City celebrates as Rams clinch promotion in style

The city of Derby is celebrating after Derby County – which just two years ago was on the verge of extinction – clinched promotion back to the Championship.

There were jubilant scenes at Pride Park Stadium on Saturday after Paul Warne’s men secured promotion to football’s second tier following two seasons in League One.

It is an achievement made all the more remarkable by the fact that just two years ago the club was on the brink of going out of business.

At the 11th hour, it was saved by David Clowes, of Clowes Developments, who stepped in to buy the club and rebuild it, both on and off the pitch.

Last season, the Rams narrowly missed out on a play-off place – but this time Derby has gone up automatically after finishing second in the league behind champions Portsmouth.

Councillor Baggy Shanker, leader of Derby City Council, said: “I’d like to say a massive congratulations to Derby County on their promotion back to the Championship.

“After a difficult few years for the Rams, it’s great to see the club back on the up and giving fans across the city something to celebrate.”

John Forkin, managing director of Marketing Derby and lifelong Rams fan, said: “Obviously, we’re delighted the Rams are back in the Championship. It’s less than two years since Team Derby and the wider community came together to save the club from oblivion.

“At that time, we really saw what Derby County means to the city.

“Looking forward, this will raise Derby’s profile. When we meet investors, they are always aware of the importance of the football club to our place.”

Such an achievement seemed like a very distant hope for Rams fans during the first half of 2022.

After being put into administration in September 2021, the club was eventually relegated from the Championship to League One after being hit with a number of points deductions for breaches of English Football League accounting rules.

During that time, there were also a number of failed attempts to buy the club.

With the Rams facing the very real prospect of going out of business, Mr Clowes stepped in to buy the club shortly before the start of the 2022/23 season, taking it out of administration.

The campaign to save the Rams attracted overwhelming support, both from Derby County fans and the wider football community.

At the height of the Rams crisis, Team Derby, a group made up of Marketing Derby, Derby City Council and local MPs, was formed to highlight Derby County’s plight at local and national level, while helping move the sale of the club forward.

A key moment involved John Forkin contacting Mr Clowes and introducing him into the process.

Later, in an exclusive interview with Marketing Derby’s Innovate Magazine, he revealed how this worked and just how close the club had come to going out of business.

He said: “Another week and the club would have gone. I just can’t imagine Derby without a football club. The history … a footballing town, two league championships, an FA Cup, Clough and Taylor!”

In that interview Mr Clowes spoke about the “long-term plan” of rebuilding the club.

Now, the Rams have taken a big step forward in that plan after getting out of League One.

He told Innovate: “Of course, we want to be successful – but we want to do this in the right way.

“If we got the club to the Premier League, that would be a success. If we could win silverware, if I was a part of that, it would be huge.”

To read David’s interview with Innovate in full visit https://heyzine.com/flip-book/8867b12b48.html .