MIDDLESBROUGH Chairman Steve Gibson has released an open letter to administrators of Derby County in relation to the claim made against the Rams for breaking Financial Fair Play rules.

The case between Boro and Wycombe Wanderers and the financially stricken Rams continues to publicly unravel. A statement released on Tuesday by Boro outlined the lack of communication from Derby and reiterated the club's desire to not see the club cease to exist and are keen to engage in open dialouge over a compromise. 

Meanwhile, Derby County administrators and the MP for Chesterfield Toby Perkins say that liquidation of the club would become a likely outcome if these claims were to be successful and, at this moment in time, are preventing a suitable buyer in taking over the club. At the moment, a consortium, led by former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, are the leading candidates to buy the Rams. 

The letter from the the Boro Chairman is in response to public claims that Boro and Wycombe Wanderers are preventing the sale of the club.

The statement reads as follows:

Dear Sirs,

We are becoming increasingly concerned by representations that you are continuously making to the media which are not correct. For example you continue to represent that the claim that we and Wycombe have against Derby County, and the EFL’s response to those claims, is all that is preventing the sale of Derby County. This is not true.

The purpose of this open letter is to clarify the position and give some important context to the sale of Derby County.

We therefore invite you to respond to the following questions by way of an open letter.

MSD (a lender) is owed a significant amount of money by Derby County which is personally guaranteed by Mel Morris. If Derby County went into liquidation, Mr Morris would have to settle the debt and therefore he has an interest in resolving the matter. Please confirm the current status of the discussions with the lender and Mr Morris about the debt and the transfer of Pride Park, which is owned by Mr Morris, to any purchaser of Derby County.

You met with Steve Gibson in November 2021. It was agreed at the meeting there would be a continued dialogue between you and Mr Gibson. Why did you not then engage or communicate with him at all until Friday 14 January 2022?

As noted above, you give the impression that the sole issue that is left to resolve is our and Wycombe’s claim. Please confirm that you have reached a settlement with HMRC and the basis of that settlement.

Contrary to what you leak to the media, we have made an offer to compromise our claim and met with your nominated representative last weekend. Please confirm that this is correct.

Please confirm how many millions of Derby County’s money you have spent on your fees to date and what additional debt you have incurred.

We repeat that we have no wish to see Derby County cease to exist. We only want to be dealt with fairly and can only conclude that you a recurrently choosing to use ourselves, the EFL and Wycombe Wanderers as scapegoats for your failure to conclude what should have been a relatively simple task of bringing Derby County out of administration. We hope that you will have the courtesy to respond to this open letter unlike our previous correspondence which remains unanswered.

Yours faithfully,

Stephen Gibson
Chairman