"Like it wasn't real life" - Mel Morris, Derby County regret highlighted | OneFootball

The businessman took over the club in 2014, but sent it into administration just seven years later.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Derby County have made their return to the Championship this season, after two years in League One.

The Rams were relegated from the second tier in 2022, following a campaign of pure destruction at Pride Park Stadium that saw the club enter administration, get charged for breaching financial regulations and also get deducted 21 points.

Under the guidance of Wayne Rooney, the on-pitch action was extremely entertaining and Derby put up a tremendous fight that eventually proved too much to overcome with a team filled with seasoned professionals and academy graduates.

However, the years prior to the eventual downfall of the Rams were a mixture of drama, heartbreak and promise.

Derby will always have regrets about Mel Morris

After losing to QPR in the 2014 Championship Play-Off final in the most disappointing of ways, local businessman Mel Morris bought his first 22% share in the club.

A year later, the man touted as a life-long supporter purchasedDerby from their previous owners, North American Derby Partners LP.

What followed was years of overspending, deceit and eventual near dissolvement of the football club.

Shaun Woodward, Football League World's Derby Fan Pundit, believes that Morris' purchase of the Rams is still the greatest regret that the club will ever have.

He told FLW: "I think the obvious regret for Derby is the fact that Mel Morris almost liquidated the club by just being absolutely terrible with his money. He gave average journeymen in the Championship ridiculous contracts, paying well above the odds for those players, so it just was never going to work.

"We came close a few times with play-off final defeats, and if we've got promoted, who knows? But that would have been papering over the cracks because this was not a sustainable model, and it almost cost us the club."

Shaun continued: "At the time it might have been nice to see us buying all these players, but we didn't know what was going on behind the scenes and the club was being run horrifically, which almost ended with us being liquidated.

"So, I think the obvious regret as a Derby fan is Mel Morris just chucking around silly money like it was Football Manager, almost like it wasn't real life.

"It’s going to take us years to get back to anywhere near where we want to be. But thankfully, we still have the club, and we're moving forward again."

Derby have recovered fantastically

After relegation was confirmed in 2022, there was still a battle to find a new owner, with another local businessman, David Clowes purchasing the club in its final hour for £55 million, only 26 months ago.

Since that day, the Rams have fought back, finishing 7th in their first League One campaign, despite not being able to pay any transfer fees due to working under an EFL Business Plan.

Last season was one that will always be remembered by supporters, with Derby winning promotion back to the Championship at the second time of asking under Paul Warne.

The Rams finished 2nd behind Portsmouth, and put to bed the pain that they had been through over the previous three years.

Their start to the new Championship season has been excellent, winning all three of their opening home matches. Warne is starting to form a new connection with supporters, and Pride Park is once again a place of hope.