Derby taken over by administrators, hit with point deduction

Published Sep. 22, 2021 9:37 a.m. ET

Associated Press

DERBY, England (AP) — Second-division English soccer club Derby, which is managed by England great Wayne Rooney, was taken over by administrators on Wednesday after falling into financial problems during the pandemic and will be hit with a 12-point deduction.

The club from central England will slip to last place in the Championship with minus-2 points after eight games. The team played in the Premier League as recently as 2008 and Rooney, the record scorer for England and Manchester United, has been its permanent manager since January.

Derby is up for sale, with two takeover bids collapsing this year. It has entered administration — a form of bankruptcy protection — with the aim of completing all of its matches this season.

“We are in the early stages of assessing the options available to the club and would invite any interested parties to come forward,” said Andrew Hosking, one of the three administrators appointed from business advisory firm Quantuma.

Derby is a two-time English champion and one of 12 founding members of the Football League in 1888.

Derby was cleared of breaching Financial Fair Play rules last year, with a disciplinary commission dismissing evidence by the English Football League questioning the value of player registrations.

An independent league arbitration panel concluded in May that the commission was wrong to dismiss the EFL’s evidence and Derby could face another separate point deduction.

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