Is the end game in sight for Derby County?
Wednesday afternoon saw the English Football League (EFL) issue a worrying statement for fans of the troubled East Midlands club.
Derby have been in administration since last September and are desperately searching for a new buyer. They have also been under a transfer embargo since the summer and a 21-point handicap handed down this season has them staring down the face of relegation into the third tier.
Tuesday was the EFL's deadline for an update from Derby’s administrators, Quantuma, in regards to potential buyers or proof that they can fulfil their fixtures for the remainder of the campaign.
But the threat of the club, who were formed in 1884, going into liquidation remains a looming one, according to the latest update from the EFL.
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Here, Mirror Sport looks back at what has been a farcical, long-term situation at Derby.
Purchase of Pride Park
Former owner Mel Morris purchased the club's ground, which has been their home since 1997, back in June 2018.
That transaction, which saw the ground change hands for a fee of £81million, would ultimately come back to haunt the club as it resulted in them breaching the EFL’s profitability and sustainability rules.
Little did they know it at the time, but the deal would prove to cause them big problems.
Play-off defeat
Many Derby fans will readily admit that the club gambled on winning promotion to the Premier League.
In the 2018-19 season it looked as though it may well pay off as Frank Lampard's side finished the Championship season strongly.
They then faced off against Leeds United in what proved to be an epic semi-final match. Over two legs, Lampard's side did just enough to book their place at Wembley.
Suddenly, they were just one game away from a Premier League return but Aston Villa proved too strong.
That summer saw Lampard poached by Chelsea whilst a clutch of influential players departed.
EFL charge
January 2020 saw Derby hit with a charge by the EFL, over breaches of spending rules and their accounting policies.
The club refuted the claims, which were surrounding the aforementioned stadium sale.
Unpaid wages
December 2020 saw player wages go unpaid.
Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan, using a takeover vehicle called Derventio Holdings, was attempting to buy the club but a takeover had stalled.
Mel Morris wanted outside investment but a deal was not forthcoming and with the added financial hit of the pandemic, fears were growing.
Derby would eventually claim a delay in the takeover as the reason for the wage delays.
Rooney appointed
Philip Cocu was hired to replace Lampard but a failure to qualify for the play-offs in 2019-20 was followed by a poor start to the following campaign.
Derby axed him and after an interim period, Wayne Rooney was handed the job on a permanent basis.
Many saw it as a bold move but it has proved to be a hugely successful decision, given his superb handling of what have been hugely difficult circumstances within which he has cut his managerial teeth.
Another failed takeover
After the Saudi-backed takeover failed to go through, Erik Alonso suddenly arrived on the scene as the latest man claiming to be interested in purchasing the club.
The Spaniard, who had previously had an interest in buying Sheffield Wednesday, made plenty of boasts but hit back after the EFL pulled the plug on the deal.
He said at the time: "It predominantly broke down because the EFL kept putting up more barriers."
But Trevor Birch, the EFL's chief executive, said: “He (Alonso) asked us not to trust his words and we didn’t, we asked for some tangible proof which unfortunately he wasn’t able to deliver.”
Alonso, who was involved in a bizarre TikTok copycat episode, has kept a low profile since the takeover fell through.
Six-figure fine
June 2021 saw Derby, who had only just survived relegation after a final-day draw, hit with a £100,000 over some of their accounting policies.
The EFL said in a statement that, pending any appeal, it had developed an interchangeable fixture list for the 2021-22 season for Derby and Wycombe Wanderers, while the disciplinary process is finalised.
Derby would go on to start the new season as a Championship club.
Transfer embargo
As part of the aforementioned case, Derby were told to resubmit their accounts for three years as the EFL continued to look into their FFP compliance.
Until their accounts were refiled, Derby would be placed under a transfer embargo. It severely limited Rooney's summer recruitment to just free agents.
Administration
September 22, 2021 saw Derby enter administration and incur the default 12-point deduction.
Andrew Hosking, Carl Jackson and Andrew Andronikou, managing directors at business advisory firm Quantuma, were appointed joint administrators.
Manager Rooney admits that he only found out about the news through watching Sky Sports News.
Another points deduction
November 16, 2021 saw Derby take another nine-point hit - taking their total deductions up to 21 for the campaign.
It was handed down after the Championship club admitted to breaches of Profitability and Sustainability (P&S) rules.
Trevor Birch said: "Given the complex circumstances of the case and the various outstanding regulatory issues between the EFL and Derby County, the League is satisfied at the agreed outcome and the sensible approach taken by both parties in negotiating this outcome and in respect of the appeal withdrawal."
The attention now moved to looking forward, with Derby in search of new ownership.
Easing of Middlesbrough-Wycombe tensions
February 2022, five months after entering administration, Derby finally remove a big hurdle in their quest for new ownership.
It comes on the eve of a Championship game with Middlesbrough, with both clubs saying they have reached a "resolution" over a long-standing compensation claim brought against the Rams.
Boro had launched legal proceedings, claiming County's financial breaches cost them a play-off place in 2018-19.
But the clubs say former Rams owner Mel Morris has now reached an "accord" with Boro owner and chairman Steve Gibson.
One of Derby's joint administrators, Andrew Hosking, gave an update on the Wycombe situation in February, saying: "The Wycombe resolution, I don't think that will be an impediment (to a takeover).
"In fact we don't consider that something that the purchasers will necessarily need to look at. We think there is a way through. The Wycombe chairman, like Mr Gibson, believes passionately in their position. We will endeavour to reach out to them to see if an accommodation can be reached."
Deadline day comes and goes
The EFL handed the administrators a deadline of March 1 for them to inform them of potential buyers or proof that they can fulfil their fixtures for the remainder of the campaign.
In a damning statement, the EFL claim that they have heard no updates and that they "remain deeply concerned at the lack of any form of substantial progress in respect of the outstanding matters affecting the club".
The EFL added that they have "advised the Administrators that the lack of progress on these two critical issues, amongst others, is threatening the very future of Derby County Football Club."
