John Eustace full statement after Derby County secure Championship status: ‘I am delighted and very proud’

John Eustace expresses pride in Derby County's efforts after securing their place in the Sky Bet Championship with a goal-less draw against Stoke City.

Head Coach John Eustace says he’s ‘very proud of everyone’ after Derby County secured their Sky Bet Championship status for the 2025/26 season with a 0-0 draw against Stoke City on Saturday afternoon.

A sold-out Pride Park Stadium filled with excited fans saw the Rams skilfull play unfold.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The point, as well as results elsewhere, ensured Derby will be a Championship club once again next term.

John Eustace, Head Coach of Derby County shows his appreciation to the fans following the Sky Bet Championship match between Derby County FC and Burnley FC at Pride Park on April 08, 2025 in Derby, England. (Photo by Morgan Harlow/Getty Images)John Eustace, Head Coach of Derby County shows his appreciation to the fans following the Sky Bet Championship match between Derby County FC and Burnley FC at Pride Park on April 08, 2025 in Derby, England. (Photo by Morgan Harlow/Getty Images)
John Eustace, Head Coach of Derby County shows his appreciation to the fans following the Sky Bet Championship match between Derby County FC and Burnley FC at Pride Park on April 08, 2025 in Derby, England. (Photo by Morgan Harlow/Getty Images) | Morgan Harlow/Getty Images

The Rams finished their 2024/25 campaign 19th in the league table, with one point separating them and the drop zone.

Eustace, who joined Derby as Head Coach in February, oversaw the side's rise from bottom of the Championship and seven points adrift of safety two months ago, to safety.

He spoke of his delight with the contribution of everyone associated with the club to get over the line.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Speaking to RamsTV after the season finale on home turf against the Potters, Eustace thanked the hard work of the team.

John Eustace full statement on Derby retaining place in Championship

I’m delighted and very, very proud of everyone connected with the football club. It's been a group effort, not an individual effort, and we've got over the line. That is the main thing.

We’ve worked hard every day in training and every single day the boys have dedicated themselves to make sure we get over the line, and there's been a lot of hard work on the training field.

Get the latest updates - follow us on our Facebook page

The staff at the training ground and the stadium have been amazing and, most importantly, the fans have been right behind this group of players as well.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

They can see they're sweating blood for the football club and they're fighting and scrapping for everything, and every point we've got, was for them to make sure that we stayed in the Championship.

It's our job to create a good atmosphere, to give the players structure and give them belief, and that's what everyone's done.

The coaching staff that we brought in are top coaches, and their work ethic is there for all to see.

They're very good people who want to do the best for Derby County, as I do, and it's just been a lot of hard work. I'm glad we're over the line.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

I think the Blackburn Rovers game in March was a huge turning point for us, obviously on the back of three defeats in a row, but the way we went about our business in that match really showed me a lot of encouragement and we got the win we needed.

To bounce back after the Luton game on Easter Friday, when we lost 1-0, and the way we have done that has been immense, really.

It has been a group effort and everyone involved in that squad has played their part.

We signed a number of players who were out of contract when no-one else really wanted them at a crucial time and they have played such a huge part, off the field especially, to make sure that the boys are learning every day, keeping to the standards every day and full credit to those boys.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It's been a proper group effort, a proper squad effort, and I'm very proud of them.

We'll start preparing for next season on Monday.

We weren't sure what league we were going to be in.

We're in the Championship now, which is the main thing.

Now it's important that we really help the group of players that are here, help them perform next season and try and improve the squad as much as we can. That will be starting on Monday.

[The bounce] was amazing, and I wasn't too sure what I was doing!

I've not done that before, and I did promise them last week that I'd do it if we had a positive result today. The fans are one of the main reasons why I came back to this football club.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

To have 32,000 on the last day is amazing. The support has been magnificent, home and away.

The supporters certainly played as the 12th man. I'm here now to really help the football club and give them success as much as I can.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice