Pre-season It was confirmed on 24 July 2020, that the
2020/21 Championship season - delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic - would start on the weekend beginning 12 September 2020. When the fixtures were announced on 21 August, it was revealed that Derby would start the season at home to
Reading, as they had done in the
2002-03 campaign. Another notable fixture was 28 November home match vs.
Wycombe Wanderers, the first-ever competitive meeting between the two sides. The most significant off-the-field announcement came when it was revealed that the two charges bought upon the club by the
EFL, namely the club's valuation associated with the sale of
Pride Park Stadium in June 2018 and its
amortisation policy associated with intangible fixed assets (players) were dismissed, ensuring the club would avoid a points deduction and fine for the 2020/21 campaign. The EFL later confirmed it would appeal the dismissal of the charge regarding player valuations. The first new arrival in the playing staff was
Mike te Wierik who finally arrived at the club having signed a pre-contract agreement for a three-year stay in February 2020.
Ben Hamer's return to
parent-club Huddersfield Town, coupled with
Scott Carson and
Jonathan Mitchell's loan moves to
Manchester City and
Northampton Town respectively, left the club in search of a goalkeeper, with the gap being filled by the acquisition of
Scottish international David Marshall from
Wigan Athletic. A second significant capture was the return of reigning
player of the year Matthew Clarke on a season-long loan from
Brighton & Hove Albion. In terms of contracts,
George Evans signed a one-year extension to take his stay at the club through to 2022. After a decade at the club,
Mason Bennett left to join
Millwall for an undisclosed fee.
Scott Malone also moved to
The Den on a season-long loan. with Derby advancing on
penalties after a 0–0 draw, with
Kelle Roos the hero following three saves in the shoot-out itself. The absence of
Jayden Bogle and
Max Lowe from the starting line-up lead to rumours about their future and both players subsequently joined Premier League
Sheffield United in an undisclosed deal two days later. The ensuing gap left by Bogle was filled with the signing of
Wigan Athletic's Nathan Byrne three days later in another undisclosed deal. Derby lost 2–0 at home to
Reading in their opening game of the new campaign (a first opening day defeat for 11 years), before losing 2–1 at home to
Preston North End in the
EFL Cup second round. a first defeat to Preston in 15 meetings. In the days following the Preston defeat, Derby clinched the signing of
Poland international Kamil Jóźwiak from
Lech Poznań and announced
Max Bird and
Louie Sibley had signed new deals with the club which would take them through to the end of the 2023–24 season. Jóźwiak's debut came three days after signing as he assisted
Jack Marriott for the equalizer, his first goal since January, in an eventual 2–1 defeat at
Luton Town, Derby's third consecutive defeat in all competitions. There were heavy links with
Jordon Ibe, who had had a loan spell with the club in
2014-15, and former
Liverpool forward
Bobby Duncan; both joined the club in the week following the Luton game. Neither player featured in the next game, a 4–0 home defeat to
Blackburn Rovers; a third straight league defeat condemning the Rams to their worst start to a season since the
1992-93 campaign.
October As new signing
Bobby Duncan was confirmed to initially be part of the Rams under-23s side, Derby continued making signings with one eye on the future in the capture of
Southend United winger
Isaac Hutchinson., former-
Bradford City goalkeeper
George Sykes-Kenworthy and ex-
West Ham United midfielder
Louie Watson. The upcoming closure of the international transfer window on 5 October saw the club heavily linked with
SV Darmstadt 98 striker
Serdar Dursun and they reportedly submitted bids of £750,000 and £1m for the player, though both were rejected and no deal went through, though it was suggested Derby would revisit their interest in 2021. The club continued its hunt for a striker within the English league and was linked with loan moves for Premier League forwards
Keinan Davis of
Aston Villa. and
Charlie Austin of
West Brom, though Austin rejected a move despite a personal phone call from club captain
Wayne Rooney. Against the back drop of these transfer links, it was Rooney's 87th-minute free kick that proved the difference in 1–0 win away to
Norwich City that took the club out of the bottom three and relieved some of the pressure building on Cocu going into the first
international break of the season. In the days leading up to the closure of the domestic transfer window on 16 October,
Louie Sibley was linked with a move to
Leeds United and
Florian Jozefzoon was linked with
Rotherham United; Jozefzoon duly joined The Millers until the end of the campaign. Following the collapse of a deal for Charlie Austin, Ultimately, the club signed
free agent Colin Kazim-Richards allowed
Jack Marriott to leave for a season-long loan at
Sheffield Wednesday, though the club retained the right to recall the forward in January and extended his contract until the end of the 2021/22 season. On the day the window closed, Derby lost 1–0 at home to
Watford to continue their poor start to the season. The result was compounded three days later with the news that
Wayne Rooney would have to go into
self isolation for ten days following his coming into contact with a friend who was later diagnosed as having
COVID-19 and miss three games as a result. The first of these games was a 1–0 defeat at
Huddersfield Town, a fifth defeat in six league games, which increased the pressure manager
Phillip Cocu; the Dutch press rumoured his job was "hanging by a thread" though
Chairman Mel Morris publicly backed Cocu, saying "Of course we are concerned about the lack of points, as is the manager. But when you look at the cards we’ve been dealt this season, it's hardly surprising that results have been poor. Does he have our support? Yes, we have got to be realistic about the challenges he faces. This is not about a lack of tactics, or effort on the training field, or those things." The following three games, away to
Nottingham Forest in the first
East Midlands derby of the season, at home to
Cardiff City and away to
Bournemouth, were all 1–1 draws which saw Derby take the lead in the first half before being pegged-back in the second. The results lead Cocu to admit the team needed to improve their end product, as after nine league games they had only two goals from open-play. On 30 October, rumours regarding a potential takeover of the club by
Abu Dhabi-based
Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who had previously been linked to
Newcastle United and
Liverpool, began to surface.
November The first game of November saw Derby lose 1–0 at home to
Queens Park Rangers to further heap pressure on Phillip Cocu - former manager
Steve McClaren accused Cocu and the club of "underachieving", fans referred to his claims the team did not deserve to lose as "deluded" and "a tough listen" and pundits summarised he was "on the edge" as Derby found themselves in the bottom two after just one win in their opening ten games, only being kept off the bottom by
Sheffield Wednesday, who had had six points deducted. With the rumoured £60m takeover by Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan approved by the
EFL, it was reported that Derby's players "(did) not expect the Dutchman to survive the forthcoming international break." Cocu's issues were then compounded by news he had to go into self-isolation following coming into contact with club
CEO Stephen Pearce, who later tested positive for
COVID-19, meaning he would absent for the match against
Barnsley. The Barnsley match ended in a 2–0 defeat - Barnsley's first win at Pride Park in over a decade - and saw the Rams slump to the bottom of the table as they endured their worst start to a season in 12 years. Cocu left the club by
mutual agreement on 14 November, along with assistant manager
Chris van der Weerden and Specialist First Team Coach Twan Scheepers, after 16-months and 65 matches in charge. The first post-Cocu result once again saw defeat, 1–0 at
Bristol City, to leave Derby at the foot of the table and three points from safety, though Wayne Rooney said he could guarantee that the side would "get better (and) get out of the situation we're in and... start winning games." Prior to the next game, away to
Middlesbrough, the club announced the appointment of former-manager
Steve McClaren as
technical director to advise the board, with the "permanent status of the (position) subject to ratification by Derventio Holdings’ board following completion of the club acquisition.” The Middlesbrough match ended in another defeat, 3-0, that left Derby rooted at the foot at the table, now four points from safety. Rosenior stated that the result had to be a "watershed" moment for the club whereas Rooney found himself being an increasingly polarizing figure amongst fans for his perceived avoidance of post-match interviews after poor results and his "abject" performances on the field, with supporters calling him a "disgrace" and asking him to "leave the club now". It was announced the day after the "painful and chastening" Middlesbrough result that Rooney would take sole control of the side for the next match against
Wycombe Wanderers and had removed himself from the playing squad, Rooney's first game as sole interim manager saw him make seven changes to the side that had lost at Middlesbrough, including handing a first start to Colin Kazim-Richards, but could not guide Derby to a second victory, as
Matt Bloomfield's 81st-minute equalizer canceled out
Duane Holmes' first-half goal (Derby's first goal in a month). The result left Derby bottom, though the gap from safety was reduced to five points as none of the bottom six teams were able to secure victory. The month ended with the draw for the
FA Cup third round proper, which saw Derby handed a potential
banana skin at
National League North side
Chorley.
December Derby blew another chance at a first win since October following another 1–1 home draw, this time against fellow strugglers
Coventry City, to remain 5 points away from 21st placed
Nottingham Forest after the completion of the 15th round of fixtures. Post-match, Rooney stated he had enjoyed his first week in the role despite the "frustrating" results but admitted that the proposed takeover would have to be completed before he would know if the position would be his permanently. According to local media, no candidates had been approached or interviewed, whilst other sources, such as
podcaster Ian McGarry, claimed they had not heard Terry's name mentioned. Rooney claimed his first win as Derby boss as
Jason Knight scored a 69th-minute winner at
Millwall to give Derby a first victory in two months and twelve matches to take them off the bottom and to within two points of
Nottingham Forest in 21st. The run of five points from three games saw Rooney overtake Terry to become the bookmaker's favourite for the position, with former-
England manager
Sam Allardyce (who instead replaced
Slaven Bilić at
West Bromwich Albion) and
Burnley boss
Sean Dyche being newly linked to the role.) and a first home win in thirteen attempts with a 2–0 win over
Swansea City, which moved The Rams level on points with 20th placed
Rotherham United, though still in the bottom three on
goal difference. Rotherham were due to be the next opponents, but the match at the
New York Stadium was postponed 90-minutes before kick-off due to a
COVID-19 outbreak in Rotherham's squad. Derby's unbeaten run ended in the following game as they fell to a
Boxing Day home defeat to
Preston North End; a sixth home defeat meaning they had already lost more home games than in the previous two seasons despite only having played eleven out of twenty-three home ties. Despite the defeat, Derby ended the year outside the relegation zone after a 4–0 win away to
Birmingham City - Derby's biggest away win since a 4–0 win at the same opponents on
26th December 2014 - took them up to 20th and three points clear of relegation with a game in hand. Academy graduate
Kaide Gordon's appearance as a substitute made him the fourth-youngster player in club history. Derby's upturn in form was tempered by the news that
Curtis Davies, who had been stretchered off in the 65th-minute in the draw at Brentford, had suffered an injury to his
achilles tendon and would be out "long-term", with speculation that Davies, whose contract was due to expire at the end of the season, had played his last game for the club. Despite the injury to Davies leaving Derby short at centre-back, Rooney made it clear that the primary target for the upcoming January transfer window would be a striker, saying "The striker area we need to add to. Colin (Kazim-Richards) has come, and he's been great. If we can add one or two more in that position it would only benefit the team in the long run." One potential signing was
Leeds United's
Tyler Roberts, though Leeds informed Derby that any deal would require Leeds bringing someone in first. Looking ahead to the January transfer window, it was also revealed that out of favour defender
Mike te Wierik, who has not featured since October, had been told he was free to find another club and that
Jayden Mitchell-Lawson would return from his loan spell at
Bristol Rovers early after a managerial change left him out of the first team. The proposed £60 million takeover by
Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan's Derventio Holdings, which had been ratified by the EFL the previous month, This led to the club, who had been silent on the takeover progress for six weeks, issuing a statement that discussions were on track, with the aim of a finish before
Christmas For their performances during December,
Nathan Byrne,
Matt Clarke,
Krystian Bielik and
Colin Kazim-Richards were all names in the WhoScored.com Championship Team of the Month. Bielik was also nominated for Sky Bet Championship Player of the Month.
January Derby opened 2021 with a 1–0 defeat at
Sheffield Wednesday which saw
The Owls leapfrog Derby in the table, who dropped back into the bottom three, albeit with a game in hand on a number of the teams around them. In the days following the game, Derby closed their
training ground, as did Sheffield Wednesday, after "several players" were found to have contracted
COVID-19. though as
FA Cup rules stated that clubs are expected to fulfil their fixtures as long as they have 14 eligible players, including the under-23 and under-18 squads, they would be expected to play. As a result, manager Wayne Rooney and the entirety of the first team squad would not travel for the game, and the team would be managed by Senior Professional Development Phase Coach Pat Lyons and Professional Development Phase Coach
Gary Bowyer. Testing of the available players the day before the game ruled out a further six players leaving Lyons to admit that Derby were now "underdogs." Derby, for whom fourteen players made their debuts, fielded a team with an average age of 19 and lost 2–0 to exit at the
third round stage for only the third time in ten years; it was the first time a sixth tier side had beaten a second-tier team since 1991. In the days following the Chorley game the whole of the first team squad tested negative for COVID-19 and were able to return to training. On 15 January,
Wayne Rooney was appointed manager on a permanent basis, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal and officially announcing his retirement as a player. was described as "sloppy" by Rooney and continued an alarming record against the teams around Derby in the bottom eight positions of the table, with just one win in seven and six points from a possible 21. It was later revealed that 50 percent of player wages had already been paid and the rest was dependent on the completion of the takeover. In the week following the FA Cup defeat at Chorley, it was announced that the takeover was finally to be completed and the delayed wages to players and senior executives would be paid. Despite claims that the takeover was now "legally binding" this was, once again, not the case; with players wages remaining unpaid, it was reported that CEO Stephen Pearce had called the players and management together at the training ground to apologise for the ongoing problems, and promised to keep them informed of developments; The failure to pay player wages also resulted in a transfer embargo being placed on the club. With uncertainty brewing amongst the fanbase, CEO Stephen Pearce reassured the support that the takeover was "absolutely going ahead" and that any player sales would be within the range of their business model rather than in a
fire sale. The continued delays in the takeover led to the club drawing up contingency plans to find funds from alternate sources. The players wages for December were fully paid on 25 January. With the reopening of the transfer window and Derby looking to strengthen, Rooney reiterated his desire to improve the club's attacking options, as well as add a centre back, during the upcoming month. The press linked Derby with moves for
Tom Ince, who had had a successful spell at the club between 2015 and 2017,
SV Darmstadt striker
Serdar Dursun, though the player would not qualify under the new points-based system agreed by the FA,
Premier League and
EFL in conjunction with the
Home Office following
the UK's exit from the European Union, former
Blackpool forward
Armand Gnanduillet,
Doncaster Rovers Ben Whiteman, (who eventually joined
Preston North End),
AFC Wimbledon's
Joe Piggott, and free-agents
Ravel Morrison and
Nathaniel Mendez-Laing. There were also links with loan deals for
Leeds striker
Tyler Roberts,
Aston Villa's
Keinan Davis,
Cardiff City winger
Josh Murphy,
Sheffield United's
Billy Sharp. and
Rangers'
George Edmundson. An apparent interest in
Standard Liège's
Montenegrin winger Aleksandar Boljević cooled when Derby, who initially believed the player was available on a free transfer, were informed he would cost £2 million. In regards of outgoings,
Isaac Hutchinson was the first departure of the window, as he moved on loan to
League Two Forest Green Rovers for the rest of the season. Out-of-favour defender
Mike te Wierik was the first permanent outgoing as he agreed a deal to return to
FC Groningen; when discussing his time at Derby he said "It has not turned out what I had hoped for, it is that simple. In the beginning I didn't play well enough, but we didn't really play well as a team either."
Duane Holmes, with whom the club had opened contract talks, but failed to agree terms was heavily linked with a £1m move to
Huddersfield Town. after having displayed displeasure at being played out-wide rather than in his preferred position of down the middle. Holmes eventually joined Huddersfield on 25 January with the deal quoted as being predominantly incentive based.
Manchester City were supposedly "angered" after an attempt to sign loanee
Scott Carson was rebuffed by the club, due to them wanting the £500k loan free due them. A £500k bid from
Millwall for
George Evans was rejected by the club, before accepting a bid of £750k as Rooney told Evans he could not guarantee him game time. A £700k bid from
Swansea City for
Morgan Whittaker was also accepted.
Leeds United were also linked with Knight, as well as
Louie Sibley. However, Rooney was unequivocal in saying that Knight would not be leaving.
Kaide Gordon, an academy product who made his first-team debut in the 4–0 win at
Birmingham City, was linked with a move to
Liverpool or
Manchester United with Derby valuing Gordon at £2m having already turned down offers for him. Although not an imminent departure,
Manchester City scout Jakub Bokiej revealed in an interview that he had
Kamil Jóźwiak "high" on a list of players he monitored and believed Jóźwiak would be playing in the Premier League within 18-months. In addition to transfers, the club also had to start considering whether or not to extend the contracts of a number of first-team players whose deals were coming to end. Whilst it was believed that
Scott Carson,
Florian Jozefzoon,
Curtis Davies and
Scott Malone would not be offered new deals, and, as previously stated, Duane Holmes had failed to agree terms,
George Evans left the club for
Millwall in a £750k deal and
Morgan Whittaker joined
Swansea City for £700k. The club's final business was to let
Jahmal Hector-Ingram join
Stevenage on loan until the end of the season. Youngster
Kaide Gordon left the club to join
Liverpool a few days following the closure of the window, with Derby reported to be receiving a fee in the region of £1 million, rising to £3 million with add-ons. Derby also bought in
Arsenal youngster Bayo Fapetu and handed trials to
Chelsea youth Filip Lissah and former-
West Ham youth
Courtney Clarke, with an eye on integrating them into the club's under-18 setup, whilst
Manchester United displayed an interest in an unnamed trio of Derby's U-18 players to the tune of a combined £750,000. Roberts, Baningime and Gregory made their debuts as substitutes as Derby finally played their away fixture against
Rotherham United at the third time of asking, following postponements firstly due to the
COVID-19 and then a waterlogged pitch, but were on the wrong end of a 3–0 defeat which saw the gap between Derby and the relegation zone reduced to just two points, with Rotherham, in 22nd, having two games in hand. It was the first time Rotherham has completed a league double over the Rams since
the 1965/66 season. The defeat was compounded by the fact that
Krystian Bielik, who had suffered injury in the 1–0 win over
Bristol City, would miss the remainder of the season due to an
anterior cruciate ligament; the second time he has suffered the injury in his spell at the club. A second postponement of the month followed when 6 February trip to
Barnsley was called off due to a waterlogged pitch and Derby dropped back into the bottom three on goal difference following a win for
Rotherham on 6 February and then
Sheffield Wednesday the following Tuesday. However, the following Saturday saw Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday in the reverse position, as frozen pitches led to postponements of both club's home matches, allowing Derby to leapfrog both of them (as well as
Coventry City) in the table after a 2–1 home win over
Middlesbrough; Lee Gregory scoring one and creating the other on his home debut. Three days later Derby reached a season high of 16th in the table when
Andre Wisdom scored his first career league goal in the 94th-minute to secure a 2–1 win away at bottom of the table
Wycombe Wanderers in Derby's first every visit to
Adams Park. A Friday night 2–1 defeat away to 3rd-placed Watford was followed by a 2–0 victory at home to fellow strugglers
Huddersfield Town with George Edmundson's first goal for the club giving Derby the lead before
Martyn Waghorn, who came on for Edmundson at half-time, became the first substitute of the season to score for the Rams to make the game safe in the second half. Ahead of the second
East Midlands Derby of the season, Wayne Rooney found himself under the spotlight as national media attention centred on arguably the highest profile match of his nascent management career. Having accrued 31 points from a possible 54 in his 18 days in sole charge, and taking the club from bottom of the table and six points from safety to 18th in the league and eight points clear of the relegation zone, and being feted by the press for "convincing the doubters" Rooney even found himself as 25/1 outsider for the
Celtic job following the resignation of
Neil Lennon. In the event of the match,
Colin Kazim-Richards celebrated signing a one-year extension to his contract with an 84th-minute equalizer in a 1–1 draw (the third consecutive East Midlands Derby to end in that scoreline) as Derby gave what Rooney described as a mixed performance, saying "30-35 minutes we were excellent (but in the) second half we weren't good." In mid-February, club-owner
Mel Morris gave an interview discussing the situation surrounding the takeover of the club. He stated that the deal was "still live" as there was "a contractual obligation to sell and a contractual obligation to buy" though he couldn't talk about it due to "a very strict
Non-disclosure agreement." He also revealed that his decision to sell the club came after a year of significant personal and health problems, some of which were related to the
COVID-19 pandemic. An article in
The Guardian commented that Derby County no longer owned their own
stadium (land registry documents suggested it had been sold to "Rams Investment Limited" a company with links to the Swiss-Turkish businessman
Henry Gabay, though the club denied this) and had taken two loans totalling over £30m-loan from
MSD Holdings (one of which was secured against
Moor Farm).
March March began with three consecutive away games; a 4–0 defeat away to
Cardiff City, the joint biggest defeat of the season, a 1–0 away loss at relegation rivals
Coventry City and a 0–0 draw at in-form
Barnsley, which ended the home side's seven-match winning streak. Two home games also failed to yield any wins - a 1–0 defeat to
Millwall, a first home reverse in two months, was followed by a 2–2 draw with
Brentford, which saw Derby come from 2–0 down at half time to claim a point thanks to
Louie Sibley's 86th-minute equalizer, his first goal of the season. In the final game of the month, Derby lost 1–0 away to
Stoke City, resulting in March yielding no wins, two points from a possible 18 and only two goals scored. Now winless in seven, Derby went into the international break only five points clear of relegation, with 22nd-placed
Rotherham having four games in hand. When discussing recent form, Rooney admitted "We look at ourselves, that's all we can do... but obviously the run of form over the last few weeks has not been good enough. We know, if we did not know beforehand, we are in a relegation battle." With the takeover dealings with
Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan entered into a fifth month and increasing cynicism over whether it would ever be completed, the deal was officially called off on 17 March 2021 after his company, Dervention Holdings, failed to come up with the necessary funds by a deadline set by Derby Chairman Mel Morris. It was revealed that Derby were in "advanced talks" with Spanish businessman Erik Alonso, as well an other, unnamed, investors - one of whom was described as a "dream suitor" by
The Daily Telegraph's John Percy. The "broken promises" surrounding the collapse of the takeover was reported to have "soured" the relationship between Morris and Rooney, though Rooney strongly denied this. With the departure of under-23s manager
Gary Bowyer to
League Two Salford City, former-defender
Jake Buxton was linked with a return to the club to fill the position until the end of the season. There were also rumours that
Nicky Butt, who has just quit his position as Head of First Team Development Coach at
Manchester United, would be joining the club in an undisclosed position. With the end of the season approaching, links with potential new signings for the upcoming
2021-22 season, with
Luton Town forward
James Collins amongst the first names mentioned.
April Derby resumed the Championship campaign on
Good Friday with a 2–0 home victory over
Luton Town and a 3–1 defeat to play-off chasing
Reading on
Easter Monday which saw then end the Easter programme eight points clear of the relegation zone with six games remaining, though every team below them bar bottom-placed
Wycombe Wanderers had games in hand. The squad was also beginning to pick up injuries; during the Luton victory
Lee Gregory picked up a season-ending hamstring injury, whilst
Martyn Waghorn (hamstring) and
Matt Clarke (compacted groin) were both ruled out for a number of weeks. Following this, the Reading defeat saw
Nathan Byrne suffer a concussion, ruling him out for seven days under EFL concussion rules, and
Jack Stretton, fresh from a successful loan spell at
Stockport County, went off with an ankle injury less than twenty minutes after coming on as substitute. Coupled with the long-term absences of
Jordan Ibe,
Krystian Bielik,
George Edmundson and
Curtis Davies this left Derby short of nine of their first team squad for the visit of league leaders
Norwich City and 11/2 sixth favourites for relegation. Former-Derby loanee
Kieran Dowell's 21st-minute free-kick was the difference as Norwich edged past The Rams 1–0 at Pride Park and saw Derby drop to 20th in the table and seven points clear of the relegation zone after
Rotherham United gained a point on them following a 0–0 draw with
Huddersfield Town. In the week prior to Derby's trip to Blackburn (which was rearranged to Friday 16 April from Saturday 17 April to avoid clashing with the
funeral of Prince Philip) Rotherham played two of their four games in hand - a 3–1 victory over
Queens Park Rangers and a 1–0 defeat to
Coventry City- which reduced the gap between them and Derby to just four points, with Rotheram in 22nd on 39 points from 39 games and Derby in 21st with 43 points from 41 games. Despite the precarity of the situation, Rooney implored fans not to panic as he believed "100% in this group of players and... 100% we'll stay in this division." Rotherham's 1–0 defeat at home to Birmingham City, which reduced their games in hand to two, and the news that Martyn Waghorn would be available for selection for the next match, against Preston North End, after recovering from a hamstring injury was tempered by the news loanee
Teden Mengi would return to parent-club Manchester United due to a season-ending injury. A 3–0 loss at Preston, in which
Andre Wisdom limped off in the 34th-minute with what proved to be a season-ending groin injury was Derby's fourth reversal on the trot and left them just four points clear of relegation whilst handing Rotherham a further game in hand with which to catch them (though Rotherham lost this, 2–1 at home to
Middlesbrough), with Rooney stating "Do I believe we can win the last three games? Yes, but we have to rely on Rotherham losing games. It is out of our hands." Rooney's belief proved misguided as, despite taking the lead through Colin Kazim-Richards first goal in two months, Derby crashed to a fifth consecutive defeat in their next game, 2–1 at home to
Birmingham City, ending a nine-match undefeated streak against Blues; this result meant that Derby ended the month having taken just three points from a possible eighteen. Luckily for Derby, all the other members of the bottom five, Wycombe, Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham and Huddersfield, also fell to defeat, meaning that they remained four points clear of relegation. This cushion remained after Rotherham lost one of their two remaining games in hand 1–0 away to
Brentford on 27 April; this result was significant as it meant that Derby would be guaranteed safety, regardless of the results of the teams around them, if they won their two remaining games against
Swansea City and
Sheffield Wednesday. Away from on the field results, it was revealed that Derby were one of ten Championship clubs placed under a transfer embargo by the EFL for using the option of a three-month extension to file company accounts, with the embargo due to be lifted when the accounts were received by
Companies House. Derby chose not to comment on the situation, though Dave Boddy, chief executive of one of the affected clubs,
Coventry City, stated "It's ridiculous that the EFL's regulations on this do not replicate this approach that the government has taken, especially when they have amended other rules of theirs during the pandemic." In regards of ownership of the club, it was suggested that potential American bidders were keen on the club, but were awaiting the results of the club's relegation battle. However, it was the previously mooted Erik Alonson who emerged as the front runner after an agreement between Alonso's No Limits Sport Limited and Derby owner Mel Morris was announced on 7 April with Alonso stating he had the ultimate target of getting Derby into the
Champion's League. It was suggested, however, that Alonso was actually just a frontman rather than the main financial backer. With the summer transfer window fast approaching, left-back
Lee Buchanan, who had had a breakthrough campaign, was linked with a move to the
Premier League with
West Ham. Derby themselves were linked with a move for
Cheltenham Town midfielder
Felix Miles.
May Derby entered May four points behind 20th-place
Huddersfield Town and four points clear of 22nd-place
Rotherham United and 23rd-place
Sheffield Wednesday, with bottom of the table
Wycombe Wanderers all-but-relegated baring an extremely unlikely set of results. Derby made the trip to a
Swansea side who had guaranteed their place in the
playoffs the previous week, with Swansea manager Steve Cooper suggesting that he may rotate the Swans squad, though Derby still faced a challenge due to the unavailability of
Andre Wisdom,
Beni Baningime,
Teden Mengi,
Jack Stretton,
Krystian Bielik,
Jordan Ibe,
Lee Gregory and
Curtis Davies. For the third time in four games, Derby lost despite taking the lead (2-1); it was the first time in 37 years they had lost six consecutive fixtures at second tier level. As Sheffield Wednesday had earned a point in a 0–0 draw with
Nottingham Forest and
Rotherham United scored a late equalizer to draw 1–1 with
Blackburn Rovers, Derby found themselves relying on Rotherham not earning a maximum return from their two remaining games and they themselves getting a result in their final game, at home to Wednesday. Rotherham played their final game in hand, away to
Luton Town, the following Wednesday and drew 0-0 leaving Derby two points clear of relegation with one game left to play. Away from Derby's on-field battles, rumours emerged that the takeover by No Limits Sports Limited was in doubt as Erik Alonso was planning to refinance Pride Park to complete the purchase of the club leaving "alarm bells... ringing inside the club and... a realisation that the buyout is unlikely to go through"; Alonso, however, refuted this, saying "(I will put) the debt in my name, what I want to do it put stadium warranty under my name, that's all. Because I can use the money to buy players." With an eye on the next season,
Martyn Waghorn was linked with a move back to former-club
Ipswich Town on the expiration of his contract and Derby were linked with a move with defender
Shane Duffy.
Survival Saturday With both automatic promotion spots (Norwich, Watford) and playoff places (Barnsley, Brentford, Bournemouth, Swansea) decided before the last round of fixtures, the media focused on the relegation battle at the foot of the Championship, which was dubbed "survival Saturday". Derby went into the match against
Sheffield Wednesday knowing defeat would relegate them (as Wednesday would join them on 43 points but with a guaranteed superior goal-difference), victory would guarantee them survival and a draw would be enough as long as
Rotherham United were unable to achieve a victory away to
Cardiff City. Going into the final round of games, all five of the UK's major bookmakers had Derby as favourites to stay up, with Sheffield Wednesday second favourites and Rotherham third. On the day itself, Rotherham took an 8th-minute lead at Cardiff through
Lewis Wing which saw them leapfrog both Derby and Sheffield Wednesday early on. Colin Kazim-Richard had a goal disallowed for Derby before
Sam Hutchinson scored in the fourth-minute of first half injury time to give Wednesday a 1–0 lead. Derby ended the first half 23rd in the league and level on points with
Wycombe Wanderers (who were winning 2–0 at
Middlesbrough) but with a superior goal-difference. Due to an injury to
Martyn Waghorn causing the first half to finish late, Derby kicked the second half off nine minutes behind Cardiff v Rotherham. Derby started the second half quickly and scored two goals in four minutes through Waghorn (49 mins) and
Patrick Roberts first for the club (52 mins) seeing Derby leapfrog back out of the relegation zone for 10 minutes before
Callum Paterson equalized on 62 minutes to see Derby drop back to 22nd, and things got even worse for the Rams when
Julian Börner gave Sheffield Wednesday a 3–2 lead in the 69th minute. With 15 minutes left to play at Derby, and 5 minutes remaining at Rotherham, Derby were 23rd in the table, with Wednesday also in the relegation zone (22nd) and Rotherham safe in 21st. However, in the space of ninety seconds Derby were awarded a penalty,
Marlon Pack scored an 88th-minute equalizer for Cardiff against Rotherham to make the score 1-1, and then Martyn Waghorn converted Derby's penalty (79 mins) to make the score 3–3 at Pride Park. This meant that 21st place was held by all three sides battling the drop in the space of 90 seconds, with Wednesday safe for all of twenty seconds before Derby leapfrogged them. With Rotherham finishing 1-1, Derby knew that holding on for the final 10 minutes would see them stay up, which they were successfully able to do and stayed up in 21st, one point ahead of
Wycombe in 22nd, who won 3–0 at
Middlesbrough.
Post-season The day after the conclusion of the 2020-21 campaign, Derby issued a formal apology to supporters for the previous campaign, finishing by stating "We know that your dedication and love for the club is deserving of so much more and we will endeavour to restore your pride." However, there was still a threat of potential relegation hanging over the club as there remained fears of a potential points deduction with rumours that an independent disciplinary appeal came down in favour of the EFL in the ongoing dispute over the club's amortisation policy after Derby has won the initial ruling in September 2020, with Wycombe Wanderers owner Rob Couhig ready to go to court over the matter. In a statement, the EFL said that Derby's "policy was not in accordance with accounting standard FRS102 because it failed to accurately reflect the manner in which the Club takes the benefit of player registrations over the lifetime of a player's contract." Derby stated they were disappointed by, but respected, the verdict. Derby were handed a fine of £100,000 over their accounting policies, though the EFL retained their right to appeal and were considering pushing for a retroactive points deduction, which would see the club relegated; the EFL stated they had prepared interchangeable fixture list for the following season for Derby and Wycombe. Wycombe owner Rob Couhig accused Derby of "systemic cheating" and stated his intention to sue Derby for "£10m-£15m of potential losses" should Wycombe be playing in League one in the coming campaign. The Rams lost their second court case in 24-hours when it was announced that former-captain
Richard Keogh, who had been sacked in 2019 following his involvement in a highly publicised drink-driving incident, had won a settlement against the club and would be paid £2.4m in wages owed to him as he was found to have not committed "gross misconduct". As the inquisition into Derby's poor season started, one report by
The Athletic suggested that former-boss
Phillip Cocu, who had been highly impressed by the high pressing style played by
Leeds United and
Brentford in their victories at Pride Park toward the end of the
previous season, had attempted to emulate the style at the club and had, as a result, ‘exhausted’ the players in pre-season. With the Erik Alonso takeover going into a second month, numerous reports suggested that his "right hand man" Tajinder Sumal had quit No Limits Sports Ltd. Alonso deleted his
Twitter account after being accused of reposting a property seen on TikTok to suggest it was his own house and being unable to provide proof of funds to the EFL, with many now seeing the takeover as being unlikely to proceed, with an unnamed American consortium the new favourites to assume ownership of the club, with more than one party interested in buying the club. It was suggested that, should the takeover be completed quickly and Morris no longer involved with the club, then any potential points deduction to the club would be reduced from "double figures". The club's official response stated that Mel Morris had been in discussions with "numerous parties", the deal with No Limits Sports Limited was dead, and that supporter representation would be considered. It also reiterated the desire to keep "supporters and stakeholders as informed as possible (though) this may not always be possible due to confidentiality obligations." It was announced on 29 May that
Graeme Shinnie had won the club's
Player of the Season and
Lee Buchanan the club's Young Player of the Season. The club announced its retained list on 14 June 2021. Of the first-team Emmanuel Idem,
Scott Carson,
Scott Malone,
Jonathan Mitchell and
Florian Jozefzoon were all confirmed to be leaving the club, whereas
Andre Wisdom,
Martyn Waghorn,
Jack Marriott,
Curtis Davies and
Henrich Ravas were in talks about new deals. The inclusion of Marriott, who it had been announced had signed a contract extension earlier in the season, was explained by the fact that the deal had had approval withdrawn by the EFL due to the ongoing appeal over amortisation. ==Players==