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Derby County are currently in a state of limbo and while their situation on the pitch is settled, off the pitch the club are waiting for the next step in their future.
The Rams are awaiting investment, and owner David Clowes has made no secret of his desire to sell 80% of the Championship outfit to help boost them financially. With the transfer window set to shut on Tuesday at 7pm until June 16, supporters will be hoping that this happens quickly.
Nevertheless, there is plenty of reason for fans to be hopeful as Derby await their first signing of the summer and John Eustace will have all his transfer plans lined up.
The conversation around investment has dominated the last couple of months for the Rams. Now, there is a new Chief Financial Officer at Pride Park, everything looks to be in place for the next step. Yet, one former owner of the club has spoken about how different things would have been had he bought them in 2022.
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Andy Appleby details how close he came to buying Derby County in 2022
Ever since buying Derby in July 2022, Clowes has been heralded as a hero – and rightly so. The Rams were hanging by a thread that summer after administration had ripped through the club, with the EFL deducting them 21 points before they were relegated to League One.
After Chris Kirchner’s proposed takeover fell through, a hero was needed. That hero could have easily been former owner Andy Appleby, and he has explained just how close he came to purchasing Derby for the second time.
He said (via: Rams Daily Podcast): “As crazy as this will sound, what I didn’t want is Derby to go out of business and so as much maybe that was an opportunity for us to get back in, I really just wanted to make sure that the club would continue to exist for its supporter base – and just the great club that it is and was.
“So when David sort of emerged from that, we had been talking to David, to be fair, to be part of our little group, and then one day we saw that he kind of did everything himself, which was a little bittersweet for us, but at the same time, you know, David’s a wonderful guy and I really wasn’t even upset about it.”
Appelby continued: “It was more of like ‘OK, good, at least we know that it’s in good hands and that it’s going to survive and we’re absolutely fine with it’.
“Of course, David has done an exemplary job, from the minute he took over to now, even managing to stick in the Championship this year, which was an amazing feat when they were really looking bad with ten matches to go.”
David Clowes has put the Rams into an excellent position
Derby confirmed their Championship survival on the final day of the 2024/25 season, after Eustace completed an incredible turnaround. But the Rams cannot rest on their laurels, and this summer has to all be about rebuilding a squad that needs obvious improvement.
Keeping key players around is also crucial, with Craig Forsyth reportedly signing a new deal, while Eustace pushes for Nat Phillips’ return to the club after an excellent loan spell.
Clowes deserves an incredible amount of credit for his role in both taking Derby up to the Championship, and then keeping them there. However, football moves quickly, and he will be working incredibly hard for investment to come in sooner rather than later.