One of our ongoing themes at Bygone Derbyshire is the public houses of Derbyshire. Here Peter Seddon - author of the acclaimed biography 'Steve Bloomer - Football's First Superstar' - charts the Derby County legend's link with the Great Northern pub in Junction Street, Derby.

This photograph of Steve Bloomer (third left) was taken in late January 1938 aboard a cruise liner which had just docked in New Zealand. Bloomer had taken the cruise in the hope that it would alleviate his bronchial troubles, but just over two months later the former Derby County and England star passed away at the Great Northern pub in Junction Street, Derby

We've all seen those plaques outside pubs and hotels which proudly proclaim that 'Mary Queen of Scots slept here'. Many such claims are to be taken with a large bucket of salt - when a licensee smells even the faintest whiff of 'celebrity' they are seldom slow to promote the link.

But one Derby landlady featured in the press in 2007 had an indisputable claim to fame right on her doorstep without having realised it. She was 50-year-old Sharon Morgan of the Great Northern in Junction Street, Derby. Mary Queen of Scots didn't sleep there, but the Derby County and England footballer Steve Bloomer most certainly did.

First the pub's history. Its precise foundation date has not been recorded, but the building was certainly operating as a pub in 1874, when it was known as the Jolly Soldier. It was named after the presence of the Rowditch Barracks, built nearby in 1859 to house the newly-formed Derbyshire Volunteer Rifle Corps. In their off-duty moments the soldiers drank in the pub - since they were invariably 'jolly' after a session there, the name seemed apt.

When the Rowditch Barracks closed in 1877, the pub was re-named the Great Northern the following year. This was a reference to the Great Northern Railway Company whose nearby line had just been completed.

The area known as Rowditch was built-up and populous, and by 1883 the Great Northern was a prosperous establishment. It catered to the needs of local residents on several fronts, serving not only liquid refreshment, but also operating as a small-scale music hall presenting variety acts.

In the 1930s the pub became an Alton's house. By then its landlord was Cyril Richards, who lived on the premises with his wife Doris and their children Steve and Hetty.

Thereby hangs the link with Steve Bloomer the footballer, for Doris Richards was formerly Doris Bloomer, one of Steve's four daughters.

Soon after his wife Sarah had died in April 1936, Steve Bloomer went to live with his daughter Doris at the Great Northern. He was then aged 62 and suffering frequent attacks of bronchitis, but despite his ill-health he had some happy times there. He particularly enjoyed the company of his young grandchildren Steve and Hetty.

But those contented times were short-lived. Steve Bloomer not only slept at the Great Northern, but died there too, barely two years after he had moved in.

On the morning of 16 April 1938 his breathing became laboured. His eight-year-old grandson Steve Richards was dispatched to fetch medical help, running for all he was worth to the doctor's house nearby. But it was too late - Steve Bloomer died in his first-floor bedroom at the Great Northern on that very day, a Saturday. He was aged 64.

Bloomer's time at the Great Northern was written about in some detail in the 1999 biography 'Steve Bloomer - The Story of Football's First Superstar'. But the story apparently by-passed the pub's regulars, for when Sharon Morgan took over the pub in 2005 she remained blissfully unaware of the football link - and that despite many of her customers being keen Derby County fans. But not keen readers, evidently.

Only in July 2007 was the Bloomer link finally 'revealed' to her by a Rams enthusiast who had recently read the Bloomer biography. The story caused quite a stir, making front page news in the Derby Evening Telegraph. Meanwhile Sharon Morgan appealed for items of Steve Bloomer memorabilia so that a corner of the pub could be suitably adorned in his memory.

Between 1892 and 1914 Steve Bloomer played 655 first-class games for Derby County and Middlesbrough, scoring 394 goals. From 1895 to 1907 he played 23 times for England and netted 28 goals - a remarkable strike-rate of 1.2 goals per game for his country.

Because Bloomer regularly scored vital goals for England in their fierce battles against Scotland, the press honoured him with the sobriquet 'Hammer of the Scots'. So who needs Mary Queen of Scots? Certainly not the Great Northern. Get that plaque up now!

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