The 2020–21 season is Derby County F.C.'s 137th season in existence, their 13th consecutive season in the Championship, and their 53rd season overall in the second division of English football. Alongside the Championship, they also competed in the FA Cup and the EFL Cup. The season covers the period from July 2020 to 30 June 2021.
Review Pre-season It was confirmed on 24 July 2020, that the 2020/21 Championship season - delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic - would start on the weekend beginning 12 September 2020. When the fixtures were announced on 21 August, it was revealed that Derby would start the season at home to Reading, as they had done in the 2002-03 campaign. Another notable fixture was 28 November home match vs. Wycombe Wanderers, the first-ever competitive meeting between the two sides.
The most significant off-the-field announcement came when it was revealed that the two charges bought upon the club by the EFL, namely the club's valuation associated with the sale of Pride Park Stadium in June 2018 and its amortisation policy associated with intangible fixed assets (players) were dismissed, ensuring the club would avoid a points deduction and fine for the 2020/21 campaign. The EFL later confirmed it would appeal the dismissal of the charge regarding player valuations.
The first new arrival in the playing staff was Mike te Wierik who finally arrived at the club having signed a pre-contract agreement for a three-year stay in February 2020. Ben Hamer's return to parent-club Huddersfield Town, coupled with Scott Carson and Jonathan Mitchell's loan moves to Manchester City and Northampton Town respectively, left the club in search of a goalkeeper, with the gap being filled by the acquisition of Scottish international David Marshall from Wigan Athletic. A second significant capture was the return of reigning player of the year Matthew Clarke on a season-long loan from Brighton & Hove Albion. In terms of contracts, George Evans signed a one-year extension to take his stay at the club through to 2022.
After a decade at the club, Mason Bennett left to join Millwall for an undisclosed fee. Scott Malone also moved to The Den on a season-long loan.
September The season opened on 5 September with an EFL Cup First round tie against Barrow, whom Derby had not played competitively in 63 years, with Derby advancing on penalties after a 0–0 draw, with Kelle Roos the hero following three saves in the shoot-out itself. The absence of Jayden Bogle and Max Lowe from the starting line-up lead to rumours about their future and both players subsequently joined Premier League Sheffield United in an undisclosed deal two days later. The ensuing gap left by Bogle was filled with the signing of Wigan Athletic's Nathan Byrne three days later in another undisclosed deal.
Derby lost 2–0 at home to Reading in their opening game of the new campaign (a first opening day defeat for 11 years), before losing 2–1 at home to Preston North End in the EFL Cup second round. a first defeat to Preston in 15 meetings. In the days following the Preston defeat, Derby clinched the signing of Poland international Kamil Jóźwiak from Lech Poznań and announced Max Bird and Louie Sibley had signed new deals with the club which would take them through to the end of the 2023–24 season. Jóźwiak's debut came three days after signing as he assisted Jack Marriott for the equalizer, his first goal since January, in an eventual 2–1 defeat at Luton Town, Derby's third consecutive defeat in all competitions.
There were heavy links with Jordon Ibe, who had had a loan spell with the club in 2014-15, and former Liverpool forward Bobby Duncan; both joined the club in the week following the Luton game. Neither player featured in the next game, a 4–0 home defeat to Blackburn Rovers; a third straight league defeat condemning the Rams to their worst start to a season since the 1992-93 campaign.
October As new signing Bobby Duncan was confirmed to initially be part of the Rams under-23s side, Derby continued making signings with one eye on the future in the capture of Southend United winger Isaac Hutchinson., former-Bradford City goalkeeper George Sykes-Kenworthy and ex-West Ham United midfielder Louie Watson.
The upcoming closure of the international transfer window on 5 October saw the club heavily linked with SV Darmstadt 98 striker Serdar Dursun and they reportedly submitted bids of £750,000 and £1m for the player, though both were rejected and no deal went through, though it was suggested Derby would revisit their interest in 2021.
The club continued its hunt for a striker within the English league and was linked with loan moves for Premier League forwards Keinan Davis of Aston Villa. and Charlie Austin of West Brom, though Austin rejected a move despite a personal phone call from club captain Wayne Rooney. Against the back drop of these transfer links, it was Rooney's 87th-minute free kick that proved the difference in 1–0 win away to Norwich City that took the club out of the bottom three and relieved some of the pressure building on Cocu going into the first international break of the season.
In the days leading up to the closure of the domestic transfer window on 16 October, Louie Sibley was linked with a move to Leeds United and Florian Jozefzoon was linked with Rotherham United; Jozefzoon duly joined The Millers until the end of the campaign. Following the collapse of a deal for Charlie Austin, Derby were linked with a move for his West Brom teammate Kenneth Zohore and also tabled a loan bid for former loanee Harry Wilson Ultimately, the club signed free agent Colin Kazim-Richards and, in a move that proved controversial amongst the fanbase, allowed Jack Marriott to leave for a season-long loan at Sheffield Wednesday, though the club retained the right to recall the forward in January and extended his contract until the end of the 2021/22 season. On the day the window closed, Derby lost 1–0 at home to Watford to continue their poor start to the season. The result was compounded three days later with the news that Wayne Rooney would have to go into self isolation for ten days following his coming into contact with a friend who was later diagnosed as having COVID-19 and miss three games as a result. The first of these games was a 1–0 defeat at Huddersfield Town, a fifth defeat in six league games, which increased the pressure manager Phillip Cocu; the Dutch press rumoured his job was "hanging by a thread" though Chairman Mel Morris publicly backed Cocu, saying "Of course we are concerned about the lack of points, as is the manager. But when you look at the cards we’ve been dealt this season, it's hardly surprising that results have been poor. Does he have our support? Yes, we have got to be realistic about the challenges he faces. This is not about a lack of tactics, or effort on the training field, or those things." The following three games, away to Nottingham Forest in the first East Midlands derby of the season, at home to Cardiff City and away to Bournemouth, were all 1–1 draws which saw Derby take the lead in the first half before being pegged-back in the second. The results lead Cocu to admit the team needed to improve their end product, as after nine league games they had only two goals from open-play.
On 30 October, rumours regarding a potential takeover of the club by Abu Dhabi-based Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who had previously been linked to Newcastle United and Liverpool, began to surface.
November The first game of November saw Derby lose 1–0 at home to Queens Park Rangers to further heap pressure on Phillip Cocu - former manager Steve McClaren accused Cocu and the club of "underachieving", fans referred to his claims the team did not deserve to lose as "deluded" and "a tough listen" and pundits summarised he was "on the edge" as Derby found themselves in the bottom two after just one win in their opening ten games, only being kept off the bottom by Sheffield Wednesday, who had had six points deducted. With the rumoured £60m takeover by Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan approved by the EFL, it was reported that Derby's players "(did) not expect the Dutchman to survive the forthcoming international break." Cocu's issues were then compounded by news he had to go into self-isolation following coming into contact with club CEO Stephen Pearce, who later tested positive for COVID-19, meaning he would absent for the match against Barnsley. The Barnsley match ended in a 2–0 defeat - Barnsley's first win at Pride Park in over a decade - and saw the Rams slump to the bottom of the table as they endured their worst start to a season in 12 years. Cocu left the club by mutual agreement on 14 November, along with assistant manager Chris van der Weerden and Specialist First Team Coach Twan Scheepers, after 16-months and 65 matches in charge. First team affairs were taken over by captain Wayne Rooney with support by members of Cocu's remaining backroom staff, Liam Rosenior, Shay Given and Justin Walker. Early links with the position included Rooney, Aston Villa assistant manager John Terry, former-Liverpool and Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez, Swansea City boss Steve Cooper and Eddie Howe, who was unattached after his resignation from AFC Bournemouth. The first post-Cocu result once again saw defeat, 1–0 at Bristol City, to leave Derby at the foot of the table and three points from safety, though Wayne Rooney said he could guarantee that the side would "get better (and) get out of the situation we're in and... start winning games." Prior to the next game, away to Middlesbrough, the club announced the appointment of former-manager Steve McClaren as technical director to advise the board, with the "permanent status of the (position) subject to ratification by Derventio Holdings’ board following completion of the club acquisition.” The Middlesbrough match ended in another defeat, 3-0, that left Derby rooted at the foot at the table, now four points from safety. Rosenior stated that the result had to be a "watershed" moment for the club whereas Rooney found himself being an increasingly polarizing figure amongst fans for his perceived avoidance of post-match interviews after poor results and his "abject" performances on the field, with supporters calling him a "disgrace" and asking him to "leave the club now". It was announced the day after the "painful and chastening" Middlesbrough result that Rooney would take sole control of the side for the next match against Wycombe Wanderers and had removed himself from the playing squad, with Rooney admitting that it is "possible" he had played his final game. Rooney's first game as sole interim manager saw him make seven changes to the side that had lost at Middlesbrough, including handing a first start to Colin Kazim-Richards, but could not guide Derby to a second victory, as Matt Bloomfield's 81st-minute equalizer canceled out Duane Holmes' first-half goal (Derby's first goal in a month). The result left Derby bottom, though the gap from safety was reduced to five points as none of the bottom six teams were able to secure victory. The month ended with the draw for the FA Cup third round proper, which saw Derby handed a potential banana skin at National League North side Chorley.
December