How much David Clowes bought Derby County for as fan raises future exit possibility | OneFootball

David Clowes saved Derby from administration in 2022...FLW looks at how much he spent doing so

David Clowes is a hero in many Derby County fans' eyes. The club would likely have gone bust if it weren't for his last-minute bid in June 2022.

Derby had spent 282 days in administration, which saw them incur a points deduction and subsequent relegation from the Championship at the end of the 2021/22 season.

Clowes, a lifelong Derby County fan, wasn't prepared to let his club die and, after purchasing Pride Park, he set out to launch a bid to take over the club once Chris Kirchner withdrew his bid.

In a 2023 interview with the BBC, Clowes said: "I think if we hadn't taken over, in another week it would have gone."

However, while the club has regained its status as a Championship club under the current board, Derby County fans feel that David Clowes won't be able to fund the club's long-term future, a view reflected in a recent Terrace Talk interview with FLW's Derby County fan pundit, Shaun Woodward.

Whether he sells the club or not, his name will go down in history in Derby as the man who saved the football club, and FLW has looked to see how much money he had to spend to do so.

David Clowes's eight-figure Derby County purchase

When Chris Kirchner withdrew his bid to buy Derby County, the Rams were already past their 10 June deadline to complete a deal, and things were starting to look bleak.

However, David Clowes came in with a late bid, purchasing the club for £33 million.

On top of that, Clowes bought Derby's home ground, Pride Park, for £22 million in a separate agreement. Therefore, David Clowes spent £55 million overall to bring Derby County out of administration.

It's definitely money well spent for the 56-year-old, as the lifelong Rams fan "could not stand by as the risk of losing Derby became real."

However, in September 2024, Clowes revealed that he was holding talks with potential investors regarding selling a majority stake in the club, with the Telegraph reporting that he would be open to selling upwards of 80% of the club.

David Clowes will always have the best interests of Derby County at heart

Clowes being open to selling the club at the right time should not come as a surprise to anyone, with his motivations behind the purchase being "purely to save the football club, no more," he told the BBC.

"There is no ego with me. I'm passionate about Derby County - it means everything to me," he added.

Clowes clearly loves the club and will stop at nothing to ensure that the long-term future of Derby County is full of success, meaning that he will likely need to sell a large chunk of his stake in the club to someone who has the financial capabilities to take the club to the next level.

The ghost of Mel Morris still haunts the minds of Derby fans when questioned about a potential takeover, but there shouldn't be much to worry about. With the best interests of the club at heart, David Clowes will most likely ensure that, if he were to sell, it would be to someone he knew wouldn't leave the club nearing obscurity.