Derby County Football Club is a professional football club based in Derby, England. Notable for being one of the 12 founding members of the English Football League in 1888, it is one of only 10 clubs to have competed in every season of the English Football League and, in 2009, was ranked 137th in the top 200 European football teams of the 20th century by International Federation of Football History and Statistics. Derby County Football Club was founded in 1884, by William Morley, as an offshoot of Derbyshire County Cricket Club. The club's competitive peak came in the 1970s when it had two spells as English League Champions and competed in major European competitions on four separate occasions, reaching the European Cup semi-finals, as well as winning several minor trophies. The club adopted its now traditional black and white club colours in the 1890s and appropriated its club nickname The Rams, a tribute to its links with the First Regiment of Derby Militia, which took a ram as its mascot and the song "The Derby Ram" as its regimental song, at the same time. Home games are played at Pride Park Stadium, located in Pride Park, Derby, where the club moved in 1997. Derby County is owned by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd after they finalised their purchase of the club in July 2022.