History serves warning as to what David Clowes can expect amid Derby County investor talks

Derby County owner David Clowes
-Credit: (Image: Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images)


As the ink was drying on his £55m purchase of Derby County back in the summer of 2022, David Clowes inherited a club that was essentially reduced to ground zero.

There were five players on the books, the season was just three weeks away and the academy had lost its star players. Clowes' introduction to football club ownership was very much a baptism of fire, but all of the challenges presented to him in the aftermath of his arrival were negotiated with distinction.

With it began the transformation of a club that had feared for its existence into one that became wildly optimistic about its future. Along the way, it has been handled with the love, care and attention you would expect from a lifelong fan which eventually culminated in the club's first promotion in 17 years back in May.

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Championship football was finally back on the agenda but with it came an acceptance that at some point on this remarkable journey Derby would need additional investment. As we have seen this summer, the levels of spending in the transfer market has been vast in the race to dine at the top table of the Premier League.

One striker this summer moved for the equivalent of £39,000-a-week, an extraordinary sum of money which underlines just what Derby were up against in a market when their own outlay was modest in comparison. The amount of money they paid for transfers was essentially the equivalent of what they recouped from the sell-on fees from Liam Delap and Omari Kellyman of around £2.7m.

That is the sensible way to run a football club, but unfortunately not every club in the Championship plays by the same rules. It only reinforced the view that being competitive costs a great degree of cash, which is why Clowes is open to selling 80 per cent of his shares.

After shelling out £55m of his own money to save the club, it is unfair to expect him to continue footing the bill on his own. That is why investment is on the agenda, leading to talks taking place with interested parties from around the world. But unless every box is ticked in terms of aligning with the club's principles, then there will be no deal and there is no rush to conclude one either given that this season and the next two are taken care of under the club's existing business plan.

But what Clowes has given himself now that his search for an investor is out in the open is the most precious commodity of all - time. It will enable him to determine who is the best fit to help Derby reach the next level without being under pressure to make a decision.

His greatest challenge in the coming months, however, is being able to separate the wheat from the chaff. Football attracts all kinds of tyre-kickers, as this club knows only too well. People who promise much but deliver little.

History serves as a warning as to what Clowes can expect, but given the way he has masterfully handled being custodian of one of the founder members of the Football League so far, he will not part with a large chunk of the family silver to any Tom, Dick or Harry. But he will know his next move will be pivotal in taking Derby to the next level.

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