Wycombe were demoted to League One at end of 2021 season
Rob Couhig, Wycombe Wanderers' owner, is considering legal action against their relegation from League One following Derby's announcement that they would be going into administration.
This comes after Derby owner Mel Morris admitted that the club could have been subject to a points deduction had it submitted accounts for 2017-18 using the controversial amortisation method.
After finishing one point behind Derby in Championship, Wycombe were sent down to League One at season's end.
After Morris conceded defeat in the battle to guide the Rams through a series of financial issues including the Financial Fair Play case against them, the Rams will be placed into administration.
Derby was fined 100,000 in June and required to file restated accounts following the invalidation of their method for calculating players' values.
The English Football League (EFL), at the time, released an interchangeable fixture list for 2021-22 because there was a possibility that Derby might suffer a points deduction that could trigger relegation.
This did not happen. Morris, however, revealed that the accounts were not submitted yet as "discussions with the EFL" but that there would be an accounting breach "from memory approximately 4m for 2017-18 season which would have been something similar to a four-point deduction".
Couhig stated that "not being in the Championship this season has cost us, at the surface, around ten million," BBC Sport. It has likely cost us another 5-10m in residual money that would have been generated by our being in the Championship for a 2nd year. It's a loss of 15-20m.
"I am more than just the chairman and chief executive of Wycombe. One of my obligations is towards the 25% of my shareholders which is a Trust that is made up of nearly 1,000 of our supporters. How can I explain to them that 20m has been lost without considering all options? He said, "I don't know if there are viable claims but there is no doubt we will look," without specifying who the claim would be.
Couhig listened with mixed emotions to Morris' hour-long interview.
Although he sympathizes with the Derby fans, whose side will fall to the bottom of the Championship when the 12-point deduction to enter into administration is applied to them, he is less understanding towards Morris.
He said, "He feels terrible because he got carried away by his pride and thought he was doing good for his team. Then he couldn’t stop himself." "But representing Wycombe, I am furious.
"He knew that last summer, as all this was happening, he would be getting a points deduction. They made a deliberate strategy to fight it to the end to get to this season, keep their Championship money, and get us back into League One."
Morris answered a question about the BBC Radio Derby interview delay and said that it was because he was discussing the final pieces with the EFL.
He said, "The accounts would be filed as soon as those discussions were completed so that we could draw a boundary with that." "Those discussions took longer than we expected. "We are still waiting for the EFL's final opinion."
Morris has committed to working with administrators to find a buyer to Derby.
There are many issues that need to be resolved. The club could have liabilities of up to 50 million. It is also losing approximately 1.5 million per month. Furthermore, it isn't clear if the club has enough money to pay its wages which are due next week.
There is also the possibility of a nine-point additional deduction, which was being discussed with the Football League in relation to financial breaches. It is unclear if that will happen as it was linked to a third-point deduction that was part of a forward plan, which administrators are unlikely to accept.
The club is still subject to a soft transfer embargo, and could be subject to a further 15 point deduction if it fails 25% to non-secured creditors.
Couhig stated, "My fear is they have put a club such as Derby, with its rich past, one of founders of this league, in serious jeopardy."
People say they will put it in administration and someone will buy it because it's Derby. How many points will Derby face being deducted this fiscal year? They will also be subject to further deductions next fiscal year.
"In all likelihood, you would buy a League Two team with 50m debt. There are only so many people out there who are willing to do this.
