By the summer of 1999, the feel-good factor that had carried Derby County through the latter stages of the decade appeared to be fading.
Steve McClaren, the Rams’ assistant manager, had left to Manchester United in February of that year, leaving Jim Smith without the man who had helped propel the club from a mid-table Division One team to a Premier League contender in just three years.
Igor Štimac, a club veteran, left for West Ham United, while Robin Van de Laan and Paulo Wanchope also went.
The signs of decline were clear, but the arrival of Argentinian striker Esteban Fuertes from Colon in South America appeared to be one that may turn the club’s fortunes around. However, what happened next is possibly one of the most odd circumstances in Derby’s 140-year history.
Esteban Fuertes was an exciting signing for Derby County and started brightly
Smith took three months to bring Fuertes to Pride Park for £2.3 million, but his patience was rewarded almost immediately, as the then-26-year-old scored the winner in only his second game against Everton, giving the Rams their first home win of the season.
Just under a month later, the Argentine scored again, this time in the League Cup’s second round against Swansea City.
Derby needed a replay to beat the Third Division side (fourth tier), after a 0-0 draw in South Wales forced the fixture back to Pride Park in September 1999. Fuertes scored the opening goal in Smith’s 3-1 victory, but the side was eliminated in the following round by Bolton Wanderers.
Despite finishing eighth in the Premier League in 1998/99, the Rams struggled throughout the following season, going on a six-match winless streak in the league following their triumph over Everton.
However, the on-field antics would soon be eclipsed by an incredible incident off the field.
Esteban Fuertes’ exit was unceremonious and embarrassing for Derby
Derby overcame their terrible run of form with a 3-1 victory over Chelsea, but the stiff test against Liverpool at Anfield halted any momentum Smith’s squad may have acquired.
Nonetheless, with a two-week break between the Liverpool game and the visit of Manchester United, the Rams’ manager took his players and their partners to Portugal for a warm weather getaway.
However, when they returned to the United Kingdom, calamity struck.
In Smith’s autobiography It’s Only a Game, pg. 218-219, the former Oxford United boss wrote: “The immigration officials chose to scrutinize every detail of every passport, even down to using infra-red, almost as if they were looking for something in particular.
“If they were they certainly found it when they came to Fuertes and discovered that his Italian passport was a fake.”
Fuertes was immediately barred from entering the nation and returned to Argentina the following day, having disobeyed the regulations in the first place by coming to England.
Fuertes returned to his former club, Colon, on loan, and was productive in the first half of 2000 in his home country, scoring 17 goals in 18 matches in Argentina’s top flight.
That spurred French club Lens to contact Derby with a permanent transfer offer for the South American, and in the summer of 2000, they agreed on a £2.8 million cost – netting £500k from a deal that had seemed weird from the start.
The striker went on to become a Colon legend when he returned three years later, in 2003, playing for the team four times before becoming manager.
However, Rams fans will always remember the fabled day in November 1999 when their multi-million pound striker was stranded away from not only Pride Park, but the entire country.