The last 6 Derby County players to play at the European Championships - Where are they now? | OneFootball

This year's tournament is the first since 2012 that the Rams have not been represented at.

Highlights

With Euro 2024 in full swing, the attention of football fans everywhere turns to the international stage for four weeks. For supporters of Derby County, however, they will not find any of their stars in Germany this summer.

Derby, despite boasting a number of current international players in their ranks, will not be represented in the tournament, the first time that this has happened in the European Championships since 2012.

However, the Rams have a rich history in the Euros. Igor Štimac reached the quarter-finals of Euro '96 with Croatia, Mark Wright and Peter Shilton were a part of the England squad that finished rock bottom of their group in 1988, while Branko Strupar led the line for Belgium in Euro 2000.

The last two tournaments featured six Derby players at the time, and with the group stages already underway, there is no better time than now to look at where that group is now.

Euro 2020

After the pandemic stopped the European Championships playing in 2020, a year later the tournament saw stadiums filled with fans for the first time in 15 months.

The competition was played all across Europe for the first ever time, with eleven host cities; Amsterdam, Baku, Bucharest, Budapest, Copenhagen, Glasgow, London, Munich, Rome, Seville and St. Petersburg. With Italy beating England on penalties to win the trophy at Wembley.

The Rams had two of their players that helped the club survive in the Championship in the 2020/21 season at the tournament:

David Marshall

David Marshall made it to Euro 2020 after a solid season in between the sticks at Pride Park, despite Derby's lowly league position.

The Scottish goalkeeper kept nine clean sheets in 33 games in his two seasons at Derby, however, he failed to make an appearance in 2021/22, making the move to QPR in January for the rest of the season on a short-term deal.

His and his nation's Euro 2020 was a quick affair. Although he managed to keep out England in a 0-0 draw in their second group game, losses to the Czech Republic and Croatia meant that Scotland finished bottom of Group D and exited the competition in the first round.

Marshall also conceded from the half-way line in his side's first game, with Patrik Schick winning the Goal of the Tournament for his strike for the Czech Republic in their 2-0 win at Hampden Park.

Now 39, the goalkeeper announced his retirement from professional football earlier this month, spending the last two years of his career back in his home country with Hibernian, making 86 appearances for the team.

Kamil Jóźwiak

Kamil Jóźwiak joined the Rams in September 2020 for an estimated £3.5 million. However, his time in black-and-white was filled with struggle, as he scored just once in 58 Championship appearances, assisting only four times in his two-year stay.

Nevertheless, the then 23-year-old went to Euro 2020 as one of Poland's most exciting players, having already won 14 caps for his country by the time the tournament came around.

Jóźwiak helped set-up Robert Lewandoski for Poland's equaliser against Spain. However, the 1-1 draw was the only positive result for the team, as they finished bottom of Group E.

After moving to Charlotte FC in the USA in 2022, the winger has struggled to fulfill the potential that he had shown with Lech Poznań.

Jóźwiak now features for Granada, joining the Spanish outfit in February 2024. He made 11 appearances in his first season, as the team were relegated from La Liga.

Euro 2016

The 2016 edition of the European Championships took place in France, for the first time since 1984, and for the third time in history. Portugal beat the hosts 1-0 after extra time to win their first ever major trophy, as England crashed out in the round of 16 in a humiliating 2-1 defeat to Iceland.

Derby had four of their playing squad at the tournament, more than both AC and Inter Milan, Marseille and Monaco - appearing for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland:

Chris Baird

Chris Baird spent the latter half of the 2015/16 Championship season on loan at his previous employers, Fulham, however, he returned to Derby after an injury to Jamie Hanson at the start of May 2016.

At 34, Baird played in his only international tournament for Northern Ireland at that year's European Championships, with his country reaching the round of 16 after finishing third in their group, beating out Turkey and Albania as one of the four best third placed teams.

However, a 1-0 loss to Wales ended their Euros, with Baird making just one appearance against Poland.

The Northern-Irish full-back spent two more seasons at the Rams, eventually retiring in 2019, with 76 Derby appearances to his name.

Baird is now a scout at Manchester City after taking up the same role at Southampton in the same year as his retirement.

Cyrus Christie

The second Derby right-back to feature at Euro 2016, Cyrus Christie, made the switch to Pride Park from Coventry City in the summer of 2014 following the end of his contract.

He spent three seasons with the Rams, and earned his first international call-up with the Republic of Ireland in November 2014, becoming the second-choice to Seamus Coleman in the right full-back position.

Christie failed to make an appearance at Euro 2016, watching on from the bench throughout as his side made it out of the group stage.

At 31, the ex-Ram still has a number of years left in his career, and has played for Middlesbrough, Fulham, Swansea City and Derby's local rivals Nottingham Forest.

After spending the last two seasons at Hull City, Christie will be looking for a new club this summer after the expiration of his contract. However, he may not be short of interest after playing in over 300 Championship games while also boasting 28 Premier League appearances.

A product of the academy at Derby, Jeff Hendrick made 214 appearances for the Rams, scoring 26 goals from central midfield before moving to Burnley in August 2016 for £10.5 million, a club record at the time.

A breakout tournament in France was the reason behind Hendrick's switch to the Premier League eight years ago, helping the Republic of Ireland to the round of 16, qualifying out of a tough group containing Belgium, Italy and Sweden.

The Dublin-born midfielder played in every minute of Ireland's tournament, before they were beaten by hosts France 2-1.

Since then, Hendrick has made nearly 150 appearances in the top flight of English football for Burnley and Newcastle United and has spent the last three seasons on loan in the Championship with QPR, Reading and Sheffield Wednesday.

The 32-year-old is without a club after his Newcastle contract expired this summer and, after a difficult few years, he will be looking to end his career on a high.

Richard Keogh

The third Ram to represent The Boys in Green at Euro 2016, Richard Keogh, is one of the most recognisable names associated with Derby in recent times.

Keogh played 356 times for Derby across seven years, winning the club's Player of the Season award twice - once in 2013 and again in 2016.

It was his form in the Championship that earned him his chance in France, and despite missing out on the action in the first two matchdays, Keogh kept a clean sheet against Italy before playing the full match against France.

The centre-back earned 26 caps for the Republic of Ireland in his career, scoring one goal against Georgia in a friendly in 2013.