David Clowes: 'A week later and Derby would have gone' - Rams owner talks a year on from takeover

David Clowes says Derby County were a week away from going bust when he took ownership of the club.

The lifelong Rams er positioned himself as Derby's "very, very last resort" after a number of failed takeover attempts saw them spend 282 days in istration, suffer a points deduction and relegation from the Championship.

He was taking the bins out on a Monday morning in March 2022 when he got the phone call that first convinced him to get involved in trying to save the club, with a frantic bid pulled together in 17 days in June to complete the takeover.

"I think if we hadn't taken over, in another week it would have gone," Clowes told BBC Radio Derby. "That's how serious it was."

In a rare interview, Clowes has marked the anniversary of his high-profile purchase by talking about:

When Clowes announced that he had bought the Rams' Pride Park home ground on 24 June 2022, the prominent Derbyshire property developer's deal did not come as a shock.

The accompanying bid to go it alone to also take the club out of istration, however, was a surprise to many.

He explained that "only about four people knew" what he was doing, although he added that his friends and family saw him swooping in as "inevitable".

Rumours that Morris - the former club and stadium owner, who placed Derby into istration in September 2021 - has remained involved in the background have persisted since Clowes' interest first emerged.

When asked if he could end the speculation, Clowes replied: "Yes, he (Morris) has no connection with the football club whatsoever."

When pressed to comment on Morris' time at the club and the perilous state he left the Rams in, Clowes would not elaborate.

He did, however, reiterate his for CEO Pearce, who was recruited by Morris in 2018, was in the role when the club sold its stadium to the then owner, and controversially changed its ing procedures - a move that eventually saw the club hit with a points penalty for breaches of English Football League rules.

Clowes said he even stuck by Pearce when "three chief execs from other clubs" got in touch with him about the position when he first took over.

"There was a thinking that when we took over the football club he would be the first person out the door, but I didn't see it that way," Clowes continued.

"Stephen came to see me just before we acquired the club, we had a good chat for quite a few hours. He told me about the past and how he sees the club going forward. I saw qualities in Stephen, he is a good operator, he knows the club inside out.

"He has a story to tell but in his own time. He has unfinished business with Derby and he will tell you that himself."

And yet it was in Pearce's first year at Pride Park as chief executive that Derby signed midfielder Krystian Bielik from Arsenal for a deal worth £10m in 2019 - a move that Clowes itted had him thinking about the Rams' financial future.

"That was a surprise to me," he said. "I thought they must know what they are doing.

"But I think when you spend that sort of money, then you are going to cause yourself a lot of problems, especially if you don't get promoted."

The riches of the Premier League, however, were not reached - with their play-off final defeat by Aston Villa earlier that same year the closest they came before a dramatic collapse saw them go into istration and suffer relegation three years later.

Clowes said he did not sleep the night the Rams went into istration.

"I was thinking in my own mind, 'do I look at this">