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Derby County are a club on the up, and while their 19th place finish in the Championship in 2024/25 will perhaps not raise any eyebrows, they ended the campaign incredibly strongly.
Following John Eustace’s arrival in February, the Rams had a marked turnaround and they guaranteed their second tier status on the final day of the season with a 0-0 draw against Stoke City at Pride Park.
But, this summer is set to be a busy one for Derby and much change is needed on the pitch to ensure that they are not fighting for their survival once again and a mid-table finish is the clear objective for the East Midlands outfit.
However, supporters will of course be dreaming of going that one step further and returning to the Premier League – a division that the Rams have not been in since 2008. That year proved to be disastrous for the club and it will forever go down in infamy.
Derby County’s last Premier League campaign was shocking
In May 2007, Derby faced West Bromwich Albion at Wembley in the Championship play-off final. Stephen Pearson’s goal in the second-half proved to be the difference between the two sides and they were promoted to the Premier League.
However, their return to the top flight after five years away did not start off well, and the Rams made some really poor signings that did not hit the mark at all that summer.
Nevertheless, they started reasonably well (compared to the rest of their season), and by mid-September they had finally picked up their first win. But they would not taste victory for nearly an entire year in the league, as Billy Davies was sacked in November 2007.
Paul Jewell took charge, but he could not replicate his Wigan Athletic heroics as Derby were relegated in March 2008. Only Southampton have lost more games and been relegated by gameweek earlier, as the Saints (12) came close to beating the Rams’ point record (11) last season.
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John Eustace can bring the glory days back to Pride Park
According to David Clowes, club CEO Stephen Pearce pushed for Eustace back in February, and he has already achieved phase one of his story at Pride Park.
However, the dream is for Eustace to take Derby to the Premier League, and he will need time to be able to complete that task – with so many other managers finding it impossible to do so with the Rams.
They are a club with a storied history, winning two top flight titles and the FA Cup, but the 21st century has not exactly been a century to be proud of so far.
Play-off defeats, administration and relegation have shaped the Rams’ trajectory since their last taste of the Premier League. Stability is needed and Eustace is bringing that to Derby, and fans have every right to have high hopes for the future with investment seemingly on the horizon at Pride Park.