Board profile – David Watts

Board profile – David Watts

Day job: Retired

Expertise: Accounting, financial reporting and control, audit and corporate governance

First Rams game: It was against Millwall in the League Cup on 7th October 1970. We won 4-2 with goals from Dave Mackay, an Alan Hinton penalty, John McGovern and John O’Hare. I seem to remember it rained.

Favourite Rams match/memory: There are many. Beating Forest 4-1 against the odds in 1979 is one and obviously “Bryson’s match” (if it’s not called that it should be) in 2014. I watched the playoff win at Leeds in a bar in Frankfurt. I was sorry not to be there but the venue and bemused expressions of colleagues from the US, Korea, Germany, China and Spain made it particularly memorable. I’ll also never forget two other games I didn’t attend and didn’t actually involve Derby. They were Leeds and Liverpool’s final League games of the 1971/72 season. Leeds lost, Liverpool drew and Derby were League champions for the first time – a treasured memory. As is the final game of the 2023/24 season, with confirmed promotion secondary to the sense that we had fully emerged into the light following the darkest period in the Club’s history.

Favourite Rams player: Although others have challenged him Colin Todd was the most talented player I’ve seen in a Derby shirt (to date), but for me Kevin Hector will always be the King.

Joined RamsTrust Board: November 2024

Reason for joining the Board: I was prompted by the announcement of the decision to establish a Supporters’ Board, with its implicit demonstration of DCFC’s commitment to its fans and the Club’s sustainability. I am firmly of the view that this commitment needs to be reciprocated by supporters if it is to achieve its aims and be maintained in the longer term, with protection of the interests of so-called “legacy fans” and their Clubs’ relationship with the communities from which they developed paramount.