Loan deal was Derby County disaster and beginning of the end at Blackburn Rovers: View | OneFootball

Leon Best's 2014 loan at the Rams was one of the worst in the club's history, and led to his Ewood Park exit.

Derby County supporters are probably still in disbelief that their team did not win promotion to the Premier League in the 2014/15 campaign.

The Rams were in the top six for all but nine games of the season, dropping out of the play-off places on the final day of the season thanks to a 3-0 loss to Reading.

Many had tipped the East Midlands-based club to be one of the three teams to make their way to the top flight following their play-off final defeat to QPR in May 2014, and after strengthening in the summer transfer window, it seemed a certainty that they would be in the fight for promotion.

However, one loan signing struggled to make an impact during his time at Pride Park, and what was once a promising move, proved to be career-defining in a way that he will still regret to this day.

Leon Best's time at Derby was a failure

Derby brought Leon Best to the club early in August 2014, signing the striker on a season-long loan from fellow Championship club Blackburn Rovers. While his goal-record was not the greatest, he had scored four times in 15 matches for Sheffield Wednesday during the first half of the calendar year, and looked to be a competent back-up to Chris Martin.

He was introduced into the team slowly, featuring in cameo roles during the first weeks of his Pride Park career, and it had a knock-on effect as Best struggled to build form.

Less than a week before his 28th birthday, the Rams made the short journey eastbound on the A52 to face bitter rivals Nottingham Forest. By this point, Steve McClaren's side had lost just one game in the league, and were looking to build on their 5-1 victory over Fulham just two matches prior.

Britt Assombolonga gave the Reds a late lead, however, the moment that Ryan Shotton equalised is perhaps still relived by Best to this day. The Derby defender's header was seemingly stopped by Forest's shot-stopper Karl Darlow, allowing the Blackburn loanee to fire in from close-range.

But, in a dramatic twist, it emerged that Shotton's original effort had cleared the line, meaning that he was awarded the goal.

Looking back, if the striker was credited with the equaliser, it may have eased the pressure on him in the weeks following the East Midlands derby, and he may have gone on to have success with the Rams. However, it proved to be a flash point in his loan for the worst, and he was never able to get closer than he did on that day at the City Ground to scoring in black-and-white.

Best's poor loan spell at Derby was the catalyst of his Blackburn career failing

The 28-year-old continued to struggle for minutes, failing to start at any point in the months following the 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest, coming off the bench just eight times.

It was clear that the loan move had not worked for any party, and despite picking up an assist in his final appearance for the club in a 4-0 away win against Birmingham City on Boxing Day 2014, Derbycut the deal short, sending him back to Ewood Park.

The arrival of Darren Bent from Aston Villa had meant that Best's game-time was going to be further limited, and his lack of goal threat was hard to look past for McClaren.

The striker went on to sign for Brighton & Hove Albion for the rest of the 2014/15 campaign, failing to find the back of the net in Sussex as well. Meanwhile, his parent club watched on from a distance, before they eventually agreed in the summer of 2015 to cancel his contract by mutual consent.

Best played for three more clubs before he eventually retired in 2018 due to an ACL injury. He lined up for Charlton Athletic, Ipswich Town and he even scored twice for Rotherham United against Derby in the 2015/16 campaign to help his team to a 3-3 draw after being 3-0 down.

Nevertheless, it was perhaps the move to Pride Park that proved to be not only the beginning of the end to his Blackburn career, but also his playing days as a whole.