Derby County Football Club are saddened to have learned of the passing of its former director, John Kirkland OBE.
The Kirkland family have had a long-running association with Derby County stretching across many decades and John’s father, Jack, also previously served the club as a director.
John sat on the Rams’ board for a significant period of time between 1981 to 2002 and became President in 2006, until the club changed ownership in 2008. He returned to the board as a non-executive director in 2017 before stepping down in 2019.
John, who spent a large amount of time in the United States of America in recent years but continued to avidly follow the Rams, was a hugely respected and popular individual not just at Derby County but across the local community.
He was a member of the board of directors for the back-to-back promotions under Arthur Cox in the 1980s and the club’s promotion to the top-flight in 1996, with Jim Smith at the helm, as well as the move from the Baseball Ground to Pride Park Stadium in 1997.
Away from Derby County, John had held the position of Chairman of the Bowmer & Kirkland Group of companies from 1976 until 2019, when he was succeeded by his son Jack, and went on to take up a Life President role.
In 1999 he received the OBE for services to Derbyshire, in particular for his former role as Chairman of Derbyshire Ambulance Service.
He served as Chair of both the Derbyshire Learning and Skills Council (LSC) from 2000-2008 and the LSC East Midlands Regional Council from 2004-2008.
In 2001 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Derby. He was a National Literacy Trust Reading Champion for the National Reading Campaign, and was also a Governor of Landau Forte College, Derby.
Derby County wishes to pass on its deepest condolences to John’s family and friends at this very difficult time.