LeedsCityRam

For me, it's travelling to away matches seeing grounds full of fans who aren't glory hunters, they passionately support their local club who probably have no chance of glory - and loads of younger fans who could easily just choose one of the normal 'big 6' to follow - fair play to them
Also, most, if not all of the towns have been a joy to visit, Cheltenham, Oxford, Carlisle, Lincoln, Shrewsbury etc - loved them all
Going to places like Birmingham & Sheffield again won't seem the same
As for the quality of football, it was lower but of course it was, it's the 3rd division

David Clowes is the owner I always hoped we'd end up getting one day.
A lot of fans seem utterly fixated on the respective spending power of owners but unless you have materially more wealth than all of your competitors (extremely rare), the differentiator becomes how you manage your club. What culture are you looking for? Do you back your managers when things get tough? Do you have a long term plan? Quite apart from the extraordinary sacrifice David Clowes undertook in grossly overpaying for Derby County, everything since has been an exercise in how to run a club properly. He is an elite level owner & best of all, he cares - he's one of us.
Its no secret I'm a Warne-sceptic but I had to admire Clowes sticking by Warne during his decidedly dodgy autumn. Sitting outside the playoff spots as late as 24th November would have had many chairmen pulling the trigger but there was absolutely no sense Warne was even on his final warning - he was given time & Clowes was utterly vindicated by the subsequent promotion. That is the kind of responsible stewardship successful clubs need & that we have so often lacked in the past.
Tales of his humility elsewhere in this thread endear him even more, as does that open letter on the official site today. A successful businessman, a qualified pilot & now a successful football club owner - that is a bloody rare skillset & all credit to him that he lets his actions do the talking rather than resorting to the egocentric approach of many of his peers. I'm genuinely excited to see how he approaches the challenge of competing with clubs with bigger budgets & more reckless strategies - I strongly suspect this is where the backroom structure he brought in 2 years ago starts to bear fruit - quality recruitment, quality youth progression & a tight, respectful culture that gets the best out of everyone in the building. Progressive ownership is the only sensible game in that snakepit of a division & Clowes is smart enough to realise this.
Most of all, I hope he's enjoying it. I loved seeing him get the limelight on Saturday - the fans singing his name & him picking up the trophy - he deserves every accolade going. I hope David Clowes stays with us for many years, I'm certain he will steer us back to the Prem if he does.

Remember when there was a clamour for Rooney to be given the Freedom of Derby??  This man really deserves it.  He stepped up when others couldn’t, or wouldn’t.   In doing so, he paid local business more than the minimum amount.  He recognised the importance of DCFC on the fans and the community.  He saved our club 🐏.

Petition to build a statue of David

Also called Paul Warne to  ask if it was ok for him to stop by at Moor Farm.

I maybe old school, but no way would i want a mega rich foreign owner, but im probably in the minority. If that happened to all the so called big clubs in the championship and league 1 what happens to all the small clubs, prob go out of buisness like we nearly did.

Just when I thought I’d got past the crying stage.
he’ll always think about his old seat and the people he sat with.
at the risk of sounding like an emotional wreck, Saturday was definitely a time of thinking of those no longer with us. Friends, family, ex players and managers. 
 
it’s more than a game of football, that’s for sure 
Ps. When do the pre season start! 

"Clowes’ humility and reluctance to be the star of Derby’s revival has meant he has rarely undertaken media duties and does not impose on Warne. Such is his unassuming nature that in the build-up to the final game of the season, Clowes made a rare visit to the training ground and was stopped by one of the players who asked what he did at Derby.
“Some other owners would have been devastated,” Warne said. “David replied in the nicest way saying he owned the club. He wasn’t embarrassed by that.”
https://theathletic.com/5449568/2024/04/28/derby-county-promoted-paul-warne-david-clowes/

They could, although in 07/08 Notts County had an average attendance of 4,732. Even if you combine the two leaves you with 25,010.
Still 2,259 fewer than Derby. 
You would need to add Mansfield Towns 2,821 average figure for that season to swing the numbers in their favour.

Just come back on to congratulate PW, records broken and another promotion on his already impressive CV. 

I will be disappearing again, although will keep an eye on transfer forum and don't worry @LeedsCityRam, our bet still stands and I will happily pay up if I lose.
It may have been a minority, however the constant sniping at everything PW did, took the enjoyment out of the forum for me, from hampering the academy, not having the ability to get players in, PW football etc...he only had to lose one game and they were endless and imo unsubstantiated. I do appreciate though, it's all about opinions, so fair enough.
I will come back though when he leads us to the PL 🥳

Your stats are indeed correct & proves what we already knew about the respective supporter base of both clubs.
I wanted to expand the idea a little further to the crowd numbers in the third tier for any team matching the 'what on earth are they doing at that level' criteria, beginning with Manchester City who dropped into then Division 1 for 1998-99. It also makes a nice 25 year stint for comparison with the crowds Derby have averaged in our 2 year stint down here. Full table below which shows just how loyal this fanbase have been - only Sunderland & Man City pip us on average crowds and of course, City were only down at this level for one season, we've had two.
I think it also starkly illustrates the gap in support between Derby & our local competition. When the going got really tough, we showed up in far greater numbers - true measure of support, true measure of loyalty.
 

Your stats are indeed correct & proves what we already knew about the respective supporter base of both clubs.
I wanted to expand the idea a little further to the crowd numbers in the third tier for any team matching the 'what on earth are they doing at that level' criteria, beginning with Manchester City who dropped into then Division 1 for 1998-99. It also makes a nice 25 year stint for comparison with the crowds Derby have averaged in our 2 year stint down here. Full table below which shows just how loyal this fanbase have been - only Sunderland & Man City pip us on average crowds and of course, City were only down at this level for one season, we've had two.
I think it also starkly illustrates the gap in support between Derby & our local competition. When the going got really tough, we showed up in far greater numbers - true measure of support, true measure of loyalty.
 

Your stats are indeed correct & proves what we already knew about the respective supporter base of both clubs.
I wanted to expand the idea a little further to the crowd numbers in the third tier for any team matching the 'what on earth are they doing at that level' criteria, beginning with Manchester City who dropped into then Division 1 for 1998-99. It also makes a nice 25 year stint for comparison with the crowds Derby have averaged in our 2 year stint down here. Full table below which shows just how loyal this fanbase have been - only Sunderland & Man City pip us on average crowds and of course, City were only down at this level for one season, we've had two.
I think it also starkly illustrates the gap in support between Derby & our local competition. When the going got really tough, we showed up in far greater numbers - true measure of support, true measure of loyalty.
 

Your stats are indeed correct & proves what we already knew about the respective supporter base of both clubs.
I wanted to expand the idea a little further to the crowd numbers in the third tier for any team matching the 'what on earth are they doing at that level' criteria, beginning with Manchester City who dropped into then Division 1 for 1998-99. It also makes a nice 25 year stint for comparison with the crowds Derby have averaged in our 2 year stint down here. Full table below which shows just how loyal this fanbase have been - only Sunderland & Man City pip us on average crowds and of course, City were only down at this level for one season, we've had two.
I think it also starkly illustrates the gap in support between Derby & our local competition. When the going got really tough, we showed up in far greater numbers - true measure of support, true measure of loyalty.
 

Your stats are indeed correct & proves what we already knew about the respective supporter base of both clubs.
I wanted to expand the idea a little further to the crowd numbers in the third tier for any team matching the 'what on earth are they doing at that level' criteria, beginning with Manchester City who dropped into then Division 1 for 1998-99. It also makes a nice 25 year stint for comparison with the crowds Derby have averaged in our 2 year stint down here. Full table below which shows just how loyal this fanbase have been - only Sunderland & Man City pip us on average crowds and of course, City were only down at this level for one season, we've had two.
I think it also starkly illustrates the gap in support between Derby & our local competition. When the going got really tough, we showed up in far greater numbers - true measure of support, true measure of loyalty.
 

Your stats are indeed correct & proves what we already knew about the respective supporter base of both clubs.
I wanted to expand the idea a little further to the crowd numbers in the third tier for any team matching the 'what on earth are they doing at that level' criteria, beginning with Manchester City who dropped into then Division 1 for 1998-99. It also makes a nice 25 year stint for comparison with the crowds Derby have averaged in our 2 year stint down here. Full table below which shows just how loyal this fanbase have been - only Sunderland & Man City pip us on average crowds and of course, City were only down at this level for one season, we've had two.
I think it also starkly illustrates the gap in support between Derby & our local competition. When the going got really tough, we showed up in far greater numbers - true measure of support, true measure of loyalty.
 

Your stats are indeed correct & proves what we already knew about the respective supporter base of both clubs.
I wanted to expand the idea a little further to the crowd numbers in the third tier for any team matching the 'what on earth are they doing at that level' criteria, beginning with Manchester City who dropped into then Division 1 for 1998-99. It also makes a nice 25 year stint for comparison with the crowds Derby have averaged in our 2 year stint down here. Full table below which shows just how loyal this fanbase have been - only Sunderland & Man City pip us on average crowds and of course, City were only down at this level for one season, we've had two.
I think it also starkly illustrates the gap in support between Derby & our local competition. When the going got really tough, we showed up in far greater numbers - true measure of support, true measure of loyalty.
 

Your stats are indeed correct & proves what we already knew about the respective supporter base of both clubs.
I wanted to expand the idea a little further to the crowd numbers in the third tier for any team matching the 'what on earth are they doing at that level' criteria, beginning with Manchester City who dropped into then Division 1 for 1998-99. It also makes a nice 25 year stint for comparison with the crowds Derby have averaged in our 2 year stint down here. Full table below which shows just how loyal this fanbase have been - only Sunderland & Man City pip us on average crowds and of course, City were only down at this level for one season, we've had two.
I think it also starkly illustrates the gap in support between Derby & our local competition. When the going got really tough, we showed up in far greater numbers - true measure of support, true measure of loyalty.
 

Thanks mate, very classy & to be fair, pretty standard from Bolton fans. Don't really recognise this recent suggestion from some that your fans are anymore entitled than any other big club. Really hoping you make it up through the playoffs - good support with lots of history & like us, had a horrible last few years. On the pitch, I also think you're by far the strongest side - Peterborough have a punchers chance in a one off game but lack depth behind that first XI & are prone to collapse, Barnsley have absolutely shot it & Oxford are tidy enough but a bit lightweight in this company.
Bet Championship are looking forward to Pompey, Derby & potentially Bolton back - probably more so than the Prem relegation teams coming down!! All the best 👍

The people point scoring and ridiculing folks for having different opinions are no better than the strawman they are beating. There are legit concerns regarding the style of play and I guess a lot of unknowns regarding Warne having some money to spend. This idea that there are people that are unhappy that Warne succeeded is a pure fabrication.
Next season will be interesting because we won't be able to rely on the virtue of having better individuals 99% of the time like we have this season. Big test for Warne and i'm interested to see what type of players he signs. Like at every club there will be fans that will start to question things if we go on a bad run and looking terrible in games, that is totally normal. I questioned Warne when we had that bad run this season and it is not because I hate him. I actually think he's pretty sound.
Log off and enjoy the moment, if you don't have anything nice to say then don't bother.

just because i am not a fan of warne,it does not mean i am not a fan of dcfc,for now i am savouring the fact that we are championship rams,i'l worry about warne later,now is not the time

Despite being in different camps over the style of football this season, you've always been a gent. And where some of us might disagree over this or that, we all agree on the important things. Birds are the best bakers in the country.
 
Oh, and we all want the best for Derby. As does, and none of us should forget this, Paul Warne.

Disappointed not to see Embleton in any of the celebration photos & videos 

What a weekend. just on Cloud 9 ! Great to see the nod to B4 and thinking about how much joy he'd have had at how things turned out. I never met him in person but feel that through those who did, that I now have some measure of the guy.
It just set me thinking though (and without wishing to put any kind of dampener on things) about all the other now departed Rams fans who never got to see us make the step back up again, including my Mum who we lost before Christmas - she was a season ticket holder of many decades who drove us to away games before I could drive. It's not a sad thought though, she'd have been absolutely buzzing today and would have loved all the scenes at the end. 🙂🐏 COYR