Wayne Rooney’s Derby Country relegated to 3rd tier of English soccer

Wayne Rooney’s Derby County has been relegated to the third tier of English soccer to cap a miserable season that also saw the club docked 21 points for breaches of financial rules

LONDON (AP) — Derby County, managed by England and Manchester United great Wayne Rooney, was relegated to the third tier of English soccer on Monday to cap a miserable season that also saw the club docked 21 points for breaches of financial rules.

A 1-0 loss at Queens Park Rangers left Derby 10 points from safety with three games remaining in the second-tier Championship.

Derby has been in administration — a form of bankruptcy protection — since September, with the debt-laden club’s sale to a new owner yet to be finalized.

It received two separate points deductions of 12 and then nine, because of accounting breaches under previous owner Mel Morris, at the start of the season.

“We know we’d be safe without the penalties we’ve had,” said Rooney, who has been Derby’s manager since November 2020, having previously been player-coach at the team from central England. “This is where we’ve been left by the previous owner and we’ve been trying to pick up the pieces from that and trying to pull off something really special. We’ve got close and haven’t managed to do it.

“I’m sure Mr. Morris watched the game at home. He’ll be disappointed himself, because we’ve tried to fix the mess he’s left us in as best we can.”

Derby’s joint administrators have named Chris Kirchner, an American software entrepreneur, as the preferred bidder for the club and entered a period of exclusivity aimed at ending a protracted takeover process.