Inside Derby County’s academy prowess as Championship club eye the next generation.

Derby County has seen several highs and lows.

But, despite near misses in the Championship play-offs and the humiliation of being relegated to the

third tier for the first time since 1986, the Rams’ fertile academy has been the one constant at Pride Park during that time.

Indeed, some of the academy’s more recent graduates even helped keep the club afloat through player

sales in the darkest days prior to David Clowes’ arrival. Derby are back in the Championship,

albeit they still have work to do to maintain their recently restored membership in what is now practically the Premier League lite.

At the academy level, the table is currently much more enjoyable to read. Derby has been a

Category One academy since 2014, and its teams compete at the highest level,

with only Manchester City and United ahead of senior coach Danny Maye’s Under-18 team in the

U18 Premier League. During last year’s promotion-winning campaign under former head coach Paul Warne,

academy-developed players played 18% of the minutes, which is comparable to two graduates

playing every minute of the Rams’ 46 League One matches.