with a pre-season participation in the inaugural Watney Cup, an invitational tournament in which the top two scorers from all divisions of the Football League who had not earned promotion or European football, took part. Unlike the flair of Burley's playoff team, Davies side was built on a strong defence with more than 1 goal conceded in a match on just 4 occasions as a tightly knit defence of Marc Edworthy, Dean Leacock, Darren Moore and Mo Camara helped Bywater to keep 12 clean sheets, including 5 on the trot through January. . Burley achieved safety against a background of boardroom uncertainty Chairman Lionel Pickering, after putting temporary faith in former Coventry City chairman Bryan Richardson and a notional 30m bond, was removed from the chair after the club temporarily entered receivership by The Co-operative Bank, who instantly installed a new board composed of John Sleightholme, Jeremy Keith and Steve Harding, for the cost of 1 each. Bobby Davison (who finished top league scorer for the fifth season on a row, with 19 strikes, taking his league tally to 82 in 5 years) and Phil Gee grabbed 32 goals between them, half of Derby's total, and Cox's team set a club record with 11 away league victories to secure a return to top-flight football after a traumatic seven years away.