IS he Derby County's luckiest fan?

Exiled Rams supporter Kim Laws has not seen the beleaguered

Rams lose a match for nearly seven years.

That is despite the club's shattering Premiership nightmare

last season, when the Rams won only one league game – and their

inauspicious start to this season, when they have yet to manage

a victory in the Coca-Cola Championship.

But Kim is on a 17-game unbeaten streak – he has not seen

Derby lose at Pride Park since October 2002, when they crashed

out of the League Cup 2-1 to Oldham.

Since then, the 50-year-old, who lives in Titchfield,

Hampshire, has been at Pride Park only when the Rams have

either won or drawn a game.

Mr Laws, who grew up in Grange Avenue, Normanton, before

leaving Derby in 1982, said: "Because I live away, I only get

to three or four home games a season and they are always

mid-week games.

"I got to two home games last season against Newcastle and

Manchester City which we won and drew.

"And this season I saw us beat Lincoln City in the League

Cup.

"I am hoping my talismanic quality will rub off on September

30 when we play Birmingham City because that is the next game I

am coming to."

Mr Laws, a former pupil at Homelands School in Village

Street, Normanton, attended his first game at the old Baseball

Ground in 1966.

He said: "My auntie Gail took me because she fancied Kevin

Hector and I was squashed down the front.

"I'm sure these days health and safety rules wouldn't allow

it, but I loved it there and was immediately hooked.

"I was a season ticket holder throughout all of the glory

years in the 1970s.

"It was a magical time to be a teenage Derby fan back

then."

After studying at university, he moved to the south coast

and married his wife, Amanda, who is now 48.

Then, in 1993, Mr Laws was appointed managing director of

Norcon Computers, based in Little Eaton.

But because his wife was working at Southampton University,

he would commute each week and eventually settled into a

pattern of spending two days a fortnight in Derby.

Mr Laws said: "When I come back to Derby I stay with my mum

in Railway Terrace.

"She has joked that because of my lucky run of not seeing us

lose at Pride Park, I should write to the opposition to get

them to pay me not to attend.

"But my wife said the opposite, she thinks that Derby should

sponsor me to attend each game instead."

Mr Laws named his all-time favourite Rams player as Roy

McFarland and the best game he has ever seen was when the Rams

beat Benfica 3-0 in the European Cup in October, 1972.

He said: "They were great times back then and, like any fan,

I hope they one day return.

"This season though, I think is one for consolidation for

us. I just hope that my run continues when we play

Birmingham."

A spokesman for Derby County said that the club would be

delighted to see Mr Laws at Pride Park.

He said: "With luck like his, we would be more than happy to

see Mr Laws here as many times a season as he can make it.

Let's hope that his luck continues when we play

Birmingham."

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