Derby County’s future hangs in the balance but while Wayne Rooney and his team are fighting for their lives on pitch, fans have mobilised off it, galvanised by the support of One Direction’s Niall Horan.
Singer-songwriter and Rams fan, Horan, has turned to his 41 million Twitter followers to lend their support to his club in its time of need.
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The Irish musician has retweeted a link to a petition on change.org, asking Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston to investigate the Rams’ plight. The petition has now attracted 41,000 names and has prompted local MPs to write to Huddleston themselves.
‘God only knows what’s next for us as a club, but this club and it’s incredible support does not deserve to be in the hole we are in. we’ve seen it happen too many times to great clubs and it can’t happen again,’ Horan tweeted after Derby defeated Sheffield United 2-0 on Saturday. ‘We are Derby County and we’ll fight to the end. #COYR’
Derby went into administration in September last year, after running up huge debts under previous owner Mel Morris, as the club gambled everything on a promotion push to the Premier League, which failed.
Since then, the administrators Quantuma, have been searching for a buyer, but while there are three potential bidders the process has stalled because of outstanding legal claims from rival clubs, Middlesbrough and Wycombe Wanderers.
The owners of those clubs are suing Derby over lost earnings, which they claim are a result of the Rams breaching Financial Fair Play rules.
None of those keen to buy the club, which includes former Derby chairman Andy Appleby, ex-Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley, and a mystery third party, will take it on until the claims, which total almost £50 million, are resolved.
The impasse puts Derby at huge risk. There are serious questions over how long the club can carry on without a buyer and the EFL is reported to have given the Rams a deadline of February 1 to prove there is enough money for it to see the season out.
The league has also imposed a second transfer embargo in 12 months on the club, which meant the Rams could not re-sign defender Phil Jagielka and are set to lose midfielder Graeme Shinnie.
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‘Those disputes with Middlesbrough and Wycombe could force Derby out of business,’ said a source close to takeover negotiations. ‘If they maintain their legal challenge that is what they are doing.’
Sportsmail understands Derby fans have reached out to supporters of Middlesbrough, which is demanding the lion’s share of any compensation asking them to approach the Steve Gibson, the owner of the north east club.
Meanwhile, the Wycombe owner, Rob Couhig, acknowledges the threat to Derby County’s existence.
‘We are small potatoes in the bigger scheme of things… but I don’t think it can drag on much longer,’ he told The Athletic.
‘But who knows? I question how long Derby can run without some outside additional funding.
‘Until a human being or group is saying they have the money to buy Derby County and it’s here, everybody is just talking. I don’t know that anybody wants to burn any bridges until there is something to burn them for.’
Derby’s supporters accuse the EFL and the administrators of failing them by not reaching a position in which a takeover can proceed. They insist the claims from Middlesbrough and Wycombe should not be allowed to stand in the way of the club’s purchase.
However, the club has huge debts in addition to the outcome of any legal claims and even if it clears those hurdles any buyer would still have to pay other football clubs owed money for transfers, HMRC and secured creditors, if it is to emerge from this intact and without a further points deduction.
The club owes £28M to HMRC alone and any buyer is expected to ask the tax man to accept considerably less, even though he is now considered a preferential creditor.
On top of all of that Pride Park, which is still owned by Morris, and has been used to underwrite even more debt.
‘We think there a number of parties that could do better by Derby County including the EFL and administrators, and Middlesbrough and Wycombe are certainly among them,’ said Nigel Owen, a member of the Black and White Together supporters’ group.
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To exit administration, a preferred bidder must be appointed, who can satisfy the EFL that there is sufficient money to pay the debts and run the club for two years. But while a £50M claim hangs over Derby that is effectively impossible.
‘Without pre settling with Middlesbrough and Wycombe, the administrators cannot get a sufficient offer from any bidder,’ one football club owner told Sportsmail, as he explained the bind Derby now find themselves in.
‘That means there is nobody the administrators can use to cut a deal with HMRC. And they cannot show the money they need to get to the end of the season.’
The costs of reaching the end of the season have been estimated at between £7M and £10M.
‘They could start a fire sale of players to try to get some cash in but they the club starts to struggle. The administrators eventually pull the plug when it looks like the money will run out to ensure that the cash from the player sales goes to them, rather than on paying wages.’
All of which suggests Derby fans are right to raise the alarm and call for help. They feel that the club, themselves and the city of Derby are paying for the mistakes of Morris. While they accept the club will be punished, they are naturally appalled that it could be put out of business.
‘The community is suffering,’ said Ryan Hills, the author of ‘Pride: The Inside Story of Derby County’, on Twitter.
‘It is affecting the livelihoods and the well being of thousands across Derbyshire and beyond. Derby without a football club is unthinkable.
‘Derby County is not Mel Morris. He has gone and he has destroyed a football club in the process. Derby County is for thousands of working-class people and has been for 138 years.’
On Friday, the administrators said they had an ‘exit plan’ in place, but added: ‘The difficulty and currently, in our view, the last remaining significant obstacle is to deal with certain claims that are very much disputed but which we are being advised by the EFL cannot be currently compromised.
‘Whilst we accept this is frustrating for all, none of the interested parties are able to progress matters further until such time that an agreement can be reached.’
Source: https://t-tees.com
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