David Clowes' Derby County cash injection cannot go on forever - £3m reveal hints at next move

The extent to which Derby County owner Clowes Developments is funding the Rams was laid bare in the club's most recent set of accounts released on Tuesday. The books for the financial year ending June 2024 include promotion to the Championship on the pitch as well as the ongoing resurrection of the club after it was bought out of administration, which was only two-and-a-half years ago.

The detail has been covered extensively, with the headline that Clowes Developments - the club's ultimate owner - pumped in another £10 million to take the total amount owed to the Ashbourne-based property company to close to £48m. A £14m loss was recorded, up £3.5m from the previous year because of one-off payments such as bonuses and clauses to players because of promotion.

Some of the most interesting bits of detail from company accounts can be found in the post-balance sheet events section. There, transactions that happened after the accounts' cut-off date are discussed and in this instance include transfers for players like Kenzo Goudmijn and Jacob Widell Zetterstrom from AZ in the Netherlands and Sweden's Djurgardens respectively.

Included in that £2.9m figure is Ebou Adams' transfer fee due to Cardiff City. The full amounts will be made clear given instalments and clauses aren't included, but that figure tells a story of how the Rams plan for the long-term to stop relying on Clowes' cash.

Buying young players from abroad with plenty of upside like Zetterstrom and Goudmijn indicates a potential move toward a player trading model. It's not palatable to suggest those players will be moving on so soon after joining, but it is what clubs do now to avoid Financial Fair Play sanctions.

"While the willingness to invest in the football club by David Clowes has been an undeniable positive in terms of affording Derby the chance to progress, the focus will now be on trying to find a path towards a more stable business plan that isn’t solely reliant on the goodwill of one man," chief business of football writer for Reach PLC Dave Powell says. "Clowes' ownership has seen the non-playing staff headcount increase as the club looks to expand operationally, while the playing staff headcount has also grown.

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"Spending time in League One brought with it far smaller revenues than in the Championship through a lesser slice of broadcasting income, but wage liabilities continued to be an issue. Promotion meant that bonuses had to be paid, but reaching the second tier gives the club access to greater sources of revenue, as well as the opportunity to earn greater sums from commercial revenue due to increased exposure.

"Clowes' belief will likely be one of spending ahead of revenue, although the ability to generate revenue will be intrinsically linked to the ability of the football club to effectively manage its liabilities at the same time as achieving competitive success. £The near £3m spent on players in the post-balance sheet events should be instructive as to what the plan of action may be moving forward for the club.

"Additions of players that have the potential for a significant resale value may well form the basis of a business model moving forward, much in the same way that Brighton & Hove Albion have found a path to profitability year on year through player trading having relied heavily on the generosity of owner Tony Bloom in the earlier years of his reign as owner. "Player trading is one of the most effective ways for clubs to aid their profit and loss, although it is a model that takes time, patience and the ability to have the right people in the right places to deliver on strategy.

"The addition of players, for a club of the size and stature of Derby, but also with the issues to be addressed financially, should be viewed as an investment moving forward and not a sunk cost that has no resale value to the football club. "There are few levers that can be pulled to seriously address revenue streams while in the Championship, with matchday revenue and commercial revenue all remaining relatively stable.

"But for clubs that can find a way to identify talent that can have a place to thrive, if only for a short period of time, and then flipped for a profit for that then to be reinvested in the same way, there is a chance to change the financial outlook. "Derby will likely need to land on such a model if they are to wean themselves off the financial aid of Clowes, even if they reach the holy grail of the Premier League."