Derby County team group 1971-1972 League Division One Champions
Derby County won the English First Division title twice in the 1970s

Two men jumped in the air next to a white car on a deserted street in Derby on May 8, 1972.

It was on the radio that I heard that Wolves had beaten Don Revie's Leeds United in the final game of the season.

Derby County was the English First Division champion.

The two men hugging and celebrating wildly, trying to raise the residents of Littleover after a tense and seemingly endless amount of added time at Molineux were Rams captain Roy McFarland and fellow defender Colin Todd.

We made enough noise, according to McFarland.

Colin got out of the car and we hugged. We were ecstatic, jumping up and down and shouting, making as much noise as we could to get the people out of their houses.

No-one showed up, with the two players and their partners setting off for London to meet up with the England squad.

While standing outside a row of houses as "surreal", he waited for the result from the game to come through and he was crowned champion.

The Rams were top of the table by a single point after a victory against Bill Shankly's Reds at a packed Baseball Ground in Derby a week earlier.

Two sides with superior goal difference over the Rams, the Reds and Revie's Leeds, could both overtake them with one game left.

Even if they missed out on the title, the Rams players had been on the Spanish island of Majorca for a few days to celebrate their best season in 25 years.

He was on a family holiday in the Isles ofScilly. The late, great manager uttered the famous words "I don't believe in miracles, but one's occurred tonight" just moments after the Rams became champions.

Brian Clough: 'Derby's championship win was a miracle'

The majority of the team in Majorca tried to listen to the game over the phone in Peter Taylor's room. They didn't learn of their title triumph until the following morning.

After leaving their team-mates on their end-of-season holiday to report for international duty, McFarland and Todd made sure to listen as their fate was decided for them.

We felt that one of those clubs would do it and therefore we wouldn't be champion, but it didn't happen and it went for us.

Would you have thought that the way they performed all season would lead to a loss? I don't think so. Would you have thought that Shankly would not do what was needed to win? But they did not. That pressure was the way it was.

We heard that full-time whistle on the car radio and it was unbelievable.

Derby County Players On Holiday In Majorca After The 1971-72 Season
Derby County players on holiday in Majorca in 1972, where most of them found out about being crowned English champions

When Derby were beaten 2-0 by Manchester City in their last game of the season, there were doubts about whether they would go on to win the English title.

After the Rams were knocked out of the FA Cup by Arsenal, attacker Alan Durban made a stern message to McFarland and his team-mates.

Derby won seven and lost two of their remaining 11 league games. John McGovern sealed the win against the Reds in the last match of the season to take them to the top of the table.

It was hard to deal with after being knocked out of the FA Cup.

Alan turned around in the dressing room and said that was a good sign. We will win the Championship and not worry about it.

I couldn't believe it or comprehend it at the time. We all wondered what he was talking about.

It felt like a lot for us to haul back. There was no wiggle room.

When we lost to Manchester City, it was a big game for us.

We were able to get the results that we wanted in the last game and we became champions.

Final league table in 1971-72
Derby finished just one point ahead of Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester City for the title

In his first season as captain, he helped the Rams keep 23 clean sheets.

Boulton was one of two players to play in every game. 16 players were featured for Derby that season.

The club's top scorer was Alan Hinton with 15 goals, followed by John O'Hare with 13 and Kevin Hector with 12.

The title win came at a time when the rivalry between Revie and Clough was heating up.

The title win was a miracle. He would go on to repeat and perhaps even eclipse the feat with Derby's fierce rivalsNottingham Forest by the end of the decade.

Roy McFarland (Derby) Jimmy Greenhoff (Stoke) and Colin Todd (behind)
Derby won the 1971-72 title in Roy McFarland's first season as captain

After Derby won the title in 1972, the pair took the club to the semi-finals of the European Cup, which ensured their place in the folklore of the game.

Brian and Peter said that this title isn't the end, it's the beginning. This is what it is all about.

They said what we have achieved is what we were going to achieve and keep achieving.

Derby did go on to have more moments to savour, beating a Benfica side with the great Eusebio in the team in the European Cup the following year. But their hopes were controversially ended at the the semi-final stage by Juventus.

Derby claimed a second English title in 1974-75 under Dave Mackay, who took over after Clough resigned.

"These were magical experiences," said McFarland.

Everyone in Derby enjoyed our European nights, there was a tremendous feeling and it was exciting times. That is what winning the English title meant.

The 50th anniversary of Derby County winning their first English title will be celebrated with a special programme on the radio.