Championship side Derby County face a 12-point deduction after filing intention to appoint administrators.
Derby County Face Further Points Deduction as Administrators to Be Appointed
Financial Woes Continue For Derby County
The club has been trying to find new owners since 2019 and a statement posted to the club’s website on Friday (September 17) confirmed they had filed to appoint administrators.
Two prospective sales of the club have fallen through.
In the statement, the board of directors blame the coronavirus pandemic for the current state of the club’s finances as it prevented them from meeting with buyers to sell their Stadium and training facilities among other things.
Twelve points would be taken away from them when the EFL receives formal notification of the application.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Sport: “The most important thing is that whatever happens at the end of this, there is still a Derby County to support.
“It’s not the end, but it’s going to be a very tough period of time. You have to try and separate the football club from its owners and executives.
“From afar, they appear to have really let everybody else down. The profligate expenditure since Mel Morris took over, wages effectively trebled from £16m in 2014 to £47m by 2018.”
The Rams, managed by former England captain Wayne Rooney, are 16th in the Championship with seven points from their first seven matches.
Derby could face a further point deduction as the EFL continue to re-examine their accounts for 2016, 2017 and 2018 to see whether they are found to have broken accounting rules.
They were dealt a £100,000 fine and reprimanded in July by the EFL for that breach.
Derby are currently under a transfer embargo since before the summer transfer window opened, meaning they have only been able to sign free agents with strict salary caps.
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