We’ll never know the outcome for Derby County of a takeover by Turki Alalshikh, as the first official news of a proposed deal for him to take a controlling interest in the Club was, somewhat ironically, an announcement that it would not be happening. 

Given the comments of RamsTrust members in response to increasingly credible rumours of the impending takeover, immediate reaction to the announcement on August 10th was predictably mixed, ranging from relieved to disappointed and all points in-between.

From the start, many supporters were clearly split by the prospect of an owner directly implicated in Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights, with some threatening to end active support of the Club if the takeover went ahead. Others were excited by the assumption of increased investment and accelerated progress towards sustainable Premier League status.

Many were caught between these extremes, uncomfortable about Alalshikh’s reputation and associations, but concerned about the extent to which and for how long, Clowes Developments’ financial support can be relied upon

In response to the objections there were also reasonable questions as to why – not for the first time – football seemed to be being held to a higher standard than other sports or indeed the country, whose diplomatic and trading relationships with Saudi Arabia are unrestricted.

RamsTrust, as ever, was committed to sharing this range of views with the Club, but clearly forming a view representative of our membership as a whole was going to be virtually impossible. Our role is not to promote unsubstantiated speculation or theories. We can only comment on the facts in front of us and so taking it at face value, the statement issued by Alalshikh’s team that following the regulatory approval process there was no time to prepare team or club for the season ahead can be viewed as a short-term vision and a lack of recognition that foundations for sustainable success are generally not laid in a single transfer window. 

David Clowes’ frustration at Alalshikh’s withdrawal was implicit in his own statement issued in its immediate aftermath and even 12 days later in his message to supporters prior to the first home league game. This is understandable given the effort expended and impact upon the Club’s approach to the crucial summer transfer window. 

His confirmation that the Club is now off the market should not be regarded as a knee-jerk reaction, but an entirely sensible message. It remains to be seen whether and when Mr Clowes will be interested in approaches from credible potential investors, although these seem to be in short supply.

Supporters should be reassured by the unequivocal confirmation of Clowes Developments’ on-going and total commitment to the Club, a commitment that has delivered us from the near catastrophe of four years ago to a position of respect for the way in which Derby County is being run. 

This positive reputation comes though loud and clear in the views of Kieran Maguire – the media’s go-to expert on the financial management of football clubs – in a recent interview with Ryan Conway of “The Eleven Points”, which is available on Substack here. If you are looking for a sober, well informed and encouraging analysis of the situation Derby are in following the collapse of the Alalshikh deal, it has much to recommend it.

In the aforementioned interview Kieran Maguire illustrates why an endless flow of Middle Eastern money cannot be guaranteed and makes the point that due to the EFL’s recently introduced Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) rules the impact of the loss of Alalshikh’s investment will likely be limited. This assertion is consistent with information supplied to the Supporters’ Board (SB) at a meeting on August 17th, the notes of which are available on the Club’s website along with those for the SB meeting on June 15th. 

The SB confirms that they saw from the information provided that there would have been limited opportunity for a new owner to invest further sums into the first team squad as the current owners are already funding the Club close to the allowable SCR limits, and at an increased level compared with previous seasons.

Whatever your views on this potential takeover and its ultimate collapse, and concerns about the impact on Derby’s transfer activity are probably justified, it seems we can remain confident that our current owners are fully focussed on the Club’s sustainability and taking all reasonable steps to enable it to progress.