Derby County: Fans protest and team show fight in battle to save club and avoid relegation

You could hear them before they came into view as they headed up Pride Parkway.

Plenty took their cars to the stadium, then walked back into the city centre to meet at the Assembly Rooms for the 1130am start.

When the march to the stadium was arranged, there was a very real threat Sunday's Championship game against Birmingham could have been Derby's last.

A Football League extension means the club's administrators have another month to demonstrate they have adequate proof of funding to get them through to the end of the season, a home encounter with Cardiff City on Saturday, 7 May.

The expectation is, somehow, they will manage it. But nothing is certain. No end is in sight to the turmoil Derby fans have experienced since owner Mel Morris put the club into administration in September.

He was no longer willing to fund the escalating debts that, even when "compressed" and only a percentage offered, still leaves a potential owner looking at a £70m investment for a club likely to be in League One next season.

Fans fight to save Derby

Looking at the banners and listening to the songs, Derby fans have many targets for their club being in the state it is.

There is Morris, whose ambition to lead the Rams into the Premier League went unchecked despite numerous footballing financial rule breaches.

There is also the Football League, for deciding the £60m compensation claims by Middlesbrough and Wycombe, if proven, would be regarded as a football debt and need to be paid in full.

And there is Steve Gibson, the owner of Middlesbrough, who feels Derby's accounting practices robbed his club of a play-off place in 2019 and potential promotion to the top flight.

But as much as the march was an attack on those they feel have done their club down, this was really about the support of a football club. Thousands marched in support of their club. From the brow of the hill that goes over the railway line the snake of humanity stretched as far as the eye could see, forwards and back. There was no demographic. Male and female, old and young, middle-aged parents and stylish supporters in their early 20s.

Generations of fans made their point peacefully. All walking behind a banner proclaiming: "Founder Member of the Football League. 138 Years of Football Heritage. Save Derby County."

Inside the ground, a capacity 32,000 came out. Almost all were in support, although, this being football, the Birmingham fans sang 'we'll have a party when Derby County die' after they had gone 2-0 up. It seemed a bit odd given there are plenty of issues around St Andrew's that should have generated some kind of kinship, even among Midlands rivals.

Rooney the hero

How the game unfolded was apt given Derby's season as a whole.

It was quite incredible that Polish defender Krystian Bielik, whose £8m move from Arsenal in 2019 created one of the "football debts" Derby must meet in full, should score the injury-time equaliser and, in the act of celebrating, sustain a shoulder injury serious enough for him to be helped from the field.

Rooney's squad included four teenagers. One of whom, Luke Plange, scored the first goal of Derby's comeback from 2-0 down with three minutes remaining and another, Malcolm Ebiowei, who has never played a first-team game.

If finding a single villain for the state Derby are in is not easy, the hero is straightforward.

Wayne Rooney has handled the season so far with immense professionalism. His status in the eyes of Derby fans was already high, even before he confirmed on Friday he had turned down an opportunity to speak to boyhood club Everton about their manager's job.

His name was sung at regular intervals on the march and hundreds of fans waited until long after the final whistle to hail Manchester United and England's record goalscorer as Rooney conducted his post-match interview next to the pitch.

"Things happen for a reason," said Rooney. "There were no Premier League games this weekend and our game was on Sky. It was almost a reminder this is a massive club, with a massive fanbase. It has a future.

"It has to get sorted out. I know the administrators are working hard for that. The people above me, Middlesbrough, Wycombe and the EFL, they have to be sensible. People's livelihoods are at stake."

What happens now?

In authorised minutes released by the RamsTrust supporters' group following their meeting with the administrators on Friday, it said none of the interested parties in the club will confirm their offers formally until greater clarity is received over the Middlesbrough and Wycombe claims.

This is clearly a major stumbling block. However, there are others.

HMRC is owed £28m and, while there is confidence a deal can be done to reduce that liability, it is not agreed yet.

And then there is also the stadium.

Its sale by Derby to Morris created a lot of the rancour around the club, even though it was ruled to be within EFL rules and other clubs have pursued the same strategy to create greater spending flexibility.

However, this means the stadium is not part of the administration process. It does have a charge in excess of £20m on it through loans to American finance company MSD. But, if he wanted, Morris could do a private deal with MSD and a third party for the stadium, which would markedly reduce the value of the football club.

In the published minutes, it says Morris has "given assurances" regarding the sale of the stadium.

However, BBC Sport has been told Morris has had representatives, who do not work for the club, at meetings between potential purchasers and the administrators, as his status as stadium owner allows.

And, while it is beyond doubt Morris has lost more than £100m through his ownership of Derby, some wonder whether he should now be offering to pay off part of the MSD liability to reduce the overall price of the club which, aside from the Middlesbrough and Wycombe situations, is felt to be prohibitively expensive.

Sunday was a reminder that what happens on and off the pitch is far from certain over the coming months.

But, for now, Derby fans can take solace in the fact their team, deducted 21 points, are now just seven points from Championship survival and fighting all the way. Their supporters will continue to do likewise.

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