Few Derby County players over the years have been able to make the impact that Curtis Davies made in his spell at the club.
The defender joined the Rams in 2017 from Hull City, with the side looking to push for promotion from the Championship and into the Premier League.
It never quite panned out that way for Davies in his six-year stint at Pride Park, with play-off heartache and eventual relegation on the cards.
Despite that, the experienced centre-back was an absolute titan for Derby in the moments that truly mattered, when the administration process turned survival into something more existential.
- READ MORE: Curtis Davies shares what Phillip Cocu told him privately after he was sacked by Derby County
Curtis Davies opens up on Derby County spell
Following his retirement, Davies has moved into punditry, having often worked on the panel for Sky Sports on their EFL coverage.
That has included the occasional Derby game, where he has analysed how the Rams have fared since his exit.
Taking some time away from the punditry sofa, the former centre-back spoke about his career on the Essential EFL podcast.
On his time at Pride Park and Moor Farm, he said: “Derby… I loved every moment of it and I say that cause we had relegation, we had administration but I loved every moment of it because of the people at that football club, the people that make that football club.
“I’m not talking about chairman, players, I’m talking about that people in and around the training ground, the kitmen, the kitchen staff, the caretakers.
“Whoever it is who brings you into their family, you feel proper, you feel properly one of them and that’s the feeling you get from there and it was a rollercoaster.”
It shows the love that the defender had for the club from an atmosphere that Paul Warne and his team are trying to continue and build upon.
- READ MORE: Paul Warne could unearth Derby County’s next Dajaune Brown in ‘excellent’ academy teenager
Curtis Davies impact during Derby County administration
If there’s one thing Davies will be remembered for fondly, it was his leadership during the key moments of the club’s future.
While administration concerns hung over the head of the Rams, with the possibility of it ceasing to exist, the defender stood tall.
Not only did he put his body on the line, coming back from an Achilles injury in the months before to help the side avoid relegation, but he was also very vocal on the situation.
Davies regularly stood up for players and staff at the club, on one such occasion saying on TalkSPORT: “It’s not just about the playing staff, it’s about the people at the training ground and people at the stadium who work there as well.
“If this takeover doesn’t happen and the club might potentially collapse, we might not get paid in June and us footballers can worry about ourselves, but it’s the football club as a whole.
“It’s not just the fact that people might not get paid, it’s people’s livelihoods in terms of paying mortgages and things like that, plus the fans on the other side of it who have an investment into the club of however long they’ve been alive and been supporting this club.
“It’s important to find a resolution, whatever that’s going to be, sooner rather than later, because it’s obviously dragged on for the whole season.”
In the end, Derby got their resolution, Davies got his resolution and those people he found a lot of time for managed to stay on.
For that, the former captain will always be remembered fondly for his time at the club.