Derby County: Widespread concern for jobs as administration looms
With the club losing between £1.3m and £1.5m per month, administrators are expected to be appointed either on Tuesday or Wednesday with the priority of paying creditors and HMRC; owner Mel Morris previously told Sky Sports News he is "devastated" over the situation.
Tuesday 21 September 2021 13:47, UK
There is widespread concern for job losses at Derby County as the crisis-hit club prepare to enter administration, Sky Sports News have been told.
While some individual consultations happened on Monday, the bulk of the Derby workforce will be told on Tuesday what they can expect from the process.
With the club believed to be losing between £1.3m and £1.5m per month, administrators are expected to be appointed either on Tuesday or Wednesday with the priority of paying creditors and HMRC.
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Owner Mel Morris, who claims to have spent over £200m of his own money in trying to get Derby into the Premier League, previously told Sky Sports News he is "devastated" over the situation.
Morris also cited the financial impact of Covid-19 and a string of failed takeover attempts as the cause of the mess and apologised to staff and supporters.
However, the EFL is said to be "disappointed" by the club's comments about the pandemic, having offered them the same financial support as the rest of its 72 clubs.
On the pitch, Derby are facing an automatic 12-point deduction once they officially appoint an administrator.
The punishment could see Derby lose up to 21-points, with the club still in talks with the EFL over an alleged breaking of financial fair play rules.
Derby County currently sit 12th in the Championship with 10 points from their opening eight games.
Neville: This can't happen to a club like Derby
Sky Sports' Gary Neville:
"We have got to stop this happening. When owners come into football clubs, there should be an obligation to be able to cover their obligations they sign up to. Until we have that in place, we're going to continue to have big trouble.
"Examples like Derby will keep coming forward. We have had Bury, Macclesfield, Wigan, Bolton, all these clubs. It's got to stop.
"I know there has been a fan-led review led by Tracey Crouch, she's put recommendations forward, Oliver Dowden said he was going to support those recommendations, and I know Nadine Dorries [Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport] has just taken over from Oliver Dowden.
"We need to hear from Nadine Dorries that she's going to support the recommendations to put an independent regulator in place to change rules in English football, to stop this happening.
"Derby are now in a perilous position. My hometown club were there three or four years ago. It has to stop.
"It's the desperation to be part of this, the Premier League. It's amazing, the Premier League. But there is a desperation and an urgency. You should be disappointed if you don't go up, or if you go down, but not to the point where you lose your club.
"Derby have chased, and they have chased, and they have chased. And they have not got the golden ticket.
"Now they may go out of business. That cannot happen to a football club and institution like Derby County."
Wycombe considering legal action against League One relegation
Wycombe Wanderers are considering taking legal action over their relegation to League One last season following Derby County's move towards administration.
The club were relegated from the Championship after finishing a point behind the Rams with Derby owner Morris admitting his club would have been at risk of a points deduction if it had submitted accounts for 2017-18 without using the club's controversial amortisation method.
Derby were subsequently fined £100,000 and order to file restated accounts but, despite the threat of a points deduction that would have seen them relegated instead of Wycombe, they never materialised in time to give Wycombe.
Speaking to BBC Sport about the on-going situation, Wycombe chairman and chief executive Rob Couhig said: "Not being in the Championship this year has cost us, on the surface, around £10m.
"It has probably cost another £5-10m in residual monies that would have come from us being in the Championship for a second year. It is a £15-20m loss.
"I don't know if there is a viable claim or not but there is no question we will look.
"Representing Wycombe, I am furious. He (Mel Morris) knew last summer that the club would end up with a points deduction and they made a deliberate policy to fight it until the end so they could get to this season, keep themselves in the Championship and keep the Championship money and put us back into League One."
