September 27 – Administrators for English Championship side Derby County say there is a “considerable degree of interest” in purchasing the club despite them being deducted 12 points and plummeting to the bottom of the table.
Six potential buyers have reportedly been identified with those in charge of running the club saying they will soon start looking at “genuine, credible” prospective buyers.
The administrators, Quantuma, have not put a figure on the club’s debt, saying they are confident that Derby, one of the grand old clubs of English football, will be able to fulfil their fixtures this season.
“A club of this magnitude is such that it does have a viable future moving forward,” said joint administrator Andrew Hosking said: “There is a considerable degree of interest in this club. A lot of it was expressed prior to (entering) administration.
“Now that the club is in administration, notwithstanding the points deduction and clearly the distress to the supporters, the staff and suppliers to the club, we do consider that the position to be able to make a successful conclusion to the story is now really very, very practical. We don’t consider the obstacles that we face at this stage insurmountable.”
EFL chief executive Trevor Birch told Sky the only way to avoid more Championship clubs following Derby into administration is to give a greater share of Premier League revenues to EFL clubs.
Birch wants broadcast rights to be negotiated jointly between the Premier League and the EFL, and 25% of the total revenues from that be passed down to the lower three divisions.
Birch is also calling for an end to what he calls the “benefactor funding model” under which a club’s finances are dependent on one individual, whereby if they “turn the tap off” the club cannot continue to survive.
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