Derby owner David Clowes issues message to the fans after the club avoids relegation from the Championship on the final day of the season.
He expresses relief and pride in Derby County’s successful fight to avoid relegation to the third tier, despite earlier doubts about their survival.
He also credits the players’ resilience, the fans’ unwavering support, and the strategic appointment of manager John Eustace, whose leadership and belief in the club’s vision secured their status.
Clowes sees this as a foundation for a brighter future, thanking the team and staff while looking forward to new goals and challenges with optimism.
A message from David Clowes – following the conclusion of Derby County’s 2024/25 campaign.
— Derby County (@dcfcofficial) May 5, 2025
LETTER TO THE FANS:
If the overwhelming emotion this time last year was elation, today it’s relief. But that’s relief tinged with real pride.
Pride that the players have pulled off a magnificent achievement in avoiding relegation when everybody thought Derby County were dead and buried.
Pride that the fans have been rewarded for their incredible support even in the darkest days of the season.
And pride because this will undoubtedly be a stepping stone towards an even stronger and brighter future for the club.
It might sound a bit daft to say we’ve achieved our aims for the season when, even going into the last day, we couldn’t be certain what division we’d be playing in come August.
But before we kicked a ball last year, we knew that remaining in the Championship had to be the absolute target. Of course, it would have been nice to be comfortably sat in mid-table – and when I wrote my notes at Christmas, that’s where it looked like we might be heading.
Football, though, has a nasty habit of destroying that kind of confidence and the run of results at the start of the year made it clear we had to make a change, as tough as that is to do when it means losing somebody you like and admire as a person.
If you do roll that particular dice, you have to be confident the next man is going to make a difference, and with John Eustace we were sure he could turn things around.
His track record tells you that but even putting past achievements aside, you only have to meet him to know that he has that something special, those innate qualities of leadership and determination to get the job done.
I have to take my hat off to Stephen Pearce on the appointment of John. He quickly identified the man we needed and then worked tirelessly to get the deal over the line when nobody believed a manager would swap the play-off places for a team stuck at the very bottom of the Championship.
Of course, John knew all about the club and what makes it special from his playing days so we had an advantage. But we also had to convince him that, no matter what happened this season, there was a clearly defined plan for the future of Derby County and that it was an exciting one.
He understood and bought into that vision and has already taken a giant step towards it by making sure we are a Championship club. From the bottom of my heart, I thank him, his staff and a group of players who never knew when they were beaten. Their strength of character has been underlined time and time again in these last few weeks and they deserve every second of praise that comes their way.
Now we start again, a fresh page in front of us that will be filled with new targets, new adventures, probably a few inevitable disappointments but always with hope and a determination from everybody to do the very best for Derby County.
Enjoy the summer and enjoy still supporting a Championship club!
David Clowes.
Twitter users reacted as Derby owner David Clowes issues a message to the fans after the club avoids relegation from the Championship…
@dogavic: Clowes knows what he’s doing. Also it’s probably time people started cutting Pearce some slack since it sounds like getting Eustace in was down to his work.
@rodstrickland74: In Clowes, we trust.🙏🏼👌🏼🐏
@evo2965: We all know next season will be better than this last one, so enjoy the summer and we go again 👍👌
@Alex_Lipniski: Credit to Stephen Pearce! Him and DC are 3/4 for me on managerial decisions. Made little sense Rosenior rebuilding the club for Warneball but then PW did his job, DC & SP got it right sacking him and got it right bringing in Eustace
@Guardthebee: Interesting how much he credits Pearce. Although many don’t like it, he needed his knowledge of the club and day to day operations when he took over. We’ll never really know how much input Pearce had when Morris was around. Morris seemed to listen to no one #dcfc #dcfcfans
@ScottGillett10: Pearce is the rotting core of the club. Time for him to go and get a fresh start. We need investment—from the disgraceful pitch to paying staff properly. Clowes needs to stop hiding. Speak to fans. Talk to Radio Derby. Show some leadership instead of hiding on Ramstv #dcfc
@gill_frost: David Clowes – he’s definitely one of our own! Thank you (again) David 👏 onwards and upwards 👆
@rigg0o: We was on a downward trajectory for about 4 months yet Pearce acted quick to reluctantly get in Eustace after an 8 game losing run and not really wanting to get rid of a nice bloke hahahaha what am I reading this is such soft ownership
@iainjennison: If JE and Co can do that with a “League one team with a bit of sugar on” just wait till he builds his own squad. Reasons to be cheerful! #dcfc #dcfcfans
@AmbroseBarnaby: Great timing to get Eustace when we did, also fair play to Pearce for getting the deal done 👏
@AllenjaAllen: Class is permanent 👊🐏❤️
@DcfcFansTalk: Hope the budget is bigger next season
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