Stephen Pearce: Derby County 'never in better financial position', says CEO
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Stephen Pearce has been with Derby County since 2013 and became chief executive in the summer of 2018
Derby County CEO Stephen Pearce says the club have "never been in a better financial position" just 18 months after coming out of administration.
Pearce kept his job when property developer David Clowes bought the club in July 2022.
He has been a regular target of criticism from some fans but has now been at Derby for more than 10 years.
"[The club has] No debt, in terms of the finances, and is absolutely run sustainably," he told BBC Radio Derby.
"The wage bill is now running at about 45% of our revenues and I believe we've put a squad together that is there to compete with other clubs in this division and we'll continue to progress that moving forwards - but in a sustainable manner."
A month before the Clowes takeover a report prepared by administrators Quantuma showed a tax bill owed to HM Revenue & Customs of £36m and the total debt also included £24m owed to finance company MSD.
Derby went into administration in September 2021 and, having been docked 21 points, were relegated from the Championship at the end of that season.
Former England captain Wayne Rooney quit as manager in June 2022, a week before the takeover was announced, with Rotherham's Paul Warne eventually appointed as his replacement after a spell with Liam Rosenior in interim charge.
"When you think back to 18 months ago, when David first took over the football club, one of the first things he said was we want to be judged by our actions, and not just words," said Pearce.
"Out of the depths of the darkest days of the football club just before him taking over, how quickly we got the wheels in motion, and how quickly we started building the club to where we are now."
Football 'not a simple business'
Pearce said being unable to tell his side of the story to avoid reopening "old wounds" was difficult while rebuilding his relationship with supporters, but he would have accepted "any consequences" regarding his own position when the new owner came in.
"As CEO, you know the buck stops with you and I accept that," he said.
"Where we are now shows how we can operate, but it isn't just the CEO that runs a football club.
"If you think about it, you've got elite football, you've got education, you've got elite medical, you know the engineering side of it with the maintenance, and even down to the elite level that groundsmen have to operate at.
"So it's not a simple business. It's a number of businesses that you would never get in one normal organisation - it has a number of different sides and I think that is something that is unique about a football club."
Despite the criticism he received, Pearce said he did not consider walking away because he had "a job to finish" and that nothing untoward "had come out of the woodwork" since Clowes first "looked under the bonnet" of the club.
"It obviously affects you when it gets personal and the threats, which seems to be the thing in football, is acceptable for some reason," he said.
"Did it affect me in terms of being able to give my absolute all day-to-day? No. It probably made me more determined."
Pearce said it was a "fantastic feeling" when Clowes told him he wanted him to stay.
But he added: "It's not about me, though, I want to make that clear. It was about the fact that we got through it and how the staff had got us through it. Everybody has been unbelievable - we couldn't have done it without them."
Warne's 'amazing people skills'
Paul Warne led Rotherham to promotion from League One on three occasions
Derby finished seventh in League One under Warne in 2022-23, just one point outside the play-off places.
Results were mixed at the start of the current campaign and the pressure on Warne increased following a 3-1 defeat by Stevenage in October.
Clowes and Pearce went down to pitchside to reassure him following the game.
"We know what it means to Paul - he wears his heart on his sleeve. He is an amazing man in terms of his people skills and what he can get out of his staff, and the environment he creates," said Pearce.
"We were never worried because the reason we wanted to appoint Paul was for all those people reasons, but also we have the confidence that if we get to those sticky moments, he has got the expertise and the man-management skills, the desire and winning mentality to turn it around."
A run of eight wins in the next nine League One games helped push the Rams into the top six, and last Saturday's 1-0 win at Charlton lifted them second and on course, if they maintain their form, for a return to the Championship only two years after they left it.
"The plans are ready for either scenario," said Clowes. "We hope it's the Championship [next season], we really do, but we've still got the plan if it's not.
"We want to be a stable club in the Championship for a season and then 'right, let's push on'.
"The support we get week in, week out - we're averaging 26,000, which is first in League One, sixth in all of the EFL, and 61st, I think, across the whole of Europe. That's just unbelievable."
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