Derby County
League Position: 8th (2013/14: 3rd)
Average league attendance: 29,231 (2013/14: 24,933)
Top league goalscorer: Chris Martin (18)
Derby County will start next season as one of the favourites for promotion despite a disastrous end to the last campaign that saw them miss out on the Play-Offs on the last day of the season. It was a catastrophic climax, with The Rams leading the Championship in March.
A 3-0 home defeat to Reading at the iPro Stadium in the final match allowed both Brentford and Ipswich Town to confirm their Play-Off places ahead of Derby. To the astonishment of most, The Rams finished in eighth place.
Derby’s failure to reach the Play-Offs resulted in Head Coach Steve McClaren’s dismissal shortly after end of the season. Speculation on his future had been rife, with rumours of the former Middlesbrough boss having accepted the position of Head Coach at Newcastle United for the 2015/16 season.
At the start of the campaign, Derby started strongly, with their first defeat in mid-October at home to Wigan Athletic. At the turn of the year, The Rams put together a run of six wins in seven games, which on 7 February put them in second place, behind AFC Bournemouth on goal difference.
However, The Rams won only four matches thereafter [two against relegated sides] and new Head Coach Steve Clement, recruited from Real Madrid, will be looking to strengthen a squad that can last the distance next season.