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Derby County are preparing for a second successive season in the Championship after their survival was confirmed on the final day of the 2024/25 season.
John Eustace’s Manager of the Year worthy performance saw the Rams climb from the bottom of the table and seven points from safety with 11 games to go, to survival by a point just two months later.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 16 |  PortsmouthPortsmouth | 46 | 14 | 12 | 20 | 58 | 71 | -13 | 54 |
| 17 |  Oxford UnitedOxford United | 46 | 13 | 14 | 19 | 49 | 65 | -16 | 53 |
| 18 |  Stoke CityStoke City | 46 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 45 | 62 | -17 | 51 |
| 19 |  DerbyDerby | 46 | 13 | 11 | 22 | 48 | 56 | -8 | 50 |
| 20 |  PrestonPreston | 46 | 10 | 20 | 16 | 48 | 59 | -11 | 50 |
| 21 |  Hull CityHull City | 46 | 12 | 13 | 21 | 44 | 54 | -10 | 49 |
| 22 |  LutonLuton | 46 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 45 | 69 | -24 | 49 |
It was a remarkable achievement for the East Midlands outfit, who had only won promotion to the second tier 12 months prior, and they can now focus fully on putting together a squad that will allow them to compete further up the Championship table.
Despite a need for new players, work away from the playing staff has also begun with Derby making a very important change that supporters are all extremely pleased to see.
Derby County supporters react as Pride Park undergoes makeover
The state of the pitch at Pride Park has been a cause for concern over the last few months, with patches of grass missing throughout and bobbles also causing the ball to jump up in the air when players are dribbling or passing.
However, the club has taken the first steps to ensuring that this problem is no more with work starting on ripping out the old pitch and putting in new grass ahead of next season.
Supporters have taken to social media to jest about Pride Park’s former carpet, and they all seem to be in agreement about the issue.
One Rams fan wrote: “Finally putting some grass on the mud then.”
While another put: “Difficult to tell which bit has been ripped up!”
A West Bromwich Albion supporter pitched in with his thoughts: “Great news I’m not a derby fan but on tele it was pitiful.”
And this Derby fan was keen to pitch in with his own joke: “Which bits been ripped up already?”
A seventh put: “Why haven’t they started yet? Looks the same.”
Before an eighth Rams supporter said: “Already looking better.”
Pride Park has to be a stadium to be proud of once again
The pitch perhaps worked in Derby’s favour at times last season, although the club were criticised on multiple occasions for the standard – especially when the Women’s League Cup was played there in March.
Ian Wright was one of those to complain about it, mentioning it after Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the Women’s Champions League. He said in a video on social media: “This is worse than Derby’s pitch the other day in the Conti Cup final.
“This is a disgrace, the pitches these girls have to play on.”
The Rams know that work had to be conducted and it is clear to see that they knew the responsibility that they had by the pace at which they have started to replace the pitch, while Derby are already targeting new playing staff.
Eustace has a busy few months ahead of him, with 11 players out of contract and five loanees returning to parent clubs, but this is the start of what could be an excellent few years for the East Midlands side.