The midfielder arrived at Pride Park in 2011 and made over 200 appearances for the Rams.
Derby County have produced a number of significant signings in recent times, with several players asserting themselves among Rams folklore during their time in the East Midlands.
The current crop of talent at Pride Park also have the opportunity to write themselves into the history books by earning promotion to the Championship this term, as Paul Warne’s side find themselves in the automatic promotion places with six games of their season remaining.
But one player in particular is regarded a legend when concerning his time at Derby, that man being Craig Bryson.
With his most memorable performance coming against the Rams’ bitterest rivals, scoring a hat-trick to assert himself among the greats to have pulled on the infamous black and white strip.
Derby had to fend off stiff competition for Bryson’s signature.
Having been linked with a move to fellow Scottish Premier League side, Hearts, ahead of the 2010/11 season, Craig Bryson opted to remain at Rugby Park for the rest of the season, which would bring interest from England for the services of the Scot.
Having scored two goals and grabbed four assists during the previous season, Bryson would attract interest from a number of Championship teams in the summer transfer window.
The Rams were one of four teams interested in the midfielder, with Brighton and Hove Albion, Hull City and Leicester City all reportedly keen on signing the Kilmarnock captain.
A deal was confirmed during the summer window with the Scottish club having previously rejected two bids from Derby, before a fee of around £350,000 was agreed, with a further sum of about £100,000 based on appearances. Bryson would sign a three-year contract at Pride Park, and would arrive alongside the likes of Jason Shackell, Jamie Ward and Chris Maguire.
The business to bring the midfielder to the club would prove to be one of the best in recent times at the East Midlands side, cementing himself among the legends of the club.
Craig Bryson would become a Derby County legend.
Bryson made a strong start to his Derby career, despite a pre-season disrupted by injury, scoring the winner with his first Derby goal in a 1–0 victory at Blackpool, helping the side to four straight victories from opening day – the club’s best season start for 106 years.
Derby enjoyed a fine first quarter to the season and found themselves fourth in the table, with manager Nigel Clough singling out Bryson as the top performer of the season so far. Bryson would miss just three games that season, and was rewarded for his efforts by winning the fans Player of the Season award.
Bryson would star again as Derby finished 10th in the Championship the following season, but his exploits during the 2013/14 campaign are still remembered fondly to this day.
Ahead of the season, the Scot was expected to compete with Paul Coutts, Jeff Hendrick and Will Hughes for a place in the starting line-up, but Bryson would go on to feature in every match until the 32nd round of fixtures. He would score 16 goals and grab 16 assists in the campaign, scoring two hat-tricks, including one against fierce rivals Nottingham Forest in a 5-0 demolition, becoming the first Derby player to do so since Steve Bloomer in 1898 and earning a recall to the Scotland squad as a result.
The following season would see the Rams reject an offer from Burnley for the services of Bryson, but would later sign a new contract at Pride Park, signing a new five-year deal to keep him in the East Midlands until the end of the 2018/19 season.
Bryson played 38 league matches in the 2014–15 season, only 25 of which were from the start, scoring five goals and providing six assists having struggled with an injury picked up in the early part of the campaign, and would ultimately fall down the pecking order during Steve McClaren’s final season at the club.
In what proved to be his final season with the club, Bryson would again struggle with knocks and niggles during Paul Clement’s time at Pride Park. He would still go on to make 38 appearances that term, the majority coming from the bench. The 2016/17 season saw him move to fellow Championship club, Cardiff City, on loan for the season.
Bryson was offered a new deal at the end of the 2018/19 season, but instead agreed a pre-contract with Aberdeen, ending an eight-year stay at Pride Park. He would end his Derby career having made 276 appearances in all competitions, scoring 42 times and assisting 39 goals.
- Craig Bryson’s Derby County statistics as per Transfermarkt
Having arrived as an unknown midfielder from the Scottish Premiership, Bryson would leave Derby a legend and a firm fans’ favourite with various memories and records to last a lifetime.
The word legend is often thrown around far too often when concerning modern day footballers, but I am sure if you ask any Rams fan one word to describe Craig Bryson, I am sure that description of him would come up several times.
